A god describes in what manner something acts; a pillar describes where it plays out. The derivation has two steps: the generating or controlling relation between the day master and the target element sets one of five groups, then polarity picks between the two gods in that group. Because the ten stems take the ten gods exactly once each for a given day master, every combination maps to one definite stem per day master — which is what makes each page checkable by back-substitution.
Start with the god itself: each overview page gives the two-step derivation, which stem carries it for all ten day masters, and where the branch main qi land — all computed and back-substitutable.
Open any god for its three pillar pages: which stem each day master needs, what the palace covers, and how the other nine gods on the same pillar compare.
Only the year, month and hour pillars appear here: the day pillar is the self palace, which tangles with the fact that a god is defined relative to the day master.
| Pillar | Palace | Four common pages on this pillar |
|---|---|---|
| 年柱 Year Pillar | 祖上与早年环境宫 | Peer · Direct Officer · Direct Wealth · Direct Resource |
| 月柱 Month Pillar | 父母与事业环境宫 | Peer · Direct Officer · Direct Wealth · Direct Resource |
| 时柱 Hour Pillar | 子女与晚景宫 | Peer · Direct Officer · Direct Wealth · Direct Resource |
What makes this checkable is that it takes exactly two steps, and both can be verified on the page:
| Step one · the group | The relation between the day master element and the target element sets the group: identical → peers; generated by it → output; controlled by it → wealth; controlling it → influence; generating it → resource |
|---|---|
| Step two · which of the pair | Same polarity takes the first god in the pair (Peer, Eating God, Indirect Wealth, Seven Killings, Indirect Resource); opposite polarity takes the second (Rival, Hurting Officer, Direct Wealth, Direct Officer, Direct Resource) |
| Why it is a bijection | For a fixed day master the ten stems take the ten gods exactly once each — so "this god on this pillar" maps to one definite stem per day master, and every row can be back-substituted |
| What the pillar changes | The god itself does not change with position; the palace it lands in does. The three pages for one god differ in the palace they describe |
Enter a birth date to see the gods carried by the year, month and hour stems relative to the day master. Add a birth hour for the hour pillar; leave it blank and only the first three pillars are computed — this site never guesses an hour.
Every enumerable component of ba zi has its own page here. Each page is computed by the same engine and can be checked item by item — none of it is a personality table.