How to Read a Saju Chart: A Beginner's Walkthrough

A Saju chart looks intimidating the first time you see it — a grid of unfamiliar characters in four columns. But the structure is actually logical, and once you know what each part means you can read the basic shape of any chart, including your own. Here is the beginner's walkthrough.

The grid: four pillars, two rows

A Saju chart is a 4-by-2 grid. The four columns are your hour, day, month, and year of birth (often shown right to left). Each column has two cells:

• The top cell is a Heavenly Stem.
• The bottom cell is an Earthly Branch.

That gives eight cells total — which is why the Chinese name for the same system literally means "eight characters." These eight are the entire raw material of the reading.

Step 1: find your day master

The single most important cell is the top of the day column — the Heavenly Stem of your birth day. This is called the day master, and it represents you. Every other element in the chart is interpreted in relation to it.

There are ten possible stems, each tied to one of the five elements (wood, fire, earth, metal, water) in either a yang or yin form. So your day master might be "yang wood" or "yin water," and that becomes the anchor of the whole reading.

Step 2: count the five elements

Next, look across all eight cells and tally which of the five elements appear, and how often. A chart heavy in fire reads very differently from one with no fire at all. Traditional practice pays close attention to:

• Which elements are abundant (strong influences in your life).
• Which are missing (areas you may need to cultivate or balance).
• Whether your day master is supported or drained by the surrounding elements.

Step 3: read the branches for relationships and timing

The bottom row — the Earthly Branches — carries the twelve animal signs and feeds into compatibility (궁합) and the timing of your luck cycles. This is where a reading moves from "what you are like" to "when things tend to happen."

You don't have to calculate it by hand

Building the grid manually means converting your birth date through the lunar calendar and the sexagenary cycle — error-prone work. It is far easier to generate the chart and then learn to read it.

You can produce your full Saju chart — pillars, day master, and element balance — for free here:

How to read your Saju chart

Generate yours, find your day master, count your elements, and the grid stops being intimidating.