Terms (A to Z)
Authority (Gwan-seong) · Balanced (Jung-hwa) · Clash (Chung) · Combination (Hap) · Controlling cycle (Sang-geuk) · Day Master (Il-gan) · Day pillar (Il-ju) · Decade cycle (Dae-un) · Earth (To) · Earthly Branches (Ji-ji) · Eight Characters (Palja) · Expression (Sik-sang) · Fire (Hwa) · Five Elements (O-haeng) · Generating cycle (Sang-saeng) · Gentle chart (Sin-yak) · Heavenly Stems (Cheon-gan) · Hidden stems (Ji-jang-gan) · Hour pillar (Si-ju) · Ipchun (start of spring) · Korean lunisolar calendar (Eum-ryeok) · Leap month (Yun-dal) · Manseryeok (Saju calendar) · Metal (Geum) · Month branch (Wol-ji) · Month cycle (Wol-un) · Natal chart (Wonguk) · Peers (Bi-geop) · Pillar · Saju (Four Pillars) · Solar calendar (Yang-ryeok) · Solar terms (Jeol-gi) · Stem-branch pair (Gan-ji) · Strong chart (Sin-gang) · Support (In-seong) · Supporting element (Hui-sin) · Ten Gods (Sip-sin) · Traditional symbols (Sin-sal) · Useful element (Yong-sin) · Water (Su) · Wealth (Jae-seong) · Wood (Mok) · Year cycle (Se-un) · Yin and yang (Eum-yang) · Zodiac animal (Tti)
Plain-English definitions
Authority (Gwan-seong) 官星
The energy that governs you: responsibility, position and commitments.
It firms you up inside rules and roles. A chart with a lot of it tends to feel a strong sense of duty.
Balanced (Jung-hwa) 中和
A chart where supportive and draining influences are roughly equal.
It does not lean strongly either way. Here, energy that opens up the flow is the one that is used.
Clash (Chung) 沖
A relationship where characters push against each other.
It is a pair of opposite characters that push away from each other. It is read as a spot where change comes easily, not as something bad.
Combination (Hap) 合
A relationship where characters join and blend.
It names pairs of characters in a chart that pull toward each other. In a reading it appears as a place where things fit together.
Controlling cycle (Sang-geuk) 相剋
The relationship where one element holds the next in check.
Wood holds Earth, Earth holds Water, Water holds Fire, Fire holds Metal and Metal holds Wood. It is read as a balancing pair, not as something bad.
Day Master (Il-gan) 日干
The top character of the day pillar, the reference point for reading the whole chart.
The other seven characters are read by how they relate to it. SajuPath describes the ten Day Masters as natural images such as the Great Tree, the Candle or the Great River.
Day pillar (Il-ju) 日柱
The pillar of your birth day: the [[ilgan|Day Master]] and the branch beneath it.
People born on the same day share the same day pillar. The 60 day pillars follow each other in a fixed order, one per day.
Decade cycle (Dae-un) 大運
The big current that changes every ten years.
Every ten years a new pair of characters comes in and becomes the backdrop of that decade. The starting age comes from the number of days from the birth date to a solar term, divided by three (three days stand for one year).
Earth (To) 土
The energy of grounding and holding steady.
It sits at the centre and joins one season to the next. Among the stems it is Mu and Gi; among the branches, Jin, Sul, Chuk and Mi.
Earthly Branches (Ji-ji) 地支
The bottom character of each pillar, one of twelve: Ja, Chuk, In, Myo, Jin, Sa, O, Mi, Sin, Yu, Sul, Hae.
The twelve match the zodiac animals and also connect to months and hours of the day. They are read as the energy of the earth.
Eight Characters (Palja) 八字
The eight characters that make up a Saju chart.
Each of the four pillars holds two characters. If the birth time is unknown, the hour pillar is left blank and six characters are read.
Expression (Sik-sang) 食傷
The energy you give out: speech, talent, making and expressing.
It is the strength to bring what is in your head into the open.
Fire (Hwa) 火
The energy of showing and expressing.
It blazes outward like summer. Among the stems it is Byeong and Jeong; among the branches, Sa and O.
Five Elements (O-haeng) 五行
Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal and Water, the five kinds of energy a chart is made of.
Each of the eight characters belongs to one of the five, and how many of each there are sets the base colour of a chart.
Generating cycle (Sang-saeng) 相生
The relationship where one element feeds the next.
Wood feeds Fire, Fire feeds Earth, Earth feeds Metal, Metal feeds Water and Water feeds Wood, which closes the circle.
Gentle chart (Sin-yak) 身弱
A chart with little supportive energy for the Day Master.
It draws strength from the people around it and from learning. Here, energy that fills it up is the useful kind. It does not mean weak; it is simply a way of reading where support matters.
Heavenly Stems (Cheon-gan) 天干
The top character of each pillar, one of ten: Gap, Eul, Byeong, Jeong, Mu, Gi, Gyeong, Sin, Im, Gye.
Each of the ten belongs to one of the Five Elements and they alternate between yang and yin. They are read as the energy that comes down from the sky.
Hidden stems (Ji-jang-gan) 地藏干
The Heavenly Stems tucked inside an Earthly Branch.
One branch is seen as holding one to three stems, and they are read together with the characters that show on the surface.
Hour pillar (Si-ju) 時柱
The pillar of your birth hour.
The character changes roughly every two hours, giving twelve possibilities. If the birth time is unknown, this pillar is left blank and six characters are read.
