Chinese Astrology Glossary

30 terms from the Chinese calendar, the almanac and BaZi chart reading, each with a plain definition, the reason it matters, and a link to the page on this site that uses it. Where the tradition has an actual table behind a term — the twelve branches, the hidden stems, the six harmonies, the Day Officers — the table is printed on the term's page, computed rather than transcribed.

If you are here to find your animal sign, the short answer is on What is my Chinese zodiac sign? — the boundary you need is Lichun, not 1 January.

All 30 terms

Listed in the order a reader usually meets them: chart basics first, then the calendar, then the relationship tables, then feng shui and date selection.
Term	Chinese	Pinyin	In one line
BaZi	八字	Bā Zì	The eight characters of a birth chart: four stems and four branches.
Four Pillars	四柱	Sì Zhù	Year, month, day and hour, each written as one stem over one branch.
Day Master	日主	Rì Zhǔ	The stem of the day pillar — the character that stands for the person.
Heavenly Stems	天干	Tiān Gān	The ten-term cycle: five elements in yang and yin form.
Earthly Branches	地支	Dì Zhī	The twelve-term cycle behind the animals, the double hours and the solar months.
Hidden Stems	藏干	Cáng Gān	The stems concealed inside each branch — one, two or three per branch.
Five Elements	五行	Wǔ Xíng	Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal and Water, linked by a producing and a controlling cycle.
Yin and Yang	阴阳	Yīn Yáng	The two-fold polarity that doubles every element and halves every cycle.
Lichun	立春	Lì Chūn	Start of Spring — the instant the zodiac year actually changes.
Solar Terms	节气	Jié Qì	Twenty-four points around the sun’s path; twelve of them move the calendar.
True Solar Time	真太阳时	Zhēn Tài Yáng Shí	Clock time corrected to where the sun actually is above your birthplace.
Late Zi Hour	晚子时	Wǎn Zǐ Shí	Births between 23:00 and midnight, where two schools disagree about the day.
Tai Sui	太岁	Tài Suì	The Grand Duke of the year — the year branch, and the deity who presides over it.
Sui Po	岁破	Suì Pò	The Year Breaker: the direction and the days opposite the Tai Sui.
Ben Ming Nian	本命年	Běn Mìng Nián	Your own animal year, which comes round every twelve years.
Zodiac Trines (San He)	三合	Sān Hé	Four groups of three signs that combine into a single element.
Six Harmonies (Liu He)	六合	Liù Hé	Six pairs of branches that combine, each producing an element.
Six Clashes (Liu Chong)	六冲	Liù Chōng	Branches six positions apart: opposite hours, months and directions.
Punishments (Xing)	刑	Xíng	Three-branch and self-punishment groups, read as friction over obligations.
Harms (Hai)	害	Hài	Six pairs read as quiet interference rather than open conflict.
Ten Gods	十神	Shí Shén	The ten ways another element can relate to your Day Master.
Useful God (Yong Shen)	用神	Yòng Shén	The element a chart most needs — the target of every traditional remedy.
Luck Pillars	大运	Dà Yùn	Ten-year periods that add a fifth pillar to the chart in turn.
Flying Stars	飞星	Fēi Xīng	Nine numbers that move around a nine-square grid each year.
Kua Number	卦命	Guà Mìng	A personal number from one to nine used to pick favourable directions.
Tong Shu	通書	Tōng Shū	The Chinese almanac: what each day is suitable and unsuitable for.
Day Officers	建除	Jiàn Chú	A twelve-day cycle of duties, from Establish to Close.
Sheng Xiao	生肖	Shēng Xiào	The twelve animal signs — the popular face of the branch cycle.
Lunar New Year vs Lichun	农历年 vs 立春	Nónglì Nián / Lì Chūn	Two different year boundaries, and why they disagree for a few days.
Na Yin	纳音	Nà Yīn	A second element assigned to each stem-branch pair, in poetic form.