# How to read a BaZi chart, step by step

![An open blank notebook, a brush on a porcelain rest and an ink stone holding a little red ink](https://multifate.com/images/guides/bazi/how-to-read-your-bazi-chart/cover-v1-1536x864.webp)

> How to read a BaZi chart: check the receipt, find the four pillars and the day master, then read hidden stems and element percentages in order.

Canonical page: https://multifate.com/guides/bazi/how-to-read-your-bazi-chart
Language: English. Content reviewed: 2026-09-23.
Also available in: [中文](https://multifate.com/zh/guides/bazi/how-to-read-your-bazi-chart/index.md), [日本語](https://multifate.com/ja/guides/bazi/how-to-read-your-bazi-chart/index.md), [한국어](https://multifate.com/ko/guides/bazi/how-to-read-your-bazi-chart/index.md)

To read a BaZi chart, check the calculation receipt, find the labeled pillars, then identify the day master: the stem of the day pillar. Read each branch’s hidden stems next and the element percentages last. With an unknown birth time, use the three pillars and day master shown. Follow the example chart below to locate each field.

**Key points**

- Read in order: the receipt, the four labeled pillars, the day master, each branch's hidden stems, the element percentages.
- The day master is the stem of the day pillar, found by position, not by the longest bar or the zodiac animal.
- Hidden stems belong to their branch and never add a pillar.
- Visible stems count 1, hidden stems 0.5, 0.3 and 0.2; rounding each share separately makes the example total 99%.
- With an unknown hour, keep the gap; the noon in the receipt is not a birth time.

## How to read a BaZi chart in six steps

Identify where each field comes from before interpreting it: the day master is the day stem, hidden stems belong to their branches, and element percentages are weighted totals across four pillars. Follow the six steps below and note what each character and number refers to.

1. **Check the inputs**: Open the receipt in the [free BaZi calculator](https://multifate.com/tools/bazi) and compare the calendar, time precision, time zone and correction with your birth record.
2. **Find the four pillars**: Read each column by its label. The stem sits above the branch.
3. **Find the day master**: Take the stem of the day pillar as the reference.
4. **Read each branch, then its hidden stems**: Keep every hidden-stems line with its own pillar.
5. **Read the element percentages last**: They are weighted totals and appear only when all four pillars exist.
6. **Keep gaps open**: Carry an unknown hour into your note instead of filling it.

## Check the receipt before the characters

A lunar birthday entered as a Gregorian date is a different date, however carefully the minute was copied. The receipt shows that before you spend time on the symbols. Check each line against your record:

- Input record: the calendar you chose and the date as you entered it, with Leap month if you selected it.
- Calendar conversion: the solar (Gregorian) date the calculation used.
- Birth-time precision: the option you chose, with the clock time or the two-hour period when you gave one.
- Time zone: the IANA zone and the UTC offset used.
- Coordinate correction: whether you confirmed it, and whether it moved the time into another day or two-hour period.
- Engine version, so a later calculation can be compared on the same basis.

Fix a wrong line and calculate again before reading further. The receipt shows which time was used; it cannot turn an estimated time into a documented one.

> **Tip** Use the birthplace time zone, not your current one; the zone the browser detects is only a starting point. For a clock time that occurred twice, choose the occurrence the record supports and note it if you are unsure; a skipped time is refused. [Check your BaZi calculator inputs](https://multifate.com/tools/bazi)

## Where are the four pillars on a BaZi chart?

Put simply, a BaZi chart is four labeled columns, year, month, day and hour, each a heavenly stem above an earthly branch. Another calculator may run them the other way, so read the labels, not the order from the left.

The Hong Kong Observatory calls the four pairs together the Eight Characters; the hidden stems and totals printed around them do not add a ninth. New to the four pillars? Start with [what is BaZi](https://multifate.com/guides/bazi/what-is-bazi).

![How to read a BaZi chart: four labeled columns, stems above branches, with the day stem Jia marked](https://multifate.com/images/guides/bazi/figures/four-pillars-en-v1-1200x608.webp)

The main example chart: year 庚午, month 己卯, day 甲子, hour 丙寅\. The marked 甲 is the day stem\. It is a layout example, not a reading of anyone's birth\.

| What to find | Where to look | What to write down first |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Four pillars | The year, month, day and hour columns | Each complete stem-branch pair |
| Day master | The stem of the day pillar | One stem and its element |
| Month context | The branch of the month pillar | The month branch and the solar-term period of the birth |
| Hidden stems | The hidden-stems line in each column | The pillar and branch they belong to |

## Which character is the day master?

In the example the day pillar is 甲子: Jia 甲 is the day stem and the day master, Zi 子 the day branch. Do not call both characters the day master, and do not call it Water because 子 is Water. The calculator repeats the day master with its element; check it against the day column.

