A saju chart is written in twenty-two possible characters: ten heavenly stems (천간, 天干) that sit on top of each pillar, and twelve earthly branches (지지, 地支) underneath. Your chart uses eight of them – four stems, four branches. This page is the full key: what each character is, what it literally evokes, and the element it carries.
Stems are the "sky" half of each pillar – the visible, active layer. Each element appears twice, once yang (expansive) and once yin (concentrated). The stem of your day pillar is your day master.
| Char | Korean | Element | Image |
|---|---|---|---|
| 甲 | Gap 갑 | Yang wood | The tall tree; upright growth, first of all stems |
| 乙 | Eul 을 | Yin wood | Vine and grass; flexible growth that bends and survives |
| 丙 | Byeong 병 | Yang fire | The sun; open flame that warms everything in range |
| 丁 | Jeong 정 | Yin fire | Candle and hearth; focused, tended warmth |
| 戊 | Mu 무 | Yang earth | The mountain; mass that contains and shelters |
| 己 | Gi 기 | Yin earth | Field soil; the ground that receives and cultivates |
| 庚 | Gyeong 경 | Yang metal | Raw ore and the axe; strength refined by forging |
| 辛 | Sin 신 | Yin metal | The jewel and the needle; finished, exacting precision |
| 壬 | Im 임 | Yang water | River and sea; broad water always in motion |
| 癸 | Gye 계 | Yin water | Rain and dew; quiet water that seeps everywhere |
Branches are the "ground" half – the hidden, situational layer, and the same twelve characters as the zodiac animals. Each branch also marks a two-hour block of the day (the hour your birth time falls in decides your hour pillar) and a month of the year.
| Char | Korean | Animal | Element | Hours |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 子 | Ja 자 | Rat | Water | 23:00–01:00 |
| 丑 | Chuk 축 | Ox | Earth | 01:00–03:00 |
| 寅 | In 인 | Tiger | Wood | 03:00–05:00 |
| 卯 | Myo 묘 | Rabbit | Wood | 05:00–07:00 |
| 辰 | Jin 진 | Dragon | Earth | 07:00–09:00 |
| 巳 | Sa 사 | Snake | Fire | 09:00–11:00 |
| 午 | O 오 | Horse | Fire | 11:00–13:00 |
| 未 | Mi 미 | Goat | Earth | 13:00–15:00 |
| 申 | Sin 신 | Monkey | Metal | 15:00–17:00 |
| 酉 | Yu 유 | Rooster | Metal | 17:00–19:00 |
| 戌 | Sul 술 | Dog | Earth | 19:00–21:00 |
| 亥 | Hae 해 | Pig | Water | 21:00–23:00 |
Each branch secretly contains one to three stems inside it – the hidden stems (지장간). 寅 the Tiger is wood on the surface, but carries fire and earth within. This is why two charts with identical surface elements can behave differently, and why a good reading looks inside the branches, not just at the visible eight characters.
Your free chart shows each character with its element and romanization – decoded like this page.
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