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Bazi 101: Four Pillars, Yin Yang & the Five Elements
Understanding the balance of the Five Elements in a Bazi chart can help one to achieve harmony, enhance personal strengths, and minimise challenges.

Chinese New Year is just around the corner. If you haven’t made your New Year’s resolutions, now is the time to get started. Bazi (八字) – an ancient Chinese metaphysics system – is a popular life analysis tool that can offer insights for personal growth.

Planning to get a Bazi reading or become a Bazi Master in 2025? You’d first need to know basic concepts such as the Four Pillars, Yin and Yang and the Five Elements (五行).

Dating back to the Han Dynasty (206 BC – 220 AD), Bazi was once used by scholars and government officials to predict the future and make important decisions. This ancient tool has evolved over the centuries. To date, Bazi is still favoured by many to navigate life’s ups and downs.

Also known as the Eight Characters or Four Pillars of Destiny, Bazi looks into the unique set of characteristics surrounding the date and hour of one’s birth, so as to interpret people, situations and objects in one’s life. A Bazi chart can reflect an individual’s destiny, which is why Bazi is often labelled as a destiny code.

Tip: Fast-track your knowledge on Bazi in our upcoming Hybrid Bazi Courses by Way Academy. Message us via WhatsApp for more information.

What are the Four Pillars?
The Four Pillars refer to an arrangement of the birth date and time in a Bazi chart (aka Four-Pillar Chart) as shown below. The Four Pillars are, namely the ‘year pillar’, month pillar’, ‘day pillar’ and ‘hour pillar’.