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Korean Saju vs. Chinese BaZi vs. Japanese Shichū Suimei
— same eight characters, different uses
All three come from the same root: turning your year, month, day and hour of birth into the eight characters of four pillars. Chinese BaZi leans toward structural analysis such as chart patterns and the Useful God; Japanese Shichū Suimei has its own terms like tsūhensei (通変星) and tenchūsatsu (天中殺) and often shows a single hidden stem; Korean Saju stands out for using sinsal like Dohwasal and Yeongmasal, compatibility and date selection in daily life. Unlike Western astrology, no planets are involved. If you were born outside Korea, enter the local clock time and check daylight saving time.
In this article
- Are Saju, BaZi and Shichū Suimei the same thing?
- How do the terms differ across Korea, China and Japan?
- Where does each tradition put the weight in interpretation?
- Why can the same birthday give different charts?
- How is Saju different from Western astrology?
- Born outside Korea? How do I enter my birth time?
- What standard does Mutal Unnie calculate by?
- FAQ
Are Saju, BaZi and Shichū Suimei the same thing?
Yes, at the root. All three turn the year, month, day and hour of your birth into two characters each, a Heavenly Stem and an Earthly Branch, for eight characters in total. The method used today comes from the Ziping (子平) school, which treats your Day Master, the stem of your birth day, as “you” and reads every other character in relation to it.
Only the names differ. Korea says Saju (四柱, “four pillars”) or Saju palja; the Chinese-speaking world says BaZi (八字, “eight characters”) or Ziping; Japan says Shichū Suimei (四柱推命). In English you'll also see “Four Pillars of Destiny.” As saju cafes have caught on with visitors to Korea, “Saju” has become the common English name for the Korean way of doing it.
How do the terms differ across Korea, China and Japan?
The concepts are almost identical; the names and character forms vary a little. Use the table below to translate when you read a book or app from another country.
| Concept | Korea | Chinese | Japan |
|---|---|---|---|
| Birth chart | wonguk (原局) | 命盘 · 命局 | 命式 |
| The character that is “you” | ilgan, Day Master (日干) | 日主 · 日元 | 日干 |
| Ten relationships | sipsin, Ten Gods (十神) | 十神 | 通変星 |
| Direct Resource | jeongin (正印) | 正印 | 印綬 |
| The empty seat | gongmang (空亡) | 空亡 | 空亡 · 天中殺 |
| Stems hidden in a branch | jijanggan (支藏干) | 藏干 (人元) | 蔵干 |
| 10-year luck cycle | daeun (大運) | 大运 · 大運 | 大運 |
| Twelve Life Stages | sibi-unseong (十二運星) | 十二长生 | 十二運星 |
| Symbolic stars | sinsal (Dohwasal, Yeongmasal) | 神煞 (桃花, 驿马) | 神殺 |
Japan's tenchūsatsu (天中殺) is the name widely used in the Sanmeigaku (算命学) family of schools, and it points to the same position as Saju's Gongmang. See Gongmang for what it means and the 10 Ten Gods for the relationships.
Where does each tradition put the weight in interpretation?
Given the same chart, Chinese-language readings tend to focus on structure, Japanese ones on personality types, and Korean ones on everyday use. Each country has many schools, so this table shows what you'll most often see in popular books, apps and readings.
| Common focus | Everyday use | |
|---|---|---|
| Chinese-speaking world | Structural analysis: chart patterns (格局), the Useful God (用神), Day Master strength. Zi Wei Dou Shu (紫微斗數) is a separate system that's also popular | Date selection, naming, read alongside feng shui |
| Japan | Personality and aptitude through tsūhensei and the Twelve Life Stages. Showing one hidden stem chosen by how many days have passed since the solar-term entry is common | Personality readings, checking tenchūsatsu periods |
| Korea | Day Master and Ten Gods, plus sinsal like Dohwasal, Yeongmasal and Hwagaesal used as everyday words | Pre-marriage compatibility (gunghap), date selection and son-eomneun-nal, New Year fortunes, saju cafes and apps |
How sinsal became everyday Korean is shown in Dohwasal and Hongyeomsal, and the culture of choosing dates in what taegil is.
Why can the same birthday give different charts?
Mostly because of calculation rules. Check four things first: the time basis, how the Ja hour is handled, historical standard time and daylight saving time, and how hidden stems are shown.
- Time basisKorea Standard Time is set on the 135°E meridian, but Seoul sits at about 127°E, so clock noon and true solar noon are a little over 30 minutes apart. Calendars differ on whether to correct for this. China, though it spans a huge width, uses a single time zone, Beijing time (UTC+8).
