Saju, Bazi, Shichū Suimei: East Asian Birth Chart Systems Compared
By Saju Unni · Updated August 10, 2026 · 6 min read
Saju, bazi, shichū suimei, and tứ trụ are regional names you may meet around a closely related family of birth-chart practices. The names, languages, and habits differ; the shared technical vocabulary starts with a calendar cycle of stems and branches.
The shared root: the 60 stem-branch cycle
All of these systems draw on the 60-step stem-branch cycle. Ten heavenly stems carry the five elements in yin and yang forms, while twelve earthly branches mark a second sequence; the two progress together and return to their starting pair after 60 steps. The Encyclopedia of Korean Culture's saju entry lists the ten stems and twelve branches used in a four-pillars chart, and the sexagenary-cycle overview traces the calendar's wider East Asian use.
Four pillars apply those calendar pairs to birth year, month, day, and hour. Each pillar has a stem above and a branch below, producing eight visible characters. Regional traditions can differ on calculation conventions and on what a reader emphasizes, so shared roots do not make every reading interchangeable.
Korean saju: four pillars in Korean practice
Korean saju (사주, 四柱) means “four pillars” and names the Korean practice built from birth year, month, day, and hour. Korean charts commonly foreground the day master, five-element balance, relationship matching called gunghap, and—depending on the calculator—a correction from civil clock time to true solar time. Saju vs bazi maps the Korean and Chinese labels in more depth.
Eight characters also give Korean saju the familiar name saju palja (사주팔자, 四柱八字). A four-pillar chart is stable calendar output from one recorded birth moment; the reading around that grid remains an interpretive framework for personality tendencies and self-reflection.
Chinese bazi: eight characters and four pillars
Chinese bazi (八字) literally means “eight characters,” the two characters in each of four pillars. English-language writing also uses the conventional name Four Pillars of Destiny (BaZi), while many readers simply say bazi. The stem-branch grid and five-element vocabulary are the same family of tools Korean saju uses.
Japanese shichū suimei: a Japanese four-pillars tradition
Shichū suimei (四柱推命) is the Japanese tradition associated with the same four-pillar chart structure. The Japanese term keeps 四柱, “four pillars,” and adds 推命, a phrase used for chart interpretation. Japanese readers may use Japanese readings for the stems and branches and follow local schools, even where the underlying 60-cycle remains recognizable.
Vietnamese tứ trụ: a related regional name
Vietnamese tứ trụ (四柱) literally means “four pillars” and is a regional name worth knowing when looking across East Asian chart material. Vietnamese calendar vocabulary also preserves the stem-branch pair, often called can chi. Details of contemporary practice vary by reader and source, so the name alone should not be treated as a promise of identical interpretive rules.
How feng shui differs from saju
Feng shui reads a place; saju reads a birth moment. Feng shui considers the arrangement, direction, and surroundings of a home, room, or site, while saju starts with year, month, day, and hour to construct a personal four-pillar chart. Both use East Asian cosmological vocabulary in many contexts, but the input data and practical question are different.
A move, renovation, or desk layout can change the space being considered in feng shui. Your four pillar characters remain the same because the recorded birth moment remains the same.
The difference from Western astrology, in one line
Western astrology maps the positions of celestial bodies at birth; saju maps a birth moment through a stem-branch calendar. Saju vs Western astrology compares the inputs, core symbols, and closest rough analogies without treating the two systems as translations of each other.
East Asian birth-chart systems at a glance
Regional names share a calendar root while pointing to different languages and reading cultures.
| Name | Writing | Core chart language | Useful shorthand |
|---|---|---|---|
| Korean saju | 사주, 四柱 | Stems, branches, five elements | Korean four pillars |
| Chinese bazi | 八字 | Eight characters across four pillars | Chinese four pillars |
| Japanese shichū suimei | 四柱推命 | Four pillars in Japanese tradition | Japanese four pillars |
| Vietnamese tứ trụ | 四柱 | Four-pillar and can-chi vocabulary | Vietnamese four pillars |
| Western astrology | — | Zodiac, houses, celestial bodies | A different birth-chart logic |
Names are a good starting point, not a substitute for looking at method. A free saju chart shows the Korean four-pillar version from your birth data and gives the stems, branches, day master, and five elements in plain language.
FAQ
- Are saju and bazi the same system?
- Saju and bazi share the same four-pillar grid: a heavenly stem and earthly branch for each birth year, month, day, and hour. Saju is the Korean name and bazi is the Chinese name, while calculation conventions and the habits of particular reading schools can differ. The shared stem-branch calendar is the core common structure.
- What does shichū suimei mean?
- Shichū suimei (四柱推命) is the Japanese name for a tradition associated with the four-pillar chart. 四柱 means four pillars, while the final two characters refer to chart interpretation. Japanese practice shares the calendar vocabulary of stems and branches while using Japanese language, naming, and local schools.
- Is tứ trụ the Vietnamese version of four pillars?
- Tứ trụ (四柱) literally means four pillars and is a Vietnamese regional name encountered in birth-chart material. Vietnamese calendar language also uses the stem-branch cycle, known as can chi. Readers and sources can differ in method, so the shared name should be a starting point for comparison rather than proof of identical interpretation.
- How is feng shui different from saju?
- Feng shui starts with a place: its layout, direction, and surroundings. Saju starts with a birth moment and produces a four-pillar chart from calendar rules. The practices may use some overlapping East Asian cosmological language, but they answer different questions from different inputs.
- How is saju different from Western astrology?
- Saju assigns a birth moment to the stem-branch calendar and reads five-element balance around a day master. Western astrology maps the sun, moon, planets, zodiac signs, and houses at birth. Both are birth-chart frameworks, but the symbols and calculation logic are different rather than interchangeable.