Discover your Chinese Zodiac Animal, Element, Day Master, and Hour Animal based on your birth date and time. This calculator provides insights into your fundamental astrological profile according to traditional Chinese metaphysics.
Understanding Your Chinese Astrology Profile
Chinese Astrology, particularly the Four Pillars of Destiny (BaZi), is a complex and ancient system used to understand an individual's life path, personality, and potential. It is based on the exact moment of birth, expressed in terms of the Chinese lunisolar calendar.
The Four Pillars of Destiny (BaZi)
BaZi translates to "Eight Characters" and refers to the four pairs of characters (pillars) that represent the year, month, day, and hour of birth. Each pillar consists of a Heavenly Stem and an Earthly Branch. These eight characters form a unique energetic blueprint.
Year Pillar: Represents your ancestral background, social circle, and public image. The Earthly Branch of the Year Pillar determines your Zodiac Animal.
Month Pillar: Reflects your career, siblings, and parents. It's crucial for understanding your work ethic and environment.
Day Pillar: The most important pillar, representing your core self, personality, and spouse. The Heavenly Stem of the Day Pillar is known as your "Day Master."
Hour Pillar: Governs your children, subordinates, ambitions, and later life.
Your Zodiac Animal (Earthly Branch of the Year Pillar)
The most widely known aspect of Chinese Astrology is the Zodiac Animal. There are twelve animals, each associated with a specific year in a 12-year cycle. While many people associate their animal with the Gregorian New Year (January 1st), traditionally, the animal sign changes with the Chinese New Year (Lunar New Year), which falls between late January and mid-February. For simplicity, this calculator uses the Gregorian year for the Year Animal, which is a common modern interpretation.
The twelve animals are: Rat, Ox, Tiger, Rabbit, Dragon, Snake, Horse, Goat (or Sheep), Monkey, Rooster, Dog, and Pig.
Your Year Element (Heavenly Stem of the Year Pillar)
In addition to an animal, each year is also associated with one of the Five Elements (Wu Xing): Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal, and Water. These elements cycle every two years (e.g., Yang Wood, Yin Wood, Yang Fire, Yin Fire, etc.), completing a 10-year cycle. The element of your birth year provides insights into your fundamental nature and how you interact with the world.
Your Day Master is considered the most significant component in BaZi. It represents your true self, your inner character, and your fundamental energy. There are ten Heavenly Stems, each associated with one of the Five Elements in either a Yang or Yin polarity:
Understanding your Day Master is key to understanding your core personality and how you relate to the other elements in your chart.
Your Hour Animal (Earthly Branch of the Hour Pillar)
The Hour Pillar provides insights into your ambitions, children, subordinates, and your later life. The Hour Animal is determined by the two-hour block in which you were born. Each animal corresponds to a specific time period throughout the day.
How to Use the Calculator
Simply enter your Gregorian birth year, month, day, hour (in 24-hour format), and minute into the fields above. Click "Calculate My Astrology" to reveal your Year Animal, Year Element, Day Master, and Hour Animal. Remember that for a full and accurate BaZi reading, a professional astrologer would also consider your birth location for precise solar time adjustments and the exact solar terms for the month pillar.
Example Calculation:
Let's say someone was born on October 25, 1985, at 2:30 PM (14:30).
Birth Year: 1985
Birth Month: 10
Birth Day: 25
Birth Hour: 14
Birth Minute: 30
Based on these inputs, the calculator would determine:
Year Animal: Ox
Year Element: Wood
Day Master: Bing (Fire Yang)
Hour Animal: Wei (Goat)
This example demonstrates how the calculator provides a foundational understanding of your Chinese astrological profile.
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function calculateChineseAstrology() {
var birthYear = parseInt(document.getElementById("birthYear").value);
var birthMonth = parseInt(document.getElementById("birthMonth").value);
var birthDay = parseInt(document.getElementById("birthDay").value);
var birthHour = parseInt(document.getElementById("birthHour").value);
var birthMinute = parseInt(document.getElementById("birthMinute").value);
// Input validation
if (isNaN(birthYear) || isNaN(birthMonth) || isNaN(birthDay) || isNaN(birthHour) || isNaN(birthMinute) ||
birthYear 2050 ||
birthMonth 12 ||
birthDay 31 ||
birthHour 23 ||
birthMinute 59) {
document.getElementById("result").innerHTML = "Please enter valid birth date and time values.";
return;
}
// Robust date validation (e.g., Feb 30th)
var date = new Date(birthYear, birthMonth – 1, birthDay);
if (date.getFullYear() !== birthYear || date.getMonth() !== birthMonth – 1 || date.getDate() !== birthDay) {
document.getElementById("result").innerHTML = "Please enter a valid date (e.g., February does not have 30 days).";
return;
}
var resultHtml = "";
// 1. Calculate Year Animal
var animals = ['Rat', 'Ox', 'Tiger', 'Rabbit', 'Dragon', 'Snake', 'Horse', 'Goat', 'Monkey', 'Rooster', 'Dog', 'Pig'];
// 1900 is Rat year. (year – 1900) % 12 gives the index.
