Saju (Four Pillars)
Korea's traditional destiny-reading framework. Birth year, month, day, and hour each form a pillar of two characters—eight in total.
Glossary
Palja (Eight Characters)
The eight characters that make up the four pillars. In everyday Korean, palja can also mean one's lot in life.
Day Master
The heavenly stem of the day pillar, used as the chart's reference point for the self.
Five Elements
Wood, fire, earth, metal, and water: five interacting phases used to describe cycles and relationships in the chart.
Heavenly Stems
Ten signs that form the upper character of each pillar. Each has an element and a yin or yang polarity.
Earthly Branches
Twelve signs that form the lower character of each pillar and correspond to the familiar twelve zodiac animals.
Ten Gods
Ten relationship categories between the Day Master and other stems, used to organize themes such as expression, resources, wealth, and structure.
Gunghap (Compatibility)
A comparison of two charts. In Korea it has traditionally been consulted around marriage and partnership.
Manseryeok (Perpetual Calendar)
A calendar system used to derive the pillars from a birth moment. This site calculates the core chart in your browser.
Longitude-adjusted Solar Time
Clock time adjusted for the birthplace's longitude relative to its time-zone meridian. This site does not apply the equation of time.
Ipchun (Start of Spring)
The solar term near February 4 when the Saju year changes. It does not change on January 1 or Lunar New Year.
Daeun (Ten-Year Cycles)
Ten-year cycles advancing from the month pillar. Direction follows year-stem polarity and gender, while the adjacent solar boundary determines the starting age.
Taewon (Conception Pillar)
An auxiliary pillar for the estimated month of conception — the month stem advanced one step and the month branch three. Read alongside the four pillars, never in place of them.
Myeonggung (Life Palace)
The "palace where the destiny resides", derived from the birth month (counted by mid-terms) and the birth hour. Similar in spirit to the ascendant in Western astrology.
Singang / Sinyak (Strength)
Whether the chart's supporters make the Day Master strong (singang) or weak (sinyak). This verdict is the starting point for choosing which elements help the chart.
Yongsin (Useful God)
The element a chart most needs. Elements that assist it are huisin (favorable); those that work against it are gisin (challenging). Schools differ on how to select them.
Gyeokguk (Chart Structure)
The chart's overall structure, one of ten classical types, named after the ten god of the month branch's defining hidden stem. It frames how the rest of the chart is read.
Samjae (Three Calamities)
A folk cycle: every 12 years, three consecutive years are considered cautionary for your birth-year group. Widely observed in Korea, though it is custom rather than chart analysis.
Johu (Climate Adjustment)
A school of yongsin selection that reads the chart as a climate: a winter chart may need fire, a summer chart water. The classic reference is the Gungtong-bogam.