BAZI KNOWLEDGE BASE
Earthly Branch directions: north, east, south and west
Earthly Branches (the twelve symbols used in the lower position of each chart column) have traditional directional associations as well as uses for years, months and time periods. Zi marks north, Mao east, Wu south and You west, with the other eight branches placed in sequence between them. The correspondence explains why an article links Mao, spring and east; it does not turn your Four Pillars (the chart’s four birth-time columns: year, month, day and hour) into a floor plan.
The twelve-branch direction table
With north at the top and east on the right, read clockwise from Zi. This table describes the broad positions of the twelve branches, not measured compass bearings. A south-up diagram changes their position on paper, not their directional associations.
| Branch | Broad direction |
|---|---|
| Zi | North |
| Chou | Northeast, toward north |
| Yin | Northeast, toward east |
| Mao | East |
| Chen | Southeast, toward east |
| Si | Southeast, toward south |
| Wu | South |
| Wei | Southwest, toward south |
| Shen | Southwest, toward west |
| You | West |
| Xu | Northwest, toward west |
| Hai | Northwest, toward north |
Why do east, spring and Wood appear together?
The traditional framework associates directions, seasons and elements: east with spring Wood, south with summer Fire, west with autumn Metal and north with winter Water. Branch names can consequently appear in both calendar tables and directional diagrams.
This does not claim that the east physically contains more Wood everywhere or that a branch determines local weather. It is first a way to understand traditional terminology.
Are the three-branch seasons the same as compass sectors?
Seasonal groups use three consecutive branches, including an Earth branch at the transition. The systems are related, but seasonal groups are not exact compass-sector boundaries. Only the birth month branch (the lower symbol in the birth-month column) supplies that chart’s month command (the seasonal conditions represented by the birth month); Yin elsewhere does not change an autumn birth into a spring one.
| Traditional season | Branches |
|---|---|
| Spring | Yin, Mao, Chen |
| Summer | Si, Wu, Wei |
| Autumn | Shen, You, Xu |
| Winter | Hai, Zi, Chou |
Is the left side of a chart east and the right side west?
No. Year, month, day and hour are time positions, and sites may display them in either horizontal order. Mao’s eastern association does not require its column to occupy the eastern side of a screen.
Likewise, an eastern Wood cycle in an article may refer to a sequence associated with Yin, Mao and Chen, rather than an instruction to relocate east. Determine whether the author means timing, geography or another system.
How does this differ from a feng shui compass or a home’s orientation?
Some feng shui compass rings place the branches alongside other symbols in twenty-four mountains. A simple twelve-branch table does not replace that finer division, and a building’s orientation still requires a location and measurement reference.
Use this lookup to understand a term or diagram and identify which direction an article means. The table alone cannot evaluate a property, choose a relocation or establish that a direction suits your actual plans.