Saju Palja literally means “Four Pillars and Eight Characters.”
- The Four Pillars represent the year, month, day, and hour of your birth.
- Each pillar contains two characters, making a total of eight.
- These eight characters are assigned from the five elements: Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal, and Water.
- In each pillar, the upper character comes from the “Heavenly Stems” (10 in total), and the lower character comes from the “Earthly Branches” (12 in total).
- Together, these form your unique Saju chart.
Year Pillar
- The two characters of the year are assigned based on the year you were born.
- For example, the year 2025 is called Eul-Sa (乙巳).
- 乙 (Eul) comes from the Heavenly Stems.
- 巳 (Sa) comes from the Earthly Branches.
(2) Month Pillar
- The two characters of the month depend on the month you were born.
- The Earthly Branch is fixed for each month.
- The Heavenly Stem changes depending on the combination of the year’s energy and the month’s energy, based on the principles of the Five Elements. 👉 Example: Someone born in July 2025 and someone born in July 2026 will share the same Earthly Branch (for July), but the Heavenly Stem will be different.
(3) Hour Pillar
- Each day is divided into 12 two-hour periods.
- For example, 11:30 p.m. to 1:30 a.m. is the Zi (子) hour.
- The Earthly Branch is decided by the hour, while the Heavenly Stem is assigned according to the day and the flow of the Five Elements.
(4) Day Pillar
- The most important of the Four Pillars is the Day Pillar, because it represents your true self and identity.
- The Day Pillar is determined from 60 possible combinations of Heavenly Stems and Earthly Branches.
- While the Day Pillar symbolizes “you,” it must also stay in harmony with the other pillars. 👉 In Saju, understanding how to establish and balance your Day Pillar is the key to knowing yourself.