Ipchun (start of spring) 立春
The solar term marking the start of spring, around February 4.
Saju begins its year at Ipchun, not on New Year's Day or the lunar new year. A birth in January or early February can therefore carry the previous year's characters.
Korean lunisolar calendar (Eum-ryeok) 陰曆
The traditional calendar that follows the phases of the Moon.
Seollal and Chuseok follow it. If your birthday is in this calendar, pick it and say whether the month is a leap month.
Leap month (Yun-dal) 閏月
An extra month the lunisolar calendar adds to keep in step with the seasons.
It is the second copy of a month in a year that has two. If your lunisolar birthday falls in a leap month, it must be picked separately when converting to a solar date.
Manseryeok (Saju calendar) 萬歲曆
A calendar that turns dates into Saju characters.
Put in a birth date and time and it gives the eight characters and the solar-term moments. SajuPath's free calculator does this inside your browser only.
Metal (Geum) 金
The energy of sorting things out and seeing them through.
It gathers and refines like autumn. Among the stems it is Gyeong and Sin; among the branches, Sin and Yu.
Month branch (Wol-ji) 月支
The bottom character of the month pillar.
It shows which season's energy your birth month carries, so it carries a lot of weight when a chart is read. A new month begins on a solar term, not on the 1st.
Month cycle (Wol-un) 月運
The energy that comes in with each month.
The stem-branch pair of that month is its Wol-un. A month changes on a solar term, not on the 1st.
Natal chart (Wonguk) 原局
The fixed set of eight characters you are born with.
It is kept apart from the cycles that arrive later, such as Dae-un and Se-un. The table in a Saju calculator is your natal chart.
Peers (Bi-geop) 比劫
The same energy as yours: friends, peers and allies.
It is also the strength to push your own view forward. A chart with a lot of it leans toward deciding for itself.
Pillar 柱
One block of two characters for the year, month, day or hour.
There are four: the year, month, day and hour pillars. Each pillar has a top character (Heavenly Stem) and a bottom character (Earthly Branch).
Saju (Four Pillars) 四柱
Your birth year, month, day and hour, written as four pillars of two characters each.
That makes eight characters in all, which is why it is also called the Eight Characters. The same rules always give the same chart for the same birth date and time. It is known as BaZi in Chinese.
Solar calendar (Yang-ryeok) 陽曆
The Sun-based calendar we use every day.
Saju calculation continues from a solar date. A date entered in the lunisolar calendar is converted first.
Solar terms (Jeol-gi) 節氣
The 24 points of the solar year, each tied to the Sun's position.
They carry names such as Ipchun. A Saju month changes at the moment one of twelve of them arrives, so Saju months do not line up with calendar dates.
Stem-branch pair (Gan-ji) 干支
One Heavenly Stem joined with one Earthly Branch.
Pairing the ten stems with the twelve branches in order gives 60 combinations, and every year, month, day and hour carries one of them. 2027 is a Ding-Wei year.
Strong chart (Sin-gang) 身強
A chart with a lot of supportive energy for the Day Master.
Energy that matches or nurtures the Day Master is plentiful, so it leans toward pushing ahead on its own. Here, energy that draws strength out is the useful kind.
Support (In-seong) 印星
The energy that nurtures you: learning and a place to lean on.
It is the strength to learn, absorb and rest. A chart with a lot of it tends to be thoughtful and careful.
Supporting element (Hui-sin) 喜神
The energy that backs up the [[yongsin|useful element]].
It stands beside the useful element and pushes in the same direction. The two are described together as the energy that works for you.
Ten Gods (Sip-sin) 十神
The names for the role each other character plays, measured from the Day Master.
There are five families: peers (Bi-geop), expression (Sik-sang), wealth (Jae-seong), authority (Gwan-seong) and support (In-seong). Each splits by yin and yang, which gives ten.
Traditional symbols (Sin-sal) 神煞
Markers with a special meaning read from how the eight characters relate.
They carry names such as Dohwa and Yeokma. SajuPath's report lists them as traditional symbols and explains each in plain words.
Useful element (Yong-sin) 用神
The energy that brings a chart's eight characters back into balance.
SajuPath looks at whether the Day Master is strong or gentle: it picks the energy that draws strength out when there is too much, and the energy that fills up when there is too little. Schools differ on this, so read it as how SajuPath calculates.
Water (Su) 水
The energy of thinking things through.
It gathers inward and seeps in like winter. Among the stems it is Im and Gye; among the branches, Hae and Ja.
Wealth (Jae-seong) 財星
The energy you manage: money, results and tangible achievement.
It ties to work turning into visible results, and it sits close to a practical sense of reality.
Wood (Mok) 木
The energy of learning new things and growing.
It rises like spring. Among the stems it is Gap and Eul; among the branches, In and Myo.
Year cycle (Se-un) 歲運
The energy that comes in with each year.
The stem-branch pair of that year is its Se-un. The year changes at Ipchun, not on January 1.
Yin and yang (Eum-yang) 陰陽
The two sides that every stem and branch belongs to.
Each character is either yang or yin, and they alternate in order. Whether a Dae-un cycle runs forward or backward is decided by the yin or yang of the birth year and by gender.
Zodiac animal (Tti) 띠
The animal attached to the branch of your birth year.
Twelve animals pair with the twelve Earthly Branches. Because the Saju year turns at Ipchun, the animal is read from Ipchun too.