BaZi / Four Pillars

Reading a BaZi pillar grid

A BaZi pillar grid is the source data: stems, branches, elements, and pillar labels organized into columns. LifeSense shows the grid as chart structure, not as a judgment.

What shows up in the chart

Year, month, day, and hour pillar columns when the required inputs are available.
Heavenly stem and earthly branch labels inside each available column.
Element labels attached to stems, branches, and supported derived fields.
Unavailable or low-confidence hour fields when exact birth time is missing.

Why exact time matters

The hour column is exact-time dependent. If the birth time is unknown, the grid should keep hour-sensitive facts unavailable, approximate, or low-confidence.

What each column represents

The grid is a display format for the calculated pillar facts. It separates year, month, day, and hour fields so the source of each label stays visible.

What LifeSense avoids adding

The grid page should not turn a stem, branch, or element label into direction. It names the calculated fields and their confidence boundaries only.

Use this guide with the calculator

This guide is meant to help you recognize the fields after the chart is calculated, not to replace the calculator.

Look for these method labels in the result: BaZi, Four Pillars, Pillar Grid, Heavenly Stem, Earthly Branch, Hour Pillar.
Before exporting, check the time basis: The hour column is exact-time dependent. If the birth time is unknown, the grid should keep hour-sensitive facts unavailable, approximate, or low-confidence.
If the result labels a field unavailable, approximate, or low-confidence, keep that boundary in your notes.