Trigram — 八卦 bā guà

The Mei Hua tool labels the body and use trigram for every cast.

Open the free BaZi calculator or the related tool to see Trigram applied to a real birth chart.

Unlike BaZi, which describes a birth chart, I Ching methods cast a figure for one question at one moment. Liu Yao uses coins and assigns stems and branches to each line (Na Jia); Mei Hua Yi Shu derives the hexagram from numbers or time and reads body–use trigram relations; Qi Men Dun Jia lays out a nine-palace board for a two-hour period.

These methods share the same building blocks as BaZi — five elements, stems, branches, solar terms — but answer a narrower question. A clear, specific question and an honest single cast are traditionally considered essential.

The tools on this site generate the figure by fixed rules and show every intermediate field, so you can check a cast against a textbook.

• Asking vague or multiple questions in one cast.
• Recasting until the answer feels right.
• Counting lines from the top instead of the bottom.
• Ignoring the month and day of the cast.

Hexagrams come from the 周易 (Book of Changes). Na Jia methods are associated with 京房 of the Han dynasty; Mei Hua Yi Shu is attributed to 邵雍 of the Song.

• HexagramA hexagram is a figure of six lines, each solid (yang) or broken (yin), built from two trigrams.
• Body and UseIn Mei Hua Yi Shu the trigram without the moving line is the body (体, the asker) and the trigram with it is the use (用, the matter).
• Changing LineA changing (moving) line is an old yang or old yin that flips to its opposite, producing the changed hexagram.
• Na JiaNa Jia assigns stems and branches to each line of a hexagram according to its trigrams.
• Nine PalacesThe nine palaces are the Luo Shu magic-square grid used in Qi Men Dun Jia: eight directions plus the centre.

The fastest way to understand Trigram is to look at real charts rather than memorise rules. Enter a birth date, time and city in the BaZi Calculator, then locate where Trigram appears: in a visible stem, hidden inside a branch, in the current luck pillar or in this year's annual pillar. Note the position, because the year pillar is usually read as background and early life, the month pillar as environment and career setting, the day pillar as the self and close partner, and the hour pillar as later life and output.

• Compare two or three charts where Trigram is prominent and two where it is absent; write down what differs in the overall balance.
• Check the month branch first: seasonal strength changes how much any factor matters.
• Use the hidden-stems and Ten Gods tables in the calculator output instead of guessing.
• Treat single factors as clues, never as verdicts; classical texts always weigh the whole chart.

Different schools describe Trigram with slightly different emphasis. This site follows widely used conventions (solar-term months, true solar time optional, Zi hour setting configurable) and states them openly so you can compare results with a book or another calculator.

Trigram is one piece of a larger system. If you are learning BaZi from scratch, the order below builds each idea on the previous one, and every step links to free reference pages on this site.

1. Calculate a chart and confirm the four pillars are correct (checklist).
2. Learn the ten heavenly stems and twelve earthly branches.
3. Find your Day Master and judge its strength with the five elements.
4. Read the Ten Gods in context.
5. Move on to timing with luck and annual pillars.
6. Use the glossary whenever a term is unfamiliar.

BaZi is a traditional cultural system. This page explains how the symbols are defined and read; it does not make scientific claims or predictions about your health, money or relationships.