Sa means four and ju means pillar. The four pillars are your birth year, month, day and hour. Each pillar is written with two characters: a Heavenly Stem on top (one of 10) and an Earthly Branch below (one of 12). Stems and branches pair up into a repeating cycle of 60, the same cycle that gives every year its name — 2026 is the Year of the Fire Horse (Byeong-o), and 2027 is the Year of the Fire Goat (Jeong-mi).
Four pillars × two characters = eight characters. In everyday Korean, “it’s my palja” is a way of saying “it’s my fate,” which shows how deeply the idea sits in the language.
Each pillar is traditionally linked to a part of life. Your Day Master — the Heavenly Stem of the day pillar — stands for you yourself, and the rest of the chart is read in relation to it.
| Pillar | Comes from | Traditionally read as |
|---|---|---|
| Year pillar | Birth year (changes at Ipchun, around Feb 4) | Roots, family background, how others first see you |
| Month pillar | Solar month (set by the 24 solar terms) | Parents, upbringing, work environment; the season you were born in |
| Day pillar | Birth day | You (the Day Master) and your partner |
| Hour pillar | Birth time (in two-hour blocks) | Children, later life, inner wishes |
Your Korean zodiac sign (tti) is simply the animal of your year pillar’s Earthly Branch — Rat, Ox, Tiger, Rabbit, Dragon, Snake, Horse, Goat, Monkey, Rooster, Dog or Pig. That one sign is only one of the eight characters, which is why a full saju says much more than a zodiac horoscope.
Every stem and branch belongs to one of the Five Elements: Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal or Water. Elements generate one another (Wood feeds Fire, Fire makes Earth, Earth bears Metal, Metal carries Water, Water nourishes Wood) and control one another (Wood breaks Earth, Earth dams Water, Water puts out Fire, Fire melts Metal, Metal cuts Wood). A chart with too much of one element and too little of another is read as unbalanced, and the element that best restores balance is called your Useful God (yongsin).
The Ten Gods name how each character relates to your Day Master — for example Companion (same element as you), Eating God and Hurting Officer (what you express), Direct and Indirect Wealth (what you manage), Direct Officer and Seven Killings (what manages you), and Direct and Indirect Resource (what supports you). Reading which of these are strong or missing is the core of saju interpretation.
Korean saju and Chinese BaZi are the same method under different names; the differences lie mostly in terms, practice and culture. Western astrology is a different system altogether.
| Korean saju | Chinese BaZi | Western astrology | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Based on | Stems and branches of birth year, month, day and hour | Same | Positions of the Sun, Moon and planets |
| Calendar | 24 solar terms; the year starts at Ipchun (~Feb 4) | Same | Sun signs by date (tropical zodiac) |
| Birth time | Often corrected to true solar time — Korea keeps its clocks on 135°E although the peninsula sits near 127.5°E, about 30 minutes apart | Many practitioners use local solar time | Exact time and place set the ascendant and houses |
| Key ideas | Day Master, Five Elements balance, Useful God, Ten Gods, 10-year luck | Same core ideas | Signs, houses, aspects, transits |
| How people use it | New Year fortunes, couple compatibility (gunghap), career and timing questions, saju cafés and apps | Consultations with masters, often alongside feng shui | Horoscope columns, birth chart readings |
A saju chart is not a fixed verdict. From the month pillar, a sequence of 10-year luck cycles (daeun) is calculated, and each calendar year brings its own yearly luck (seun). When the elements of a cycle or year support your Useful God, that period is read as smoother; when they clash with your chart, it is read as a time for care. This is why many Koreans look up their fortune for the coming year every winter — see the 2027 Year of the Fire Goat fortune.
Enter your date of birth (and birth time if you know it) on Jeombom. We build your eight characters from Korea Astronomy and Space Science Institute (KASI) solar-term data, correct your birth time to true solar time, and account for Korea’s past daylight saving periods. You then see your Day Master, Five Elements balance, Ten Gods and 10-year luck cycles in plain English — free, with no sign-up.
Saju is the same system as Chinese BaZi (the Four Pillars of Destiny). It goes further than the popular “Chinese zodiac,” which looks only at your birth-year animal; saju reads all eight characters of your year, month, day and hour.
It helps but is not required. Without a birth time you get six of the eight characters; your Day Master, Five Elements balance and most of the reading still work, while the hour pillar stays unknown.
Enter your solar (Gregorian) date of birth. The month pillar is set by solar terms, so if you only know a lunar birthday, convert it to the solar calendar first.
At Ipchun, the start of spring in the solar-term calendar, around February 4. If you were born in January or early February, your saju year sign may differ from the one based on Lunar New Year.
A Western birth chart uses the positions of the Sun, Moon and planets. Saju uses no planet positions; it reads the cycle of Heavenly Stems and Earthly Branches through the Five Elements and the Ten Gods.
No. Saju is a cultural tradition and a tool for reflection. Jeombom’s results are for entertainment and reference; for health, legal or financial decisions, please consult a professional.