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Ba Zi Calculator — Four Pillars of Destiny
Enter your birth date and time and One Breath builds your Four Pillars chart, then writes a reading grounded in classical Ba Zi texts such as Yuan Hai Zi Ping and Di Tian Sui.
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What is Ba Zi?
Ba Zi (八字, literally “eight characters”) is the classical Chinese system of reading a person’s life pattern from the moment of birth. The year, month, day and hour of birth are each written as a pair of characters: a Heavenly Stem and an Earthly Branch. Four pillars of two characters each give the eight characters that name the system. In English it is usually called the Four Pillars of Destiny.
The method is also known as Zi Ping (子平) astrology, after Xu Ziping of the Northern Song dynasty, whose approach of centring the chart on the Day Master has been handed down for more than a thousand years. Rather than describing fixed personality types, Ba Zi looks at how the Five Elements — Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal and Water — interact inside your chart and how that balance shifts over the decades of your life.
How a Four Pillars chart is calculated
First, the birth moment is converted into the traditional solar calendar, because Ba Zi months begin at the solar terms rather than on the lunar new moon. Your birth city is used to work out the true solar time, which matters when a birth falls close to the boundary between two two-hour periods.
The Day Stem becomes the Day Master, the element that represents you. Every other stem and branch is then classified by its relationship to the Day Master into the Ten Gods (十神) — for example Wealth, Officer, Resource, Output and Companion. From these relationships a reader judges the strength of the Day Master, identifies the chart pattern (格局), and selects the useful element that brings the chart into balance.
Finally the chart is set in motion: the Major Luck Cycles (大运), each lasting about ten years, and the Annual Pillars (流年) show which elements arrive at different stages of life, and therefore when certain themes in career, wealth and relationships tend to come forward.
Classical texts behind this reading
One Breath’s Ba Zi readings draw on seven texts in its Ba Zi collection. Before writing your reading, the system searches these texts for the passages most relevant to your chart and names them in the result.
Yuan Hai Zi Ping
渊海子平
Song-dynasty compendium and founding work of Zi Ping astrology, covering the Ten Gods, patterns and compatibility · 368 passages
Di Tian Sui
滴天髓
Ming–Qing classic centred on Day Master strength and Five Elements balance · 177 passages
Zi Ping Zhen Quan
子平真诠
Shen Xiaozhan’s rigorous Qing treatise on the Ten Gods and chart patterns · 127 passages
Qiong Tong Bao Jian
穷通宝鉴
Month-by-month analysis of the climate-adjusting useful element for each Day Master · 148 passages
Tie Ban Shen Shu
铁板神数
Numerological work timing concrete life events from the four pillars · 586 passages
San Ming Tong Hui
三命通会
Comprehensive work including zodiac animals and branch relationships · 38 passages
Passages from the Classics
欲识三元万法宗，先观帝载与神功。
— Di Tian Sui, opening verse 《滴天髓·通神论》
To understand the root of all methods of the Three Origins, first observe the workings of Heaven and its divine operation.
夫大人者，與天地合其德，與日月合其明，與四時合其序。
— Zhou Yi, Qian, Wen Yan commentary 《周易·乾·文言》
The great person is one in virtue with Heaven and Earth, in brightness with the sun and moon, and in order with the four seasons.
一陰一陽之謂道，繼之者善也，成之者性也。
— Zhou Yi, Xi Ci (Great Commentary) I 《周易·系辞上》
One Yin and one Yang: this is called the Dao. What continues it is goodness; what completes it is nature.
Why One Breath
Unlike a generic AI chatbot, One Breath uses retrieval-augmented generation: before each reading it searches 20,020 passages from 38 classical texts for the material most relevant to your question, and the AI then combines that classical knowledge with your own details. Every classical text cited in your reading is shown by name, so the analysis can be traced back to its sources.
All One Breath features are currently free, with daily usage limits; detailed paid reports will be added later. The site works in English and Chinese, on desktop and mobile, with nothing to install.
Frequently Asked Questions
What information do I need for a Ba Zi reading?
Your birth date (year, month and day) and, ideally, your birth time and birth city. The city is used to calculate true solar time. Without a birth time One Breath can still give a partial reading from the year, month and day pillars.
Is this Ba Zi calculator free?
Yes. All features of One Breath, including Ba Zi, are currently free with daily usage limits. Detailed paid reports will be added later.
What is the Day Master?
The Day Master is the Heavenly Stem of your day pillar. It represents you in the chart, and every other element is read according to its relationship with it through the Ten Gods.
How is Ba Zi different from Western astrology?
Western astrology works mainly with planetary positions and personality archetypes. Ba Zi is built on Yin-Yang and the Five Elements and focuses on balance and timing — how the elements in your chart are supported or challenged as the luck cycles change.
Which books does One Breath use for Ba Zi?
The Ba Zi collection includes Yuan Hai Zi Ping, Di Tian Sui, Zi Ping Zhen Quan, Qiong Tong Bao Jian, Tie Ban Shen Shu and San Ming Tong Hui. The texts cited in each reading are shown by name.