var yearAnimalIndex = (birthYear – 1900) % 12;
if (yearAnimalIndex < 0) {
yearAnimalIndex += 12;
}
var yearAnimal = animals[yearAnimalIndex];
resultHtml += "Year Animal: " + yearAnimal + "";
// 2. Calculate Year Element
var elements = ['Metal', 'Metal', 'Water', 'Water', 'Wood', 'Wood', 'Fire', 'Fire', 'Earth', 'Earth'];
var lastDigit = birthYear % 10;
var yearElement = elements[lastDigit];
resultHtml += "Year Element: " + yearElement + "";
// 3. Calculate Day Master (Heavenly Stem of the Day Pillar)
// Reference date: 1900-01-01 was a Geng Zi day.
// Geng is the 7th stem (index 6 in 0-indexed array). Zi is the 1st branch (index 0).
// In the 60-day cycle (Jia Zi is 0), Geng Zi is the 13th day (index 12).
var stems = ['Jia (Wood Yang)', 'Yi (Wood Yin)', 'Bing (Fire Yang)', 'Ding (Fire Yin)', 'Wu (Earth Yang)', 'Ji (Earth Yin)', 'Geng (Metal Yang)', 'Xin (Metal Yin)', 'Ren (Water Yang)', 'Gui (Water Yin)'];
// var branches = ['Zi (Rat)', 'Chou (Ox)', 'Yin (Tiger)', 'Mao (Rabbit)', 'Chen (Dragon)', 'Si (Snake)', 'Wu (Horse)', 'Wei (Goat)', 'Shen (Monkey)', 'You (Rooster)', 'Xu (Dog)', 'Hai (Pig)'];
// Calculate days since 1900-01-01 UTC
var refDate = Date.UTC(1900, 0, 1); // Month is 0-indexed
var inputDate = Date.UTC(birthYear, birthMonth – 1, birthDay);
var diffDays = Math.floor((inputDate – refDate) / (1000 * 60 * 60 * 24));
var gengZiDayIndex = 12; // Geng Zi is the 13th day (0-indexed 12) in the 60-day cycle
var dayCycleIndex = (diffDays + gengZiDayIndex) % 60;
if (dayCycleIndex < 0) { // Ensure positive modulo result
dayCycleIndex += 60;
}
var dayStemIndex = dayCycleIndex % 10;
// var dayBranchIndex = dayCycleIndex % 12; // Not displayed, but could be used for Day Branch
var dayMaster = stems[dayStemIndex];
resultHtml += "Day Master: " + dayMaster + "";
// 4. Calculate Hour Animal
var hourAnimals = ['Zi (Rat)', 'Chou (Ox)', 'Yin (Tiger)', 'Mao (Rabbit)', 'Chen (Dragon)', 'Si (Snake)', 'Wu (Horse)', 'Wei (Goat)', 'Shen (Monkey)', 'You (Rooster)', 'Xu (Dog)', 'Hai (Pig)'];
// Mapping hour to index:
// Zi: 23:00 – 00:59 (index 0)
// Chou: 01:00 – 02:59 (index 1)
// Yin: 03:00 – 04:59 (index 2)
// Mao: 05:00 – 06:59 (index 3)
// Chen: 07:00 – 08:59 (index 4)
// Si: 09:00 – 10:59 (index 5)
// Wu: 11:00 – 12:59 (index 6)
// Wei: 13:00 – 14:59 (index 7)
// Shen: 15:00 – 16:59 (index 8)
// You: 17:00 – 18:59 (index 9)
// Xu: 19:00 – 20:59 (index 10)
// Hai: 21:00 – 22:59 (index 11)
var hourMap = [
0, // 00:00-00:59 (Zi)
1, // 01:00-01:59 (Chou)
1, // 02:00-02:59 (Chou)
2, // 03:00-03:59 (Yin)
2, // 04:00-04:59 (Yin)
3, // 05:00-05:59 (Mao)
3, // 06:00-06:59 (Mao)
4, // 07:00-07:59 (Chen)
4, // 08:00-08:59 (Chen)
5, // 09:00-09:59 (Si)
5, // 10:00-10:59 (Si)
6, // 11:00-11:59 (Wu)
6, // 12:00-12:59 (Wu)
7, // 13:00-13:59 (Wei)
7, // 14:00-14:59 (Wei)
8, // 15:00-15:59 (Shen)
8, // 16:00-16:59 (Shen)
9, // 17:00-17:59 (You)
9, // 18:00-18:59 (You)
10, // 19:00-19:59 (Xu)
10, // 20:00-20:59 (Xu)
11, // 21:00-21:59 (Hai)
11, // 22:00-22:59 (Hai)
0 // 23:00-23:59 (Zi)
];
var hourAnimalIndex = hourMap[birthHour];
var hourAnimal = hourAnimals[hourAnimalIndex];
resultHtml += "Hour Animal: " + hourAnimal + "";
document.getElementById("result").innerHTML = resultHtml;
}