BaZi, the Chinese zodiac and Western astrology: how they differ
A one-page guide to what BaZi is: how it relates to your zodiac animal and your Western sign, the character that stands for you, how the five elements relate, and why the BaZi year starts at Lichun.
Your zodiac animal is only your birth year
Many people know their Chinese zodiac animal. It comes only from the year you were born, so everyone born that year shares it. BaZi (八字) uses four moments: the year, month, day and hour of your birth. Each is written with two characters, eight in all, which is why it is called BaZi, "eight characters", or the Four Pillars.
How it compares with Western astrology
Your Western "sign" is your sun sign: where the sun was on the day you were born. A full birth chart adds the moon, the rising sign and more. BaZi is to your zodiac animal roughly what a full birth chart is to a sun sign: one is a single point, the other is the whole picture.
Your Day Master: the character that stands for you
The first character of your birth day is your Day Master. There are ten: 甲 Jia, 乙 Yi, 丙 Bing, 丁 Ding, 戊 Wu, 己 Ji, 庚 Geng, 辛 Xin, 壬 Ren and 癸 Gui. Each is the yang or yin side of one of the five elements: Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal and Water. The classical text Di Tian Sui (滴天髓) gives each one a temperament, and that is where our personality cards come from.
How the five elements relate
The elements feed one another: Wood feeds Fire, Fire makes Earth, Earth yields Metal, Metal carries Water, and Water nourishes Wood. They also keep one another in check: Wood holds Earth, Earth contains Water, Water puts out Fire, Fire melts Metal, and Metal cuts Wood. A comparison looks at how two people's elements fit together, and at which months the two of you are in step.
Months follow the solar terms, and the year starts at Lichun
BaZi months do not follow calendar months. Each begins at one of the twelve major solar terms: Lichun (Start of Spring), Jingzhe (Awakening of Insects), Qingming (Pure Brightness) and so on. The BaZi year begins at Lichun, around February 4, not on January 1 or at Lunar New Year. The 24 solar terms are a calendar developed in China by observing the sun's yearly path; in 2016 they were added to UNESCO's Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity (the listing covers this calendar knowledge, not readings).
What Lanternfair does, and does not do
We use BaZi only to read temperament, relationships and the rhythm of the year, and every line cites the classical text it comes from. We give no verdicts, do not predict specific events, and sell nothing that claims to alter your future. All readings are for entertainment and self-reflection.