Luck Pillar Calculator

The starting age is shown in years, months and days with the transition date, rather than rounded to a whole year, so you can compare with any book's rounding rule.

Each luck pillar is listed with the Ten God of its stem and of its branch's main qi, because traditional reading splits a period into a stem half and a branch half.

1. Enter date, time, city and the gender option (used only for direction).
2. Read the direction and starting age above the luck table.
3. Find the current period by calendar year.
4. Compare its elements with your useful element.
5. Pick an annual pillar inside it to see a single year.

• Four pillars with stems, branches, pinyin and element colours.
• Hidden stems under each branch, with Ten Gods.
• Five-element count of visible characters, hidden stems listed separately.
• Combinations, clashes, harms and punishments found in the chart.
• Luck pillars with direction, exact starting age and calendar years.
• Annual pillar for any year, plus time-zone and solar-time details.

Read each period against the natal chart: does it bring the useful element, combine with or clash the day or month branch?

Transitions between periods (交运) are traditionally treated as times of adjustment.

For a deeper explanation, see the guides.

All BaZi tools on this site share one calculation engine and the same settings, so results match across pages. These are the settings that can change a result:

Charts on this site use the published rule set: true solar time by default, the year changes at 立春 (Start of Spring), months change at the 12 节 solar terms and the day changes at 23:00. Example charts below are computed live by the same engine.

• Luck PillarsLuck pillars are ten-year pillars that step forward or backward through the sixty cycle from the month pillar.
• Starting AgeThe starting age is when the first luck pillar begins.
• Luck DirectionLuck pillars run forward for yang-year males and yin-year females, and backward for yin-year males and yang-year females.
• Solar TermsThe twenty-four solar terms divide the sun's path into 15° steps.

The fastest way to understand Luck Pillar Calculator is to look at real charts rather than memorise rules. Enter a birth date, time and city in the BaZi Calculator, then locate where Luck Pillar Calculator 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 Luck Pillar Calculator 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 Luck Pillar Calculator 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.

Luck Pillar Calculator 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.