About this tool
Saju (pronounced sah-joo) is the Korean way of reading the Four Pillars of Destiny. The word means 'four pillars': your birth year, month, day and hour are each written as a pair of characters, a Heavenly Stem and an Earthly Branch, giving eight characters in all. Each character belongs to one of the Five Elements: Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal and Water, and counting them shows which elements are strong in your chart and which are quiet. The stem of your birth day is called the Day Master. It stands for you, and its element and yin-yang polarity are the starting point for reading your personality. If you have heard of Chinese BaZi, the calculation system is the same: both use the Four Pillars, which is why 'Saju' and 'BaZi' are often translated as the same thing. What differs is the interpretation traditions, terminology and the way people use them in daily life. Korean Saju is popular as a casual, social activity, from saju cafes in Seoul to friends comparing charts. You do not need to know your birth time. Choose 'Time unknown' and you will still get the year, month and day pillars, which is the majority of the picture. This calculator converts lunar dates, switches the year at Ipchun (the start of spring) and the month at each solar term, and works out everything in your browser, so your birth data is never stored or sent anywhere. Saju is for fun and self-reflection only. It is not a prediction or professional advice and does not replace professional counseling.
How to use
- Choose solar or lunar calendar, then enter your birth year, month and day (tick Leap month for a lunar leap month).
- Pick your birth time: unknown, one of the 12 two-hour blocks, or an exact hour and minute.
- Optionally choose a gender to also see your 10-year Daeun luck cycles.
- Press Read my Saju to see your four pillars, Five Elements chart, Day Master and tips, then share it with friends.