Saju (사주 四柱) sorts people into ten personality types by their day master (일간 ilgan 日干), the heavenly stem of the day they were born. Each type is a nature image: a tall tree, a vine, the sun, a candle, a mountain, a field, raw ore, a jewel, the ocean, rain. If you’ve watched a few K-dramas, you already know all ten, because writers keep casting them. Ri Jeong-hyeok is a tall tree. Park Sae-ro-yi is raw metal. Yeom Mi-jeong is rain.
One honest rule before we start. These are readings of characters, not of the actors, and no one’s real birth chart is involved. A character “would read like” a 甲 day master because of how they’re written. That’s the whole claim. It’s also the best way to learn the ten types, since you’ve already spent 16 hours with each one.
The ten day masters as a cast list
| Day master | Image | The K-drama role | Character who would read like it |
|---|---|---|---|
| 甲 gap, yang wood | Tall tree | The principled lead who won’t bend | Ri Jeong-hyeok, Crash Landing on You |
| 乙 eul, yin wood | Vine, flower | The one who fits in anywhere | Hong Du-sik, Hometown Cha-Cha-Cha |
| 丙 byeong, yang fire | The sun | The life of every room | Lee Ik-jun, Hospital Playlist |
| 丁 jeong, yin fire | Candle, lamp | The quiet giver you notice late | Ahn Jeong-won, Hospital Playlist |
| 戊 mu, yang earth | Mountain | The one who carries everyone | Park Dong-hoon, My Mister |
| 己 gi, yin earth | Field, soil | The one who makes it all work | Kim Mi-so, What’s Wrong with Secretary Kim |
| 庚 gyeong, yang metal | Raw ore, axe | The unbending avenger | Park Sae-ro-yi, Itaewon Class |
| 辛 sin, yin metal | Jewel, blade | The exacting perfectionist | Han Ji-pyeong, Start-Up |
| 壬 im, yang water | Ocean | The deep one with a long memory | Kim Shin, Goblin |
| 癸 gye, yin water | Rain, mist | The quiet one who sees everything | Yeom Mi-jeong, My Liberation Notes |
The ten stems are the five elements, each in a yang (big, outward) and a yin (small, inward) form. That pairing is why every element gets two very different characters.
The ten types, element by element
Wood: the tree and the vine
甲 gap, the tall tree. Yang wood grows straight up. A 甲 day master tends to be upright, principled and a little inflexible, with a strong sense of how things should be done. Ri Jeong-hyeok in Crash Landing on You would read like a textbook 甲: a soldier who follows the rules until the rules are wrong, then follows his own, and never once slouches. Trees don’t negotiate with the wind. They also give shade to everyone underneath, which is the other half of the type.
乙 eul, the vine. Yin wood bends, climbs and finds a way. A 乙 tends to be adaptable, sociable and quietly skilled at fitting into whatever space is available. Hong Du-sik in Hometown Cha-Cha-Cha, “Chief Hong,” who does every odd job in a seaside town and is loved by everyone, would read like a 乙. The vine’s blind spot is that it can wrap itself around other people’s needs and forget its own, which is roughly the plot of his character arc.
Fire: the sun and the candle
丙 byeong, the sun. Yang fire lights everything at once. A 丙 tends to be bright, generous, candid and the center of gravity in any room, sometimes without noticing the people in the shade. Lee Ik-jun in Hospital Playlist would read like a 丙: jokes for everyone, a word for every patient, a band in the basement, warmth distributed in all directions. The sun’s weakness is that it can’t do small. It doesn’t know how to shine on just one person.
丁 jeong, the candle. Yin fire is warmth you can hold. A 丁 tends to be focused, caring and more intense than they look, the person whose kindness you only measure once you’re close. Ahn Jeong-won, the same show’s “Buddha,” who quietly funds children’s hospital bills and considers the priesthood, would read like a 丁. Candles give light to one room and ask nothing from the sky. They also burn out if nobody tends them.
Earth: the mountain and the field
戊 mu, the mountain. Yang earth is large, still and holds the weight of everyone leaning on it. A 戊 tends to be dependable, slow to move, hard to read and the person others bring their problems to. Park Dong-hoon in My Mister would read like a 戊: an engineer who carries his brothers, his marriage and a stranger’s grief without changing expression, until the mountain finally shows a crack. The type’s blind spot is that it mistakes endurance for a plan.