- **Day pillar**: The stem and branch of the day column as one pair: 甲子 here.
- **Day master** (Day stem): The stem of the day pillar, the reference for later comparisons: 甲, Wood.
- **Day branch**: The lower character of the day pillar: 子. Its element is not the day master's.

![A chart with a Jia day master whose longest element bar belongs to another element; the year branch is outlined](https://multifate.com/images/guides/bazi/figures/three-labels-en-v1-1200x608.webp)

A second example chart: the year branch gives the zodiac animal, the day stem is the day master, and the longest bar is a weighted total\.

A Jia [day master](https://multifate.com/guides/bazi/day-master) is still Jia Wood when another element has a larger share, and the zodiac animal does not identify it. Record the day stem and its element first; that stem is the reference for comparing the other stems and branches.

## How to read the hidden stems line

Hidden stems are stems listed inside a branch. They belong to that branch, they never add a pillar, and they are a different field from the visible stem above it.

![The hour pillar 丙寅 taken apart: stem 丙 above branch 寅, with hidden stems 甲, 丙 and 戊 inside the branch](https://multifate.com/images/guides/bazi/figures/pillar-anatomy-en-v1-1200x608.webp)

The example's hour pillar\. 寅 holds 甲, 丙 and 戊 in main, middle and residual position, weighted 0\.5, 0\.3 and 0\.2\. 丙 appears twice, in two positions\.

| Pillar | Branch | Hidden stems, in listed order |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Year 庚午 | 午 | 丁, 己 |
| Month 己卯 | 卯 | 乙 |
| Day 甲子 | 子 | 癸 |
| Hour 丙寅 | 寅 | 甲, 丙, 戊 |

甲 also shows twice in this chart: as the visible day stem and hidden in the hour branch 寅. Those are two positions. When you copy a hidden-stems line, write its pillar and branch beside it, then check it against the table above.

## Read the element percentages last

Only a four-pillar result shows element percentages. Each visible stem adds 1; hidden stems add 0.5, 0.3 and 0.2 in listed order, as far as the branch has entries. Branches count only through their hidden stems, so tallying the eight visible characters will not reproduce the bars.

![Element counts for the example chart, from Wood 2\.0 down to Water 0\.5, with exact shares and rounded percentages](https://multifate.com/images/guides/bazi/figures/element-rounding-en-v1-1200x608.webp)

The example chart adds up to 6\.8\. Compare the exact and shown columns: each share is rounded on its own, so the shown values total 99%\.

- Wood 2.0: the day stem 甲 (1), 乙 in 卯 (0.5), 甲 in 寅 (0.5).
- Fire 1.8: the hour stem 丙 (1), 丁 in 午 (0.5), 丙 in 寅 (0.3).
- Earth 1.5: the month stem 己 (1), 己 in 午 (0.3), 戊 in 寅 (0.2).
- Metal 1.0: the year stem 庚 (1).
- Water 0.5: 癸 in 子 (0.5).

The bars are shares of that calculation, not amounts of personality or probabilities. A large bar does not establish day-master strength: that also involves the season, roots and relationships. The free calculator does not label a day master as strong or weak.

## What changes when the hour is unknown?

Choose unknown birth time and the result shows the year, month and day pillars calculated from the date, their hidden stems and the day master. It leaves out the hour pillar and element totals. Start with the fields shown and record “birth time unknown”; do not pick an hour to complete the chart.

![One birth date calculated twice: four pillars with element shares, then three pillars with the same day master and no shares](https://multifate.com/images/guides/bazi/figures/unknown-hour-en-v1-1200x608.webp)

In this example, choosing unknown time leaves the hour column open and removes the element shares\. Both calculations show the same day master\.

If a reliable time turns up later, calculate again, check the three pillars and keep both results. Near a solar-term or day boundary, the existing pillars also need checking.

