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Learn BaZi

A course in Four Pillars of Destiny (BaZi), taught from five classical Chinese books. Lessons are grouped by stage and read in order. Each is in English, Simplified Chinese and Traditional Chinese.

Getting started

导读
  1. How to use this series, and the books it draws on简繁

    How to read the Learn BaZi series with your own chart: how each page cites its book, how another view is shown, and the five books behind it.

Foundations

基础
  1. Yin and yang and the five elements: generating and controlling简繁

    Where yin and yang come from, how the five elements generate and control one another, and why a BaZi chart needs both support and restraint.

  2. The ten heavenly stems and twelve earthly branches简繁

    The element and polarity of the ten heavenly stems and twelve earthly branches, how to label your chart’s eight characters, and why stems act and branches hold.

  3. Hidden stems: what each branch holds简繁

    What each earthly branch holds: main, middle and residual stems, the storage in the four Earth branches, and which hidden stem comes forward in the month.

  4. Setting up the four pillars: solar months, the year boundary and the midnight hour简繁

    Check your own four pillars: the month follows the solar terms, the year turns at the Start of Spring, and a birth near midnight belongs to the day on its side.

  5. The ten relationships to the Day Master简繁

    How every stem and hidden stem in your chart relates to the Day Master: ten relationships in five families, set by generating, controlling, yin and yang.

  6. The twelve life stages简繁

    Each stem passes through twelve stages across the branches, yang stems forward and yin stems backward. Find your Day Master’s stage on its seat and on each branch.