The Concept of the Four Pillars of Destiny
Utilizing the time of one’s birth—namely, the year, month, day, and hour arranged into a destiny chart, each time concept forming a pillar, totaling four pillars. For instance, a year of “Jia Zi,” a month of “Bing Yin,” a day of “Jia Zi,” and an hour of “Jia Zi,” thus, the study of destiny is also known as the study of the four pillars. Each pillar consists of two characters representing heavenly stems and earthly branches, totaling eight characters across the four pillars, hence the practice of fortune-telling is also referred to as “analyzing the eight characters.” Based on the relationships of generation and restriction among the attributes of yin and yang, the Five Elements of heaven stems and earthly branches, one can speculate about a person’s fortunes and misfortunes.
The reason why methods such as Four Pillars Divination are also known as Astrology is because they evolved from ancient astrological practices. Ancients believed in the correspondence between heaven and earth. The division of the nine provinces of the realm corresponds to the constellations; all living beings correspond to the constellations. The elements—metal, wood, water, fire, and earth—on earth also correspond to celestial bodies: Metal Star, Wood Star, Water Star, Fire Star, and Earth Star. The sun represents yang, and the moon represents yin, thus combining the theories of yin and yang with celestial patterns. One’s destiny is influenced by the Qi of the Five Elements in celestial patterns, and different individuals possess different Qi of celestial patterns, thus leading to distinct destinies. Four Pillars Divination is composed of heavenly stems and earthly branches, yin and yang, the four seasons and directions, the twelve palaces, constellations, and divine influences, among other components, depicting the diverse and colorful tapestry of life.
Heavenly Stems and Earthly Branches, and the Five Elements
Ancients regarded heaven as stems and earth as branches. There are ten heavenly stems: Jia, Yi, Bing, Ding, Wu, Ji, Geng, Xin, Ren, and Gui. The twelve earthly branches comprise: Rat, Ox, Tiger, Rabbit, Dragon, Snake, Horse, Goat, Monkey, Rooster, Dog, and Pig. The combination of ten heavenly stems and twelve earthly branches forms sixty units, with odd-numbered heavenly stems paired with odd-numbered earthly branches, and even-numbered heavenly stems with even-numbered earthly branches. This sequence, starting from Jia Zi and ending with Gui Hai, is known as the Jia Zi cycle. Ancients utilized this method to record years, months, and days, thus perpetuating a continuous cycle.
Table of Time and Earthly Branches:
– 23 ─ 1 o’clock: Rat hour
– 1 ─ 3 o’clock: Ox hour
– 3 ─ 5 o’clock: Tiger hour
– 5 ─ 7 o’clock: Rabbit hour
– 7 ─ 9 o’clock: Dragon hour
– 9 ─ 11 o’clock: Snake hour
– 11 ─ 13 o’clock: Horse hour
– 13 ─ 15 o’clock: Goat hour
– 15─ 17 o’clock: Monkey hour
– 17 ─ 19 o’clock: Rooster hour
– 19─ 21 o’clock: Dog hour
– 21─ 23 o’clock: Pig hour
In the <>, it is stated that the stems and branches were ingeniously created. Stem and branch, “extracting the essence of the five elements, constructed according to the celestial mechanism, starting with Jia and Yi to name the days, called stems, and starting with Zi and Chou to name the months, called branches. When dealing with matters of the heavens, use the days; when dealing with matters of the earth, use the months. The differentiation of yin and yang gives rise to the names of branches and stems. “`html
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