> **If the birth time is unknown** The noon in the receipt is an internal calculation anchor for an unknown time, not a birth time. Write “hour unknown” in your note and never use noon to fill an hour anywhere else. [Choose unknown birth time in the calculator](https://multifate.com/tools/bazi)

## Why does another chart look different?

Start with the conditions behind each result, not with the wording of any interpretation: calendar, local time, time zone, precision and coordinate correction. Change one setting at a time, then compare the four pairs before any totals, because weighted totals can differ even when the pairs agree.

If the other service does not explain its method, that part stays open; a more appealing interpretation does not settle it. Save both sets of inputs and results, separating the conditions you have checked from rules you still cannot verify.

![Two blank sheets of handmade paper offset on each other, a red thread across one corner](https://multifate.com/images/guides/bazi/scenes/offset-sheets-v1-1200x675.webp)

## A reading note you can check later

Finish with a short note that gives each fact its own line.

> **Reading note: example chart**
>
> Day pillar: 甲子
> Day master: 甲, Wood
> Month branch: 卯
> Element shares, four pillars: Wood 29%, Fire 26%, Earth 22%, Metal 15%, Water 7%
> Birth time: known (if unknown: no hour pillar, no element shares)
> Receipt saved, with the engine version

Once your notes are complete, check these three distinctions:

- The month branch is the branch of the month pillar. Reading its seasonal role also requires the solar-term boundary; the calendar month alone is not enough.
- The ten-year periods shown on other sites are usually called luck cycles. They are not a fifth natal pillar, and the free calculator does not show a luck-cycle table.
- Find the day master by its position in the day pillar. Element shares come from the whole chart, so keep these two fields separate when comparing results.

> **Where the reading stops** The chart gives you terms and symbols. A question about work, health or a relationship still needs the real circumstances.

## Reading a BaZi chart: common questions

### What should I look at first on a BaZi chart?

The calculation receipt. Once the calendar, time precision, time zone and correction match your record, find the labeled pillars and the stem of the day pillar.

### Is my day master the element with the highest percentage?

No. The day master is the stem of the day pillar, found by position; the percentages are weighted totals across the four pillars.

### Are hidden stems part of the eight characters?

No. The eight characters are the four stems and four branches you can see. Hidden stems sit inside the branches and never add a pillar.

### Why do two BaZi calculators give different charts?

Compare the conditions first: calendar mode, time zone, time precision and correction. Then compare the four pairs before any totals. Different inputs give a different chart, so any reading built on them differs too.

## Sources and scope

- [Multifate BaZi calculator](https://multifate.com/tools/bazi): The public calculator and its calculation receipt are the reference for the fields, input options and weighting described here; the example chart's values come from its engine.
- [Hong Kong Observatory: Heavenly Stems and Earthly Branches](https://www.hko.gov.hk/en/gts/time/stemsandbranches.htm): Calendar reference for stem-branch notation and the year, month, day and hour pairs called the Eight Characters.
- [National Astronomical Observatory of Japan: Ten Heavenly Stems](https://eco.mtk.nao.ac.jp/koyomi/wiki/BDBDB4B3.html): Used to check the ten stems from Jia 甲 to Gui 癸.

## Continue with BaZi

- [Try the BaZi tool](https://multifate.com/tools/bazi)
- [BaZi day master: how to find your day stem](https://multifate.com/guides/bazi/day-master/index.md)
- [BaZi without birth time: reading three pillars](https://multifate.com/guides/bazi/birth-time-unknown/index.md)
- [What is BaZi? Four Pillars of Destiny explained](https://multifate.com/guides/bazi/what-is-bazi/index.md)
- [Common BaZi mistakes when reading a chart](https://multifate.com/guides/bazi/chart-common-mistakes/index.md)
- [How to calculate BaZi from your birth details](https://multifate.com/guides/bazi/how-to-check/index.md)
- [BaZi hidden stems: what each branch holds](https://multifate.com/guides/bazi/hidden-stems/index.md)
- [All BaZi articles](https://multifate.com/guides/bazi)
- [Fortune telling guides: BaZi, tarot and more](https://multifate.com/guides/index.md)

These guides describe traditional symbolic frameworks and the current Multifate tools, not verified predictions. The chart tools are free; optional AI questions have separate limits. Check the pricing page for current terms. Interpretations do not replace medical, legal, financial or safety advice.