BAZI KNOWLEDGE BASE
How BaZi Fate Stars are calculated: anchors, targets and complete examples
Once a rule version is fixed, whether a Fate Star matches should be reproducible. The hard part is identifying the anchor, target, permitted pillar locations and whether one location has several valid evidence paths—not translating a name into fortune.
Day-Stem and Year-Stem tables are not interchangeable
For Day Stem (the upper symbol in the birth-day column) Jia, Clarify’s adopted Heavenly Nobleman table targets Chou and Wei; Yi targets Zi and Shen. Choose the row from the required Day Stem, then scan known branches. A source using the Year Stem (the upper symbol in the birth-year column) is a distinct version, not an alternative input to the same result.
Element alone is insufficient. Jia and Yi are both Wood but use different rows. A chart with Year Jia and Day Yi must keep the two declared anchor conventions separate.
| Day Stem | Target branches |
|---|---|
| Jia, Wu, Geng | Chou, Wei |
| Yi, Ji | Zi, Shen |
| Bing, Ding | Hai, You |
| Ren, Gui | Mao, Si |
| Xin | Yin, Wu |
Why Year and Day Branches can give two Horse paths
Clarify permits both Year and Day Branch (the lower symbol in the birth-day column) references for Traveling Horse. Shen–Zi–Chen targets Yin; Yin–Wu–Xu targets Shen; Hai–Mao–Wei targets Si; Si–You–Chou targets Hai. Resolve each reference independently, then attach the result to an actual pillar.
With Year Shen, Day Zi and Month Yin, both anchors reach the same Month Yin. Record one matched location and two provenance paths, not two Yin branches or doubled meaning.
| Reference trine | Horse target |
|---|---|
| Shen, Zi, Chen | Yin |
| Yin, Wu, Xu | Shen |
| Hai, Mao, Wei | Si |
| Si, You, Chou | Hai |
How should targets be scanned across the pillars?
A target branch must occur as an actual branch. A hidden stem (an additional element symbol traditionally assigned inside a lower chart symbol) inside Chou does not substitute for seeing Chou, and Chou cannot be a Month Stem (the upper symbol in the birth-month column). Rules requiring a complete pillar—such as a Jia-Wu Heavenly Pardon day—or a day-hour pair must satisfy stem, branch and position together.
With an unknown birth hour, scan the three known branches and leave the Hour result unknown. A personality description cannot reconstruct an Hour Branch (the lower symbol in the birth-hour column).
What should a valid result show?
Show the rule, version, anchor symbol and pillar, target, matched location, natal or timing layer, duplicate provenance and unknowns. The lookup match is a calculation result; fortune, strength and events are not outputs of this step.
Clarify implements only a subset of Fate Stars. A knowledge page documenting a rule does not mean the product calculates it; each specific guide states its product status.