Chinese Astrology Four Pillars Birth Chart
Chinese Stem and Branch Calendar
The Chinese astrology birth chart comes from the Chinese Stem-Branch calendar, which is different from the Chinese lunar calendar. Chinese lunar calendar uses the cycle of Moon for the Month and uses the cycle of Sun for Year and Day. The day in the Chinese lunar calendar is moon day. There is an independent counting system for Day is called 
Heavenly Stem Earthly Branch, which short name is 
Stem-Branch. The months using in the Stem-Branch are the solar months, the sun positions on the tropical zodiac.
No one knows who invented the Stem-Branch for the Day counting system, but legend has it that characters of Day Stem-Branch were found on
the Oracle bones. The Animal names of Stem-Branch were applied into
the Month system around 206 B.C. (between the 
Chin and 
Han dynasties). The Stem-Branch was applied into the Year system around 164 B.C.
The counting system of Stem-Branch is a 60-day cycle system. There are 10 Stems and 12 Branches. The Stem and the Branch are used together. The Stem is used in front of (on top of) the Branch. The Chinese call them Heavenly Stem and Earthly Branch and use a specific sequence as a counting system for the calendar.
Sequence Order |
|
| 10 Stems |  |
| 12 Branches |  |
| 10 Stems |
 |
| 12 Branches |  |
No one knows who connected the 12 animal names with 12 Branches, either. Animal names are easy for people to remember the sequence. 10 Stems and 12 Branches are combined into a cycle of 60 counting systems which begin from
Wooden Rat and ending with
Water
Pig. 1999 is the year of the Brown Rabbit which is the 16th of the Stem-Branch system. The Year 2000 is the White (Golden) Dragon.
In the counting system, a Yang Stem must match a Yang Branch and a Yin Stem must match a Yin Branch. That's why the Wooden Rat
means Male Wooden Rat. There is no female Wooden Rat
in the calendar.
Fill Pillars Birth Chart
Chinese Yin-Yang Five-Element scholars applied Stem-Branch to the Five Elements which are Metal, Water, Wood, Fire, and Earth. Five Elements can be broken down into Yin and Yang as Yang Wood, Yin Wood, Yang Fire, Yin Fire, Yang Earth, Yin Earth, Yang Water, and Yin Water
. All the animals are divided into Yin and Yang group. Animals in odd sequence order in the Yang group and the other animals in even sequence order in the Yin group. Each animal contains different Five Elements.
Five-Element scholars know people's Stems and Branches from people's birthdays and times. They combine yearly, monthly, daily, and hourly Stems and Branches together into an astrology birth chart. Five-Element scholars use Yin Yang Five Elements relationships in the birth chart to predict people's fortune.
Chinese also call the birth chart Fill Pillars or Eight Characters. For more information about how to read the birth chart, please read the Lucky Element on the birth chart page.
Entire Major Cycles Detail Predictions
Fortune Angel Chinese Astrology Software
Fortune Angel Chinese Astrology software is a Chinese Five Element application. It calculates the Chinese astrology birth chart of Four-Pillars (Ba-Zi) and conations the prediction messages of yearly, monthly, and daily cycles. It includes Five Element scores, the life balance chart, the opportunity chart, the cycle of love, the fleeting time, multiple love matches, and peeking the future days. It's an excellent tool to learn Chinese astrology.