- The Ja hourWhether a birth between 11 p.m. and midnight counts as today or tomorrow (late vs. early Ja hour) changes the day pillar. See late vs. early Ja hour.
- Historical standard time and DSTKorea has changed its standard time several times and used daylight saving time in some years (standard time changes, daylight saving time).
- Hidden stemsCharts look different depending on whether they show all the stems hidden in a branch or just one.
The results of Mutal Unnie's own side-by-side checks are in why manseryeok apps disagree.
How is Saju different from Western astrology?
Western astrology reads where the Sun, Moon and planets were at the moment you were born; Saju calculates eight characters from the solar terms and the 60-day stem-branch calendar, with no planets. Both get more detailed the more exact your birth time is. Note that the “Chinese zodiac” you see in newspapers uses only the year animal, one of the eight characters.
| Saju | Western astrology | |
|---|---|---|
| Inputs | Solar terms and the sixty stem-branch pairs | Positions of the Sun, Moon and planets on the ecliptic |
| Headline info | Day Master and Five Elements balance | Sun sign, rising sign |
| Reading timing | 10-year, yearly, monthly and daily cycles | Planetary transits |
| When the month changes | At a solar-term entry time (e.g. Ipchun) | When the Sun enters the next sign |
How it compares with a personality test is in MBTI vs. Saju, and with question-based readings in tarot vs. Saju.
Born outside Korea? How do I enter my birth time?
Enter the local clock time where you were born, and if daylight saving time was in effect there at the time, subtract one hour. That's the basic rule, and it matters most near the 11 p.m. and midnight boundaries.
| Where you were born | What to check |
|---|---|
| United States | National DST rules date from the Uniform Time Act of 1966, and the current March–November schedule from 2007. Hawaii and most of Arizona don't observe DST. |
| United Kingdom | Summer births are usually on British Summer Time (GMT+1). From February 1968 to October 1971, clocks stayed on GMT+1 all year (the British Standard Time trial), so winter births in those years are affected too. |
| Australia | DST depends on the state: New South Wales, Victoria, South Australia, Tasmania and the ACT use it; Queensland, Western Australia and the Northern Territory currently don't. |
| Singapore | No DST, but the clock moved from UTC+7:30 to UTC+8 on 1 January 1982. Use the clock time on your record as it is. |
The Mutal Unnie app treats the clock time you enter as Korea time (KST) and does not automatically correct for foreign time zones or daylight saving time. If you enter your local time as it is, your hour and day pillars will usually match a local-time reading, but solar-term entry times are calculated in Korea time, so if you were born within about a day of a solar-term entry, your month pillar may differ. In that case, convert the moment of your birth to Korea time and compare it with the entry time.
What standard does Mutal Unnie calculate by?
The Mutal Unnie engine calculates solar terms and the sixty stem-branch pairs in Korea Standard Time, with solar-term dates checked against data published by the Korea Astronomy and Space Science Institute. The app uses the time you enter as it is and counts births in the 11 p.m. hour toward the same day.
In the free web manseryeok calculator, you can switch on corrections for Korea's past daylight saving time, its old standard meridian, and true solar time (longitude plus the equation of time), then compare how each changes the result. For now, the true solar time option only offers the longitudes of major Korean cities.
Start with today's rhythm
Available on iPhone and Android. Daily rhythm cards and adding events are free. Check the cost before opening a paid reading. Store availability and app language support depend on the listing.
FAQ
Why does my Japanese Shichū Suimei chart differ from my Korean Saju?
If the eight characters are the same, the difference is in how hidden stems are shown, the terminology and the school of interpretation. If the eight characters themselves differ, it's usually a calculation rule such as a time correction or how the Ja hour is handled. Put the two charts side by side and check the characters first.
Can I enter a Korean birth time on a Chinese BaZi website?
Sites that don't let you choose a birthplace may assume Beijing time (UTC+8). Entering a Korean clock time as it is can then create a one-hour gap, so check which time zone the site is based on first.
Are tenchūsatsu and Gongmang the same thing?
They point to the same position: the two branches left without a partner in the ten-pair group (decade) your day pillar belongs to. Korea calls them Gongmang, and Japan's Sanmeigaku family of schools calls them tenchūsatsu. How much weight they get, and how they're used, varies by school.
Can I use Western astrology and Saju together?
Yes. They're calculated in different ways, so using both widens your perspective. A different result doesn't mean one of them is wrong, and for important decisions, look at real-world conditions first.