己 gi, the field. Yin earth is soft, tended soil, the place things grow. A 己 tends to be nurturing, organized, practical and quietly essential, the one who makes the whole operation run. Kim Mi-so in What’s Wrong with Secretary Kim, who has managed every detail of a vice-chairman’s life for nine years and is now trying to leave, would read like a 己. Fields feed everyone. They are also the last to be asked what they want.
Metal: the ore and the jewel
庚 gyeong, raw ore. Yang metal is unrefined iron: direct, blunt, strong, forged by pressure. A 庚 tends to be decisive, loyal to a code and at their best after hardship. Park Sae-ro-yi in Itaewon Class, who refuses to apologize to a bully, serves a prison term, and spends fifteen years building a restaurant empire out of a grudge, would read like a 庚 all the way down. Ore becomes a blade only through fire. The type’s danger is that it can’t tell the difference between principle and stubbornness.
辛 sin, the jewel. Yin metal is already cut and polished: precise, elegant, sharp at the edges. A 辛 tends to be exacting, sensitive to slights and allergic to sloppiness. Han Ji-pyeong in Start-Up, the investor who critiques a pitch down to the font and hides a soft history under a very clean coat, would read like a 辛. Jewels want to be seen. They also scratch.
Water: the ocean and the rain
壬 im, the ocean. Yang water is vast, deep and carries everything that’s ever fallen into it. A 壬 tends to be broad-minded, wise, hard to pin down and prone to long memories. Kim Shin in Goblin, a 939-year-old immortal who has watched every person he loved die and is still capable of being surprised by one, would read like a 壬. The ocean’s problem is tides: moods that move everything on the shore.
癸 gye, the rain. Yin water is quiet, gentle and everywhere at once. A 癸 tends to be perceptive, reserved and more present than they appear, the person who noticed the thing nobody else did. Yeom Mi-jeong in My Liberation Notes, who says almost nothing and asks a stranger to “worship” her so she can feel something, would read like a 癸. Rain soaks in slowly. It also knows exactly where every crack is.
How to find your own type
Your day master comes from your birth date, not your favorite character. The day you were born has a stem-branch label in the sixty-unit cycle, and the stem is your type. A free saju card does the lookup in a few seconds, no birth time needed, and also shows how strong or weak your day master is in your chart, which changes the reading. A weak 甲 tree in a chart full of metal plays very differently from a strong one surrounded by water.
A few things the drama shortcut can’t show:
- Strength. The same type can be a lead or a supporting character depending on how much the rest of the chart backs it up.
- The other seven characters. A 丙 sun with a lot of water in the chart reads as the sun through clouds.
- Timing. Ten-year luck pillars and the year’s pillar shift which side of the type shows.
- Plot armor. Real 庚 people don’t get a fifteen-year revenge arc. They get a difficult Tuesday.
Use the cast list to learn the vocabulary, then look at your own chart for the specifics.
FAQ
What are the K-drama personality types in saju?
They’re the ten day masters, the stems of the day you were born: 甲 tall tree, 乙 vine, 丙 sun, 丁 candle, 戊 mountain, 己 field, 庚 raw metal, 辛 jewel, 壬 ocean and 癸 rain. Each is one of the five elements in a yang or yin form. K-drama writers lean on the same archetypes, which is why characters like Ri Jeong-hyeok (tree) or Park Sae-ro-yi (raw metal) feel like types you’ve met.
Are these the actors’ real saju charts?
No. The readings above are of the written characters, based on how they behave in the story. The actors’ birth charts aren’t involved, and SajuBunny doesn’t speculate about real people’s charts without their birth details. “Would read like” is the honest phrasing: it describes the archetype a character fits, not anyone’s actual eight characters.
How do I find my day master?
From your birth date. Each day in the sixty-unit cycle has a heavenly stem, and the stem of your birth day is your day master. Any saju calculator, including the free saju card on SajuBunny, finds it instantly; birth time isn’t required for this part. The card also shows whether the day master is strong or weak in your chart, which shapes how the type plays out.
Can my day master type change?
No. It’s fixed by your birth date. What changes is how it shows: a day master can be well supported or under pressure depending on the other seven characters, and the ten-year luck pillars and yearly pillar bring different sides of it forward. That’s why two people with the same type, like two 丁 candles, can seem quite different at different stages of life.
Try it with the Moon Rabbit
Make a free saju card with your birthday to find your own day master, then read all ten types side by side in the day masters guide.