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BaZi archetypes · Chinese birth chart personality types80 guardian spirits. Which one is yours?

BaZi, the Chinese art of reading your birth moment, gives everyone one of 80 guardians. Your birthday picks yours.

Which one are you?

Type your birthday. Your core element shows up right here, with the 8 guardians it could be.

Your birth date, time and place
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80 guardians, 10 families

The tree

Yang Wood: tall, steady, always growing upward.

8 guardians

The vine

Yin Wood: flexible, clever, finds a way around anything.

8 guardians

The sun

Yang Fire: bright, generous, lights up whoever is near.

8 guardians

The candle

Yin Fire: a small flame that lights the way in the dark.

8 guardians

The mountain

Yang Earth: solid, quiet, impossible to rush.

8 guardians

The soil

Yin Earth: soft, patient, helps everything around it grow.

8 guardians

The sword

Yang Metal: strong, direct, shaped by pressure.

8 guardians

The jewel

Yin Metal: refined, precise, shines once it is polished.

8 guardians

The ocean

Yang Water: vast, restless, always moving forward.

8 guardians

The rain

Yin Water: quiet, everywhere, patient.

8 guardians

How it works

Two things pick your guardian.

  1. Your core element picks the family.

    The day you were born carries one of 10 sky signs, a Yin and a Yang form of each element: the tree and the vine for Wood, the sun and the candle for Fire, and so on. That is you, at your core. Each sign leads a family of 8 guardians.

  2. The strongest force picks which one.

    The month you were born sets the strongest force in your chart: the Leader, Warrior, Builder, Adventurer, Scholar, Mystic, Creator or Rebel. A rain sign with the Scholar force is the Water Seer. The same sign with the Warrior force is the Water Sentinel.

For the curious: the classical names

BaZi (八字, “eight characters”) is also called the Four Pillars of Destiny. Your core element is the Day Master, the sky sign (天干) of your day. The strongest force is the month structure (格局), read the classical Ziping way: the month's animal sign and the sky signs hiding inside it set which of the Ten Gods leads your chart.

The 8 forces are 正官 Direct Officer (Leader), 七殺 Seven Killings (Warrior), 正財 Direct Wealth (Builder), 偏財 Indirect Wealth (Adventurer), 正印 Direct Seal (Scholar), 偏印 Indirect Seal (Mystic), 食神 Eating God (Creator) and 傷官 Hurting Officer (Rebel). When the month is your own element (建祿, 陽刃), the chart takes its theme from the force that does show. How we calculate.

Questions people ask

What are BaZi archetypes?
BaZi is the Chinese art of reading your birth moment. Elemental Fate turns each birth chart into one of 80 archetypes, or guardian spirits, like the Water Seer or the Fire Rebel. Each one is a personality profile with 3 traits, a way of working and a way of loving.
Why are there 80 guardians?
Two things decide yours. First, your core element: one of 10, a Yin and a Yang form of Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal and Water (in BaZi this is called the Day Master). Second, the strongest force in your chart, set by the month you were born: one of 8, such as the Leader, the Scholar or the Rebel. 10 times 8 makes 80.
Which BaZi archetype is the rarest?
None of them is rare by design. How often each one appears depends on how birthdays fall across the calendar. In a large random sample of charts, every guardian turns up, and the 8 forces are spread fairly evenly.
How do I find my BaZi archetype?
Type your birth date and time into the free Elemental Fate calculator. It writes your birth moment in 8 Chinese characters, finds your core element and the strongest force in your chart, and names your guardian, one of 80. No account needed.
How are BaZi archetypes different from MBTI types?
MBTI types come from a questionnaire about your preferences (16 types). BaZi archetypes are read from your birth date and time with the five elements (80 types). There is nothing to fill in except your birthday.

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