BaZi and Purple Star Astrology evolved out of the interest of the ancient Chinese in issues of existentialism: who are we? Why are we here? What is our purpose in life? The same existential issues that great Greek western philosophers like Aristotle contemplated. And like Aristotle, the Chinese sages took an extra step beyond existentialism. They were interested in the question of Destiny: what is the path that life holds before us? And they set out to study and develop a method in which to some people might be effectively described as PREDICTING LIFE.
In the old days, the Chinese didn't have birth certificates. They had pieces of paper with their BaZi written on it. Like the birth certificate, the BaZi was an important or precious document. It was frequently kept a secret and only brought out say, for marriage brokering purposes or to apply for a job with the Imperial Service. This is because a person's BaZi, unlike the innocuous birth certificate, can tell a lot more about the person than just the date they were born on! The person's entire life is written in their BaZi.
BaZi makes use of a person's birth data (date of birth and time of birth) to derive an astrological data chart. This astrological data chart is made up of a combination of the 5 Elements: Water, Earth, Metal, Wood and Fire. A BaZi chart looks something like this:
AThe BaZi chart comprises of the Natal chart or basic BaZi chart, and the Luck Pillars.
A professional BaZi consultant, from these eight characters of the chart alone, will be able to derive information on almost any and every aspect of a person's life - what health problems they will face, their appearance (fat, tall, skinny, thin), character traits (mean, kind, generous, stingy, passionate, cold, emotional, stable), financial ability and earning capacity. When the basic BaZi chart is viewed within the context of the Luck Pillar, the consultant can then forecast challenging times, opportunities for advancement, setbacks and windfalls.
Finding out Your BaZi
Many older Chinese remain very superstitious about the need to keep their BaZi secret, believing that knowledge of your date and time of birth will enable someone to hex you. The modern generation of course is less superstitious or has wised up on some tricks to get around this concern (add 2 minutes to your time of birth - just make sure it doesn't then cross to the next hour, or simply give the consultant the time in 'Chinese Clock Speak' ie: Dragon Hour).
There are plenty of software-driven calculators available on the Internet where you can compute and tabulate your personal BaZi or Purple Star Astrology chart for FREE. The caveat is that not all these calculators are RELIABLE or CORRECT. Some are developed with unconventional or unorthodox thinking behind them (computing BaZi using the Lunar calendar for example), or they involve the author or creator's own unverified ideas about how a Bazi chart should be presented (one calculator presents the Pig year, month or Day as containing Yin Water which is wrong.)
Baziforlove.com currently offers a Day Master calculator for quick computations of your Day Master. If you want to plot your full BaZi chart, with Luck Pillars, I recommend using the Joey Yap BaZi Ming Pan calculator. You need to register to use it but use is free. This is a calculator that is used by the Mastery Academy's instructors and professional consultants and is an accurate calculator with no mistakes in information or presentation.
If you are distrustful of the calculators available online, the only way to figure out your own BaZi chart is to learn how to plot it manually using the Ten Thousand Year calendar. I recommend using Joey's simply because it's easier if you don't read/write Chinese. How to plot a BaZi chart manually is actually outlined in a systematic step-by-step manner in Joey's first book on Bazi, The Destiny Code. It is not easy to learn on your own (some people in my experience, pick it up better than others) although if you are serious about dabbling in BaZi, learning to plot manually is essential.
Of course, getting your chart is just the start. Having the chart is like having a map - if you don't know how to read it, you won't be going anywhere too soon.
