Life Cycle-Hidden Stems - Season Cycle
Life Cycle-Hidden Stems - Season Cycle
Life Cycle-Hidden Stems - Season Cycle
Status/
H10 H8 H6 H4 H2 H9 H7 H5 H3 H1 12 Life Stages
Strength
For example, if the Month Pillar is H3~E4, then the Self Element is H3. If the Year Pillar is
H10~E1, then the Life Stage for the Year Pillar is H3~E1, and from the above table, it is depicted
as "Conception" which is bestowed with a "Weak" status. This process of obtaining the Life Stage
is then repeated for each of the four pillars.
Hidden Stems in Earthly Branches[edit | edit source]
Each Earthly Branch in the four Pillars will have one or more Hidden Heavenly Stems.
Earthl
y Hidden
Branch Heavenly
in any Stems
Pillar
E3 H5, H1, H3
E4 H2
E5 H10, H5, H2
E6 H7, H3, H5
E7 H4, H6
E8 H4, H6, H2
E9 H5, H7, H9
E10 H8
E11 H4, H5, H8
E12 H9, H1
E1 H10
E2 H8, H6, H10
For example, if the Earthly Branch of the Month Pillar is E11, then the Hidden Heavenly Stems
are H4, H5 and H8 for the Month Pillar. If the Earthly Branch of the Day Pillar is E10, then the
Hidden Heavenly Stem is H8 for the Day Pillar.
Seasonal Cycle of the Five Elements[edit | edit source]
Season Prosper Born Die Imprison Retreat
All
Earth Metal Water Wood Fire
Seasons
The Season of Birth has the greatest impact on the Ba Zi. For example, if a person is born in
Spring, then Wood prospers, Fire is born, Earth dies, Metal is imprisoned, and Water retreats. The
term "All Seasons" refer to the last month (the third month) of every Season, when Earth prospers,
as Earth is the transition element between any two Seasons. For example, when Metal (Autumn)
changes to Water (Winter) the transition element is Earth.
Hsia Calendar
The Hsia Calendar (夏历) is also known as the Ten Thousand Year Calendar (万年历). Unlike the Chinese Lunar
Calendar, the Hsia Calendar is a Chinese solar sexagenary calendar system, based on a cycle of 60-years.
Purpose
For a given date and time of birth, the Hsia Calendar is used to obtain the Heavenly Stems and Earthly Branches with
which to construct the Four Pillars of Destiny (四柱) of a person. The Four Pillars of Destiny are also known as
the Ba Zi (八字), literally the Eight Characters of a person's birth. In ancient China, one use of this form of divination
was to select a suitable marriage partner.
The Four Pillars of Destiny are the Year Pillar, the Month Pillar, the Day Pillar and the Hour Pillar. Each Pillar is
made up of two components, namely the Heavenly Stem and the Earthly Branch, both of which are read from the Hsia
Calendar.
Seasons[edit | edit source]
There are twelve Seasons (SS) used in the Hsia Calendar. These are based on the relative position of the sun.