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Published on October 15, 2026
Reading BaZi starts with eight characters. Your BaZi (八字) chart, also called the Four Pillars of Destiny, is built from the year, month, day and hour of your birth. Each pillar holds two characters, which gives the chart its name: "ba zi" literally means eight characters.
Free apps now plot a chart in seconds, and many Singaporeans are curious enough to try. This guide walks you through how to read the chart yourself, using one simple worked example. It also explains honestly where self-reading stops and why a bazi reading singapore with an experienced master goes much further.
Step 1: Get Your Birth Time Right
Every reading depends on an accurate chart, and in Singapore there are two common traps.
The first is the clock. Singapore's standard time is GMT+8, but our longitude sits much closer to GMT+7. The National Library Board's BiblioAsia notes that Singapore kept local time of about GMT+6:55 before 1905, and only moved to GMT+8 on 1 January 1982. Before that, from 1945 to 1981, clocks ran at GMT+7:30. Because BaZi hours follow the sun, a Singapore birth time on today's clock is roughly an hour ahead of local solar time. For anyone born before 1982, the gap is about 35 minutes instead. This can move a birth from one two-hour BaZi period into the previous one.
The second is the start of the year. The BaZi year begins at Li Chun (立春), the Start of Spring, around 4 February, not at Chinese New Year. A baby born on 5 February 2027 is still a Horse in the lunar calendar, because Chinese New Year falls on 6 February. In BaZi, however, that baby already has a Goat year pillar, because Li Chun arrived on 4 February.
Step 2: Learn the Heavenly Stems and Earthly Branches
The top character of each pillar is a Heavenly Stem (天干). There are ten, in Yang and Yin pairs:
- Wood: Jia 甲 (Yang), Yi 乙 (Yin)
- Fire: Bing 丙 (Yang), Ding 丁 (Yin)
- Earth: Wu 戊 (Yang), Ji 己 (Yin)
- Metal: Geng 庚 (Yang), Xin 辛 (Yin)
- Water: Ren 壬 (Yang), Gui 癸 (Yin)
The bottom character is an Earthly Branch (地支). The twelve branches correspond to the twelve zodiac animals, and each carries a main element. Zi 子 (Rat) and Hai 亥 (Pig) are Water. Yin 寅 (Tiger) and Mao 卯 (Rabbit) are Wood. Si 巳 (Snake) and Wu 午 (Horse) are Fire. Shen 申 (Monkey) and You 酉 (Rooster) are Metal. Chen 辰 (Dragon), Xu 戌 (Dog), Chou 丑 (Ox) and Wei 未 (Goat) are Earth.
Step 3: Find Your Day Master
The Heavenly Stem of your day pillar is your Day Master (日主). It represents you, and every other character in the chart is read in relation to it. This is why BaZi is far more personal than the Chinese zodiac. Two people born in the same year share a zodiac animal, but they may have completely different Day Masters.
Step 4: Read the Five Elements Balance
Once you know your Day Master, look at how the other elements relate to it. The Five Elements interact in two cycles. In the production cycle, Wood feeds Fire, Fire creates Earth, Earth bears Metal, Metal carries Water and Water nourishes Wood. In the control cycle, Wood breaks Earth, Earth dams Water, Water extinguishes Fire, Fire melts Metal and Metal cuts Wood.
These relationships give the Ten Gods (十神). For an Earth Day Master, for example, Fire is the Resource element, Metal is Output, Water is Wealth, Wood is Influence (career and authority), and other Earth characters are Companions.
Step 5: Understand the 10-Year Luck Pillars
Your natal chart is fixed, but your life moves through 10-Year Luck Pillars (大运, Da Yun). Each one brings a new stem and branch that interacts with your chart for a decade. The starting age and the direction of the pillars depend on your gender, whether your year stem is Yang or Yin, and how far your birth is from the nearest solar term. This is why two siblings with similar charts can experience very different decades.
A Simple Worked Example
Consider a man born in Singapore on 15 March 1990 at 11:30am by the clock. After adjusting for true solar time, his birth is closer to 10:15am. His chart reads:
- Year pillar: Geng Wu 庚午 (Yang Metal over Horse)
- Month pillar: Ji Mao 己卯 (Yin Earth over Rabbit)
- Day pillar: Ji Mao 己卯 (Yin Earth over Rabbit)
- Hour pillar: Ji Si 己巳 (Yin Earth over Snake)
Using the clock time without adjustment would give a Geng Wu 庚午 hour pillar instead, which shows how much Step 1 matters.
