Ba Zi/Heavenly Stems

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Heavenly Stems[edit | edit source]

There are ten Heavenly Stems (represented by the acronyms "H" or "HS") used in the construction of the Four Pillars of Ba Zi (四柱八字), a method of Chinese Divination based on a person's date and time of birth. For example, both the acronyms "HS1" and "H1" represent the first Heavenly Stem, namely "Jia" (Yang Wood), as shown in the tables below.

S/N Heavenly
Stem
(天干)
Notation Chinese
Pinyin
Simplified
Chinese
Yin/Yang
(阴阳)
Five
Elements
(五行)
Zang/Fu
(organ)
1 Jia HS1 jiǎ Yang Wood Gall Bladder
2 Yi HS2 Yin Wood Liver
3 Bing HS3 bǐng Yang Fire Small Intestine
4 Ding HS4 dīng Yin Fire Heart
5 Wu HS5 Yang Earth Stomach
6 Ji HS6 Yin Earth Spleen
7 Geng HS7 gēng Yang Metal Large Intestine
8 Xin HS8 xīn Yin Metal Lung
9 Ren HS9 rén Yang Water Urinary Bladder
10 Gui HS10 guǐ Yin Water Kidney

Heavenly Stem Combinations and Clashes[edit | edit source]

HS H1 H2 H3 H4 H5 H6 H7 H8 H9 H10
H1 Clash
Element
5Com
Earth
Clash
Direction
H2 Clash
Element
5Com
Metal
Clash
Direction
H3 Clash
Element
5Com
Water
Clash
Direction
H4 Clash
Element
5Com
Wood
Clash
Direction
H5 Clash
Element
Clash
Element
5Com
Fire
H6 5Com
Earth
Clash
Element
Clash
Element
H7 Clash
Direction
5Com
Metal
Clash
Element
H8 Clash
Direction
5Com
Water
Clash
Element
H9 Clash
Direction
5Com
Wood
Clash
Element
H10 Clash
Direction
5Com
Fire
Clash
Element

Notes:

  1. In the above table, "5Com" means the 5 Combinations of two adjacent Heavenly Stems. These combinations result in a good structure of a person's Ba Zi
  2. "Clash" means that the Heavenly Stems clash with each other in the Ba Zi, when they are next to each other. Clashes will result in a poor structure of a person's Ba Zi.
  3. If there is a Clash of two adjacent Stems, as well as a Combination with another Stem, the Clash will not occur, as Combinations take precedence over Clashes.