The ten day stems — reading the difference between them
updated · 5 min read
The Four Pillars has a year, a month and a day pillar, and within them the stem of the day pillar — the day stem — is taken to represent the person and given the most weight. There are ten of them.
The ten are distributed two apiece across the five elements. Within each element they split into a yang and a yin form, with different things they are likened to. It is a difference in how the force comes out, not in strength.
These ten are the heavenly stems, paired with the twelve branches to make the signs. The zodiac on a new year card has twelve; the one used in divination has sixty, because the stems are multiplied in.
The ten
| Day stem | Element | Likened to | Nature it is taken to show |
|---|---|---|---|
| Yang Wood | Wood (yang) | A great tree | Moves with a core running through it |
| Yin Wood | Wood (yin) | Grasses and flowers | Changes shape pliantly to suit conditions |
| Yang Fire | Fire (yang) | The sun | Brightens the surroundings and gets people moving |
| Yin Fire | Fire (yin) | A lamp | Holds a fine attention that warms those nearby |
| Yang Earth | Earth (yang) | A mountain | Holds a steadiness that does not give way easily |
| Yin Earth | Earth (yin) | Cultivated fields | Does the work of bringing people and things on |
| Yang Metal | Metal (yang) | A blade | Holds the power to decide and separate |
| Yin Metal | Metal (yin) | A jewel | Is worth more the more it is worked |
| Yang Water | Water (yang) | A great river | Generates a large flow |
| Yin Water | Water (yin) | Rain and dew | Reaches quietly but deeply |
The images are concrete for more than memorability. Laying the nature of a thing in the world directly over the tendencies of a person is how this system thinks. A great tree and a flower grow differently, and that difference is read as it stands.
Yang and yin are not better and worse
Within wood, the yang form goes straight up and the yin form spreads pliantly outward. Neither is stronger; the force simply comes out differently. There is a reading in which the yin form is the harder of the two to break.
Yang Metal is likened to a blade and Yin Metal to a jewel. Both are metal, and one is the power to cut through while the other is the quality of being polished into brightness. Made of the same material, they are put to quite different use.
The day stem does not change over a life, since it is fixed by the day of birth. What changes with age and circumstances is how that nature comes out, not the stem itself.
It is the ground for reading a match
Because the day stem maps onto an element, it can be used directly when reading a match. Set your own element against the other person's and you can see whether it produces, checks, or is the same element.
The compatibility reading on this service gives the element of the day stem the most weight. Elements are also taken from the principal star of Nine Star Ki and from the strokes of a name, and the day stem comes first.
Common questions
- Where can I find my own day stem?
- A reading on this service shows the day pillar, the day stem and its element on the result screen. A name and a date of birth produce it there and then.
- Are the stems of the year and month pillars not read?
- They are, with different parts. The year is family line and how society sees you, the month where you stand in work, and the day yourself.
- Do people with the same day stem have the same character?
- They do not. The day stem shows a tendency, and how it comes out varies with the combination with the other pillars and with what a person has lived through.