His Day Master is Ji 己, Yin Earth, like soft and fertile soil. He was born in the Rabbit month, when Wood is at its strongest, and Wood is the Influence element that controls Earth. Fire appears in the Horse and Snake branches and supports him as Resource. A quick count also shows no visible Water at all, and Water is his Wealth element.
A beginner might stop here and conclude that he has "no wealth luck". This is exactly the kind of conclusion a professional would never draw from a simple count. His Luck Pillars move forward from around age 7: Geng Chen 庚辰, Xin Si 辛巳, Ren Wu 壬午 from 2017, and Gui Wei 癸未 from 2027. Water stems arrive in his Luck Pillars from 2017 onwards. Judging what that means requires the deeper analysis below.
Where Self-Reading Stops
Plotting a chart is the easy part. Interpreting it is a different skill. A reliable bazi analysis has to account for:
- Hidden stems: Each branch contains one to three hidden stems. The Snake, for instance, hides Fire, Metal and Earth.
- Clashes and combinations: Branches can clash (the Rabbit clashes with the Rooster), combine, punish or harm one another, changing the strength of whole elements.
- Day Master strength: Whether the Day Master is strong or weak decides which elements help and which hurt.
- The useful element (用神): The element that brings the chart into balance, which guides career, environment and timing advice.
- Timing: How each Luck Pillar and each year, such as the coming 2027 Fire Goat year, interacts with the natal chart.
What a Professional Reading with Master Rayden Adds
Master Rayden Sim was born into a feng shui family in 1969, trained under his father from childhood and has read BaZi charts professionally since 1989. He was certified as a Full Professional Geomancy Master in 2002 and received the Circle of Excellence Award in 2012 as one of Singapore's Top 5 Feng Shui Masters. You can read more about Master Rayden's background.
In a feng shui life reading, he corrects the chart for true solar time, assesses Day Master strength, identifies your useful element and maps your Luck Pillars against real decisions. These might be a job switch, a business launch, a property purchase or the timing of marriage. For career and investment questions, his Professional Life Planning consultation applies the same analysis to your working life.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q: Is BaZi the same as my Chinese zodiac sign?
A: No. Your zodiac sign comes from just one branch, the year branch. BaZi uses all eight characters, with your Day Master at the centre.
Q: What if I do not know my exact birth time?
A: Singapore hospital birth records usually state the time. If it is unknown, a master can still read three pillars, although hour-related detail, such as children and later life, will be less precise.
Q: Can free BaZi apps be trusted?
A: They are useful for plotting the pillars. Most do not correct for Singapore's time zone history, and none can weigh clashes, combinations and the useful element the way an experienced master does.
Q: I was born in early February. Which year pillar do I have?
A: It depends on whether you were born before or after Li Chun, the solar term around 4 February, not Chinese New Year.
Book Your BaZi Reading with Master Rayden
Learning to read your own chart is a rewarding first step. When you are ready to turn those eight characters into clear guidance for your career, wealth and relationships, Master Rayden offers personal, one-to-one readings, never generic software reports. Free consultation available.
Book your BaZi reading today:
Call 8369 0114 or WhatsApp: 9695 1938
Email: enquiry@tianlufengshui.com
Explore more at: https://www.tianlugeomancy.com/ba-zi-personal-life-reading
References
- National Library Board, BiblioAsia: "Daylight Robbery: Singapore's Shifting Time Zones" (Vol. 21, Issue 3, Oct–Dec 2025). Available at: https://biblioasia.nlb.gov.sg/vol-21/issue-3/oct-dec-2025/singapore-time-zones/
- National Library Board, BiblioAsia Podcast: "Changing Times: Time Zone Changes in Singapore since 1905". Available at: https://biblioasia.nlb.gov.sg/podcast/changing-times-time-zone-changes-in-singapore-since-1905/
- Time and Date: Chinese calendar and solar terms reference. Available at: https://www.timeanddate.com/calendar/china/
