The Four Pillars, Explained
Each pillar is a pair of characters, and each one speaks to a different layer of your life.
The year pillar
The year pillar describes your roots: family background, early environment and the social world you grew up in. It is also where your year animal comes from.
The month pillar
The month pillar is the season you were born into and carries a lot of weight in the overall element balance. Readers often treat it as your working environment and the pressures you grew up with.
The day pillar
The stem of the day pillar is your Day Master, the character that represents you. The branch beneath it is called the spouse palace and is read for close relationships.
The hour pillar
The hour pillar is read for your inner world, ambitions, and later life. If your birth time is unknown, a reading uses the other three pillars.
Stems and branches
There are ten heavenly stems and twelve earthly branches. Branches also hide stems inside them, which is why a chart can contain more of an element than it seems at first glance.
Which pillar is the most important?
The day pillar, because its stem is your Day Master; the month pillar is a close second for element strength.
What if I was born near midnight?
Traditions differ on the hour between 23:00 and 00:00. We follow the common Korean convention and say so on your chart.