How to Read a Saju Chart in 7 Steps (With a Worked Example)

To read a saju chart, work in this order: check that the eight characters are right, find your day master, count the five elements, note the yin-yang balance, label the ten gods, look for harmonies and clashes between branches, and finally layer on timing. Each step adds one layer, and by the end you have a picture rather than a pile of characters.

To make it concrete, we’ll walk through a sample chart. It is entirely fictional. We assembled it by hand for teaching, it isn’t anyone’s real chart, and we’ve deliberately not attached a birth date to it.

Grab a cup of tea; the Moon Rabbit will hold the pencil.

Meet the example chart

Saju charts are traditionally written right to left, year on the right. Here it is in left-to-right order for easy reading:

	Year	Month	Day	Hour
Stem	庚 gyeong (yang metal)	甲 gap (yang wood)	丁 jeong (yin fire)	丙 byeong (yang fire)
Branch	午 o, Horse (yang fire)	申 sin, Monkey (yang metal)	卯 myo, Rabbit (yin wood)	午 o, Horse (yang fire)
Pillar	庚午	甲申	丁卯	丙午

Eight characters, four pillars. Let’s read them.

Steps 1–2: Get the characters right, then find the day master

Step 1: Check the inputs. Most “my reading feels off” moments come from the chart, not the interpretation. Before reading anything, confirm:

The year boundary. Saju years start at Ipchun (입춘, 立春), around February 4, not January 1 or the Lunar New Year.
The month boundary. Saju months change at solar terms, so a birth on the 5th or 6th of a month may belong to the previous saju month.
The hour. Double-hours are two hours wide, and many practitioners adjust for local clock history and true solar time. Korea used UTC+8:30 from 1954 to 1961, and Seoul is about 32 minutes behind the 135°E meridian of UTC+9.
The Rat hour. Births between 23:00 and 01:00 can land on different days depending on whether your calculator splits the hour into yajasi and jojasi.

Step 2: Find the day master. The stem of the day pillar is the day master, or ilgan (일간, 日干). Here it’s 丁 jeong, yin fire, traditionally pictured as a candle or lamp: warmth that’s focused rather than blazing. In SajuBunny’s rice-cake shorthand, that’s kkultteok, the honey-filled one. Everything from now on is read relative to this little flame.

Steps 3–4: Count the elements and the yin-yang balance

Step 3: Count the five elements. Tally the element of every stem and branch:

Element	Characters	Count
Fire	丁, 丙, 午, 午	4
Metal	庚, 申	2
Wood	甲, 卯	2
Earth	none	0
Water	none	0

This chart is fire-heavy, with no earth or water on the surface. A missing element isn’t a flaw. Practitioners read it as a theme: water traditionally symbolizes rest, reflection and cooling down, and earth symbolizes grounding and follow-through, so a reader might gently ask where those show up in this person’s life. Most readers also consider hidden stems inside the branches, which can nudge the count; for a first pass, the surface count is enough.

In SajuBunny terms, fire is the strongest element, so the kkultteok gets a strawberry topping.

Step 4: Check yin and yang. Six characters are yang (庚, 午, 甲, 申, 丙, 午) and two are yin (丁, 卯). A yang-leaning chart is traditionally described as outward, energetic and quick to act. Interestingly, the day master itself is yin, a candle surrounded by bright, busy yang company.

Steps 5–6: Label the ten gods and check branch relationships

Step 5: Label the ten gods (십성 sipseong). For each stem, ask what its element does to 丁 fire and whether the polarity matches:

Stem	Relation to 丁 yin fire	Ten god
庚 yang metal	fire controls metal, opposite polarity	정재 jeongjae, Steady wealth
甲 yang wood	wood produces fire, opposite polarity	정인 jeongin, Nurturing mentor
丙 yang fire	same element, opposite polarity	겁재 geopjae, Rival

Branches have ten-god labels too, via their hidden stems, but schools handle them differently, so we’ll keep this beginner pass to the visible stems.

