Four Pillars
BaZi chart (Four Pillars) · free to cast
A BaZi chart records the year, month, day and hour of birth as four pairs of stems and branches — eight characters. The chart itself is free and complete here; we do not degrade it to sell a reading. Below: how it is computed, what you can check, and what is actually paid.
The eight methods
Tap a row to switch the method above — each tradition charts differently.
The chart is free. A written reading of this chart is RM38. see what is included
What the chart actually computes
Four pillars: year, month, day, hour — each a heavenly stem paired with an earthly branch. The stem of the day pillar is the day master, and the whole chart is read around it.
Three things are commonly done wrong, and they are also the best test of whether a casting tool can be trusted:
1. The year changes at 立春 (Start of Spring), not at Chinese New Year. Someone born before 立春 belongs to the previous year's pillar.
2. The month changes at solar terms, not at calendar month boundaries. Two people born in the same month on either side of a solar term have different month pillars.
3. The hour pillar needs true solar time. Your clock is set to a time zone, not to the longitude you were born at — in Malaysia the difference between east and west is material, and uncorrected it moves the whole hour pillar.
What you can check yourself
This step does not ask you to believe anything. The full chart shows the four pillars, the hidden stems inside each branch, the ten gods, the balance of the five elements, and the luck-pillar (大运) start age and sequence.
The engine's raw output can be expanded. That means "why is this the ten god" is not something you take on our word — you can see which mapping produced it. This is the main difference between this site and most others: a great deal of published BaZi is written from memory, and memory errs in ways nobody can see.
Where free ends and paid begins
Casting is free, with no account required. What is paid is the written reading — the part that says what the chart means — at RM38.
The line sits there for a reason that is not marketing: the chart is a deterministic computation and should be identical whoever runs it. The reading is writing, it costs real model time every time, and its quality varies enormously. So the deterministic half is free and the written half is priced.
If all you want is your four pillars, ten gods and element balance, the free half is already enough. You do not need to buy anything.
Two things Malaysian readers get wrong most often
Time zone: Malaysia runs on MYT (UTC+8) throughout, but solar time in Kuala Lumpur and in Kota Kinabalu is not the same. True-solar-time correction uses the longitude of the birthplace, so an east-Malaysia birth and a west-Malaysia birth can end with different hour pillars.
Uncertain birth time: many people know their hour only as "in the evening", from a relative's memory. We mark that explicitly instead of quietly choosing a time and presenting it as fact. The chart is cast from what you supply, and the reading states that the hour pillar is the least certain pillar in it.
Questions
method and scope
Does the BaZi chart cost anything?
No. The four pillars, hidden stems, ten gods, element balance and luck pillars are free and need no account. Only the RM38 written reading is paid.
Why does my year pillar differ from another calculator's?
Usually the year boundary: it should change at 立春. A calculator that changes year at Chinese New Year will be a full year out for anyone born between 立春 and New Year. The second common cause is an uncorrected true solar time, which shifts the hour pillar.
What if I do not know my exact birth time?
Enter what you were told; the chart is cast from it. Be aware the hour pillar is the least certain pillar in such a chart, and the reading says so. Some conclusions depend on the hour and some do not — we distinguish them.
Should I use BaZi or ZiWei DouShu?
They read the same birth data through different structures: BaZi through element interaction and the ten gods, ZiWei through the twelve palaces and where stars land. Reading both and comparing is common practice, and both charts are free here.