八字的含义：如何读懂命盘上的标签
入门知识
逐一讲解天干、地支与日主。
文章目前仅提供原文版本，中文版正在准备中。
Saju meaning, for most people searching it, is a vocabulary question: what are the symbols on a four-pillar chart, and what is each one pointing at? This guide answers that label by label. Keep your own chart open while you read. Meaning is much easier to learn against a real result than in the abstract.
Get your chart first (free, no account): Open the PillarAtlas Saju calculator, enter a birth date, and keep the result on screen.
What is saju? The short answer
Saju (사주) is Korean for "four pillars": a birth chart with four columns, year, month, day and hour. Each column pairs a Heavenly Stem with an Earthly Branch. The same chart family is called BaZi in Chinese. The tradition uses these symbols as a framework for interpretation, not as scientific prediction.
That is the whole definition. For the longer introduction, including how saju relates to BaZi and the beginner mistakes to avoid, read What Is Saju? A Plain-English Intro. The rest of this page is about the labels themselves.
The four pillars: what each column stands for
| Pillar | Comes from | What to keep in mind |
|---|---|---|
| Year | Birth year | Traditional year boundaries follow the solar-term calendar, so a birthday early in the year can land in the previous year's pillar. |
| Month | Solar-term month | Not always the calendar month written on your ID. |
| Day | Birth date | Holds your Day Master, the label most readers start with. |
| Hour | Birth time | Left open if your birth time is unknown. |
Year, month and day all come from the date. Only the hour pillar needs a time.
Stems and branches: the two halves of every pillar
- Heavenly Stem, the upper symbol. Traditional systems often teach stems with elemental associations.
- Earthly Branch, the lower symbol. Popular culture links branches to animal signs; in chart reading they work as calendar markers, not mascots.
One stem plus one branch is one pillar. Four pillars make eight symbols, the "eight characters" that the Chinese name BaZi refers to. At this layer, the meaning of saju is structural: which symbol sits in which position for your birth data.
Day Master: the label you read first
The Day Master is the Heavenly Stem of the day pillar. Many teaching traditions use it as the reference point that every other symbol is compared against. On your result, find the day column and read its upper symbol.
Why start here: it gives you one focal label instead of eight symbols at once. And because it comes from the date, you still have a Day Master even if your birth time is unknown. For the click-by-click version, including the midnight edge case, follow How to Find Your Day Master.
Ten gods, at a glance only
Ten gods (십신 / 十神) are relationship labels: they describe how each of the other stems relates to your Day Master in classical frameworks. Three things to know on day one:
- They are derived from the chart. They are not extra birth inputs.
- They are worth learning after you are comfortable with stems, branches and the Day Master.
- A list of ten gods with dramatic life verdicts and no chart attached is storytelling, not meaning.
Same birth data, different chart? It's the method
Charts can differ between sites near boundaries because each tool makes method choices. The PillarAtlas free calculator states its own:
- Local civil time as entered. Type the clock time at the place of birth.
- No time-zone or true-solar-time correction.
- The day changes at midnight.
- Unknown time leaves the hour pillar open. Choose unknown instead of guessing.
- You can enter the date as solar or lunar.
If another tool applies true solar time or a different day-change rule, its symbols near a boundary can differ from ours. That is a difference in method, not an error on either side. What the hour actually changes is covered in Saju Birth Time: What the Hour Pillar Needs.
What "saju meaning" is not
| If you were looking for | What this page gives you |
|---|---|
| A definition of saju | The short answer above, plus the full What Is Saju? intro |
| What the labels mean | The pillar, stem, branch, Day Master and ten-god sections |
| A personal destiny essay | Not here. The free chart shows the structure; it does not write a life story. |
| Love or career predictions | Not here. Charts are for reflection, not forecasts. |
| Compatibility between two charts | Not available on PillarAtlas yet. |
Want to see how the labels are used once you go beyond vocabulary? Saju Reading: What Your Four-Pillar Chart Can (and Can't) Tell You covers interpretation and its limits. Curious what the free layer includes in full? See Free Saju Reading: What You Get Without Paying. Purchases are not open on PillarAtlas yet, so nothing on the site charges a card.
A 10-minute practice loop
- Run the Saju calculator with a date you know well.
- Write down the four stem–branch pairs.
- Circle the Day Master (day column, upper symbol).
- Regenerate with the time set to unknown and notice which column changes. Only the hour pillar should.
- Come back to the stem, branch and ten-god sections for any label that still feels opaque.
Pocket glossary
- Saju: four-pillar birth chart (Korean name). BaZi: the same chart family (Chinese name).
- Pillar: one column, a stem over a branch.
- Heavenly Stem: upper symbol of a pillar.
- Earthly Branch: lower symbol of a pillar.
- Day Master: the stem of the day pillar.
- Ten gods: how other stems relate to the Day Master (learn later).
Read your own labels
CTA: Read your chart labels on the free Saju calculator
Entertainment-only disclaimer
Chart labels and guides on PillarAtlas are for learning, self-reflection and entertainment. They are not medical, financial, legal or relationship advice, and they do not guarantee any outcome.