Heavenly Stems & Earthly Branches
The Heavenly Stems and Earthly Branches are the alphabet of BaZi. If you want to read your own chart, mastering these 22 symbols is step one.
The 10 Heavenly Stems
The ten stems are: Jia, Yi, Bing, Ding, Wu, Ji, Geng, Xin, Ren, Gui.
They split into Yin-Yang pairs, each pair corresponding to one of the Five Elements:
| Element | Yang Stem | Yin Stem |
|---------|-----------|----------|
| Wood | 甲 (Jia) | 乙 (Yi) |
| Fire | 丙 (Bing) | 丁 (Ding) |
| Earth | 戊 (Wu) | 己 (Ji) |
| Metal | 庚 (Geng) | 辛 (Xin) |
| Water | 壬 (Ren) | 癸 (Gui) |
**Memory aid**: Jia Wood is a towering tree; Yi Wood is a vine or flower. Bing Fire is the blazing sun; Ding Fire is a candle flame. Wu Earth is a mountain; Ji Earth is garden soil. Geng Metal is an axe; Xin Metal is jewelry. Ren Water is the ocean; Gui Water is mist and dew.
The 12 Earthly Branches
The twelve branches: Zi, Chou, Yin, Mao, Chen, Si, Wu, Wei, Shen, You, Xu, Hai.
Each branch maps to a zodiac animal, an element, and contains hidden stems:
| Branch | Animal | Element | Hidden Stems |
|--------|--------|---------|-------------|
| Zi | Rat | Water | Gui |
| Chou | Ox | Earth | Ji, Gui, Xin |
| Yin | Tiger | Wood | Jia, Bing, Wu |
| Mao | Rabbit | Wood | Yi |
| Chen | Dragon | Earth | Wu, Yi, Gui |
| Si | Snake | Fire | Bing, Geng, Wu |
| Wu | Horse | Fire | Ding, Ji |
| Wei | Goat | Earth | Ji, Ding, Yi |
| Shen | Monkey | Metal | Geng, Ren, Wu |
| You | Rooster | Metal | Xin |
| Xu | Dog | Earth | Wu, Xin, Ding |
| Hai | Pig | Water | Ren, Jia |
The 60-Year Cycle (Sexagenary Cycle)
With 10 stems and 12 branches, they pair up in a fixed sequence — starting from Jia-Zi and ending with Gui-Hai — forming 60 unique combinations. This is the foundation of the traditional Chinese calendar: a 60-year cycle.
Application in Your BaZi
In your birth chart, each of the four pillars has a Stem-Branch pair:
- Year's first character is the Stem, second is the Branch
- Same for Month, Day, and Hour
Your Day Stem is the key to identifying your "Day Master" (core personality) — it determines your element type and all Ten God relationships.