Now think about strength. The month branch 申 is an autumn, metal-season branch, which doesn’t feed fire. On the other hand, the chart has plenty of fire (丙 and two 午) and wood that feeds fire (甲, 卯). Many readers would call this day master on the strong side, while others would weigh the autumn month more heavily. This is exactly the step where schools disagree, so don’t worry if two apps describe it differently. If the chart is read as strong, the balancing element, or yongsin (용신), would likely be one that drains or tempers fire, such as earth or water.

Step 6: Look at branch relationships. Compare every pair of branches against the classic lists:

午 and 申, 午 and 卯: no classic combination or clash.
卯 (day) and 申 (month): a wonjin (원진, 怨嗔) pair, the Korean-popular “resentment” pairing. In a personality reading, it’s a prompt about balancing personal needs with duty or family expectations, since the month pillar is traditionally linked with upbringing.
午 twice (year and hour): the same Horse branch appears twice, reinforcing the fire theme.
No chung (clash) pairs, and no complete samhap trio. 午 is part of the 寅午戌 fire trio, but 寅 and 戌 aren’t here.

Step 7: Add timing

Timing comes in layers. The biggest are the 10-year luck pillars, or daeun (대운, 大運), counted forward or backward from the month pillar using the birth date and, in the classical rule, gender and the year stem’s polarity. Our fictional chart has no birth date, so we’ll skip daeun and look at two real years instead:

2026, 丙午 byeong-o (Fire Horse). Another 丙 Rival and another 午 fire branch join a chart that’s already fire-rich. Practitioners would read this as a lively, peer-heavy year theme, with the gentle suggestion to pace oneself.
2027, 丁未 jeong-mi (Fire Goat). 丁 is the same stem as the day master, a 비견 bigyeon, or Peer. The branch 未 is earth, the chart’s first taste of that element, and it forms a yukhap (육합) pairing with 午. It also joins 卯 to make two-thirds of the 亥卯未 wood trio. A reader might frame 2027 as a year where grounding and cooperation come more naturally.

Notice the tone: seasons and themes, not events.

Putting it together

Here’s how a reader might summarize this fictional chart in plain words:

“You’re a 丁 candle in a bright, busy room. There’s lots of fire and energy around you, supportive mentors in the wood, and practical resources in the metal. Water and earth, rest and grounding, are the quiet gaps, so routines that cool you down and help you finish things may feel especially good. The day-month wonjin suggests a recurring conversation between what you want and what’s expected of you.”

That’s a reading: a mirror with a few good questions attached.

FAQ

What is the first thing to look at in a saju chart?

Start by confirming the eight characters are correct: year from Ipchun, month from solar terms, and hour adjusted for local time if your calculator does that. Then find the day master, the stem of the day pillar, because every other character is read in relation to it. Only after that do element counts and the ten gods make sense.

What does it mean if my saju chart is missing an element?

It’s common and not a flaw. Practitioners read a missing element as a theme to notice rather than a gap to fear. For example, a chart with no water might prompt reflection on rest and recovery. Hidden stems inside the branches can also contain the element, and luck pillars and yearly pillars bring every element around over time.

How are the ten gods calculated?

Compare each character’s element with the day master’s element. If it’s the same element, it’s Peer or Rival; if the day master produces it, Creator or Rebel/Performer; if the day master controls it, Adventurer or Steady wealth; if it controls the day master, Challenger or Guardian/Order; if it produces the day master, Unconventional or Nurturing mentor. Same polarity gives the first of each pair.

Do I need daeun to read my chart?

No. The birth chart alone gives you the day master, element balance, ten gods and branch relationships, which is most of a personality reading. Daeun, the 10-year luck pillars, add a timing layer, and they require your birth date and time plus, in the classical rule, your gender. Many beginners learn the natal chart first and add daeun later.

Try it with the Moon Rabbit

Ready to try the seven steps on your own chart? The pro manseryeok chart lays out your pillars, elements and luck cycles. To see how a full interpretation reads, browse the Moon Rabbit’s sample readings.

Saju is a cultural tradition, not a science. SajuBunny readings are for fun and self-reflection, not professional advice.

Sources

For fun and self-reflection. Saju is a traditional way of looking at yourself, not a prediction or professional advice.