Guides · Korean Four Pillars

The Korean birth chart, explained

Saju has a thousand years of vocabulary behind it. These guides unpack it in plain language — what the chart is, how it is read, and what each piece of it means.

Start here

• What is a Korean birth chart?A plain-language guide to the Korean birth chart (Saju): the Four Pillars, your Day Master, the Five Elements, and how Saju differs from Western astrology and Chinese Bazi.
• What is a Day Master?The Day Master (일간) is the core of a Korean birth chart — the element that represents you. Learn how it works and explore all ten Day Masters, from Yang Wood to Yin Water.
• The Five Elements in SajuWood, Fire, Earth, Metal, Water — how the Five Elements (오행) work in a Korean birth chart: the cycles that connect them, and what balance, excess, and missing elements mean.
• Saju compatibility: how gunghap worksGunghap (궁합) is the Korean tradition of comparing two birth charts for compatibility. How readers weigh Day Masters, elements, and branch relationships — and what a couple reading can and cannot tell you.

The ten Day Masters

• The Yang Wood Day MasterYang Wood (Gap 甲) in Korean Saju — the classical image of the tall tree: core personality, strengths, blind spots, love style, and career leanings of this Day Master.
• The Yin Wood Day MasterYin Wood (Eul 乙) in Korean Saju — the classical image of the vine: core personality, strengths, blind spots, love style, and career leanings of this Day Master.
• The Yang Fire Day MasterYang Fire (Byeong 丙) in Korean Saju — the classical image of the sun: core personality, strengths, blind spots, love style, and career leanings of this Day Master.
• The Yin Fire Day MasterYin Fire (Jeong 丁) in Korean Saju — the classical image of the lamp flame: core personality, strengths, blind spots, love style, and career leanings of this Day Master.
• The Yang Earth Day MasterYang Earth (Mu 戊) in Korean Saju — the classical image of the mountain: core personality, strengths, blind spots, love style, and career leanings of this Day Master.
• The Yin Earth Day MasterYin Earth (Gi 己) in Korean Saju — the classical image of the garden soil: core personality, strengths, blind spots, love style, and career leanings of this Day Master.
• The Yang Metal Day MasterYang Metal (Gyeong 庚) in Korean Saju — the classical image of raw metal — the axe and the ore: core personality, strengths, blind spots, love style, and career leanings of this Day Master.
• The Yin Metal Day MasterYin Metal (Sin 辛) in Korean Saju — the classical image of the jewel: core personality, strengths, blind spots, love style, and career leanings of this Day Master.
• The Yang Water Day MasterYang Water (Im 壬) in Korean Saju — the classical image of the ocean: core personality, strengths, blind spots, love style, and career leanings of this Day Master.
• The Yin Water Day MasterYin Water (Gye 癸) in Korean Saju — the classical image of the rain and the spring: core personality, strengths, blind spots, love style, and career leanings of this Day Master.