“What element am I?” sounds like it should have one answer. In Chinese astrology and Korean saju it has three, and most quizzes and zodiac sites only give you the first. That’s why someone can be told they’re a “Metal Horse” on one site and a “water person” on another, and both can be right.
Here are the three, from the quickest to the most useful.
Answer 1: your birth-year element
This is the element in names like “Fire Horse” or “Water Rabbit.” It comes from the heavenly stem of your birth year, and you can read it straight off the last digit of the year:
| Last digit of birth year | Element | Yin or yang |
|---|---|---|
| 0, 1 | Metal | 0 yang, 1 yin |
| 2, 3 | Water | 2 yang, 3 yin |
| 4, 5 | Wood | 4 yang, 5 yin |
| 6, 7 | Fire | 6 yang, 7 yin |
| 8, 9 | Earth | 8 yang, 9 yin |
So 1990 is metal, 1996 fire and 2003 water. One caveat: if you were born in January or early February, check whether your birthday comes before the zodiac year starts. If it does, use the year before. The zodiac years chart has the dates.
The year element is easy to find and fun to share, but in a saju reading it’s a small detail. Everyone born in the same year shares it.
Answer 2: your day master, the element saju means by “you”
In saju, the character that stands for you is the heavenly stem of the day you were born, called the day master (일간, ilgan). It’s one of ten: a yang and a yin version of each element.
| Day master | Element | Image often used |
|---|---|---|
| 甲 gap | Yang wood | A tall tree |
| 乙 eul | Yin wood | Grass, vines, flowers |
| 丙 byeong | Yang fire | The sun |
| 丁 jeong | Yin fire | A candle or lantern |
| 戊 mu | Yang earth | A mountain |
| 己 gi | Yin earth | Garden soil |
| 庚 gyeong | Yang metal | Raw ore, an axe |
| 辛 sin | Yin metal | A jewel, a fine blade |
| 壬 im | Yang water | A river or the sea |
| 癸 gye | Yin water | Rain, mist, dew |
Your day master has nothing to do with your birth year. A “Metal Horse” born in 1990 could have any of the ten, because the day pillar runs on its own 60-day cycle. You can’t find it from the date in your head; you need a calculator or an almanac. The day master guide explains what each one tends to be like.
When a Korean saju reader says “you’re a fire person,” this is usually what they mean.
Answer 3: your element balance
The fullest answer looks at all eight characters of your chart, the year, month, day and hour pillars, and counts how much of each element you have. Charts are rarely balanced. Some have four or five characters of one element; some are missing one entirely.
Saju reads the balance in relation to the day master. Lots of the element that feeds your day master reads as support; lots of the element your day master controls reads as things to manage, like money and tasks. A missing element isn’t a flaw, just a theme that tends to come up. The missing element post goes into that.
Why “five elements tests” give different results
Online five elements tests fall into two groups:
- Personality quizzes ask how you react to things and match you to an element. They describe how you see yourself, which can be fun, but they aren’t calculated from your birth data.
- Birth-date calculators use the calendar. The simple ones give the year element; better ones give your day master and the element count.
Neither is wrong, they just answer different questions. If you want the saju answer, use your birth date and time.
Find your three answers
The quickest way to see all three at once is the free saju calculator. Enter your birth date, time and city, and your saju card shows your day master, your zodiac animal and how the five elements are spread across your chart.
For a lighter take, the tteok test turns your day master into one of ten Korean rice cakes, with your strongest element as the topping. It takes about 30 seconds, and it’s a good way to compare with friends.
FAQ
What element am I if I was born in 1990?
By birth year, 1990 is metal, specifically yang metal, the Metal Horse. Your day master, the element saju reads as you, depends on your birth day and can be any of the ten stems.
What is the difference between year element and day master?
The year element comes from your birth year and is shared by everyone born that year. The day master comes from your birth day and is the character saju treats as you, so it varies much more from person to person.
Can I find my day master without a calculator?
Not easily. The day pillar follows a continuous 60-day cycle that doesn’t line up with months or years, so it has to be looked up in an almanac or worked out by a calculator.
Is a five elements test accurate?
Personality-based tests describe how you see yourself rather than calculating anything. Saju’s answer comes from your birth date and time. Both are best used for fun and self-reflection.