Heavenly Stems[edit 

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There are ten Heavenly Stems (represented by the acronyms "H" or "HS") used in the construction of the Four
Pillars of Ba Zi (四柱八字), a method of Chinese Divination based on a person's date and time of birth. For
example, both the acronyms "HS1" and "H1" represent the first Heavenly Stem, namely "Jia" (Yang Wood), as
shown in the tables below.

Five
Heavenly Chines
Simplified Yin/Yang Element Zang/Fu
S/N Stem Notation e
Chinese (阴阳) s (organ)
(天干) Pinyin
(五行)

1 Jia HS1 jiǎ 甲 Yang Wood Gall Bladder

2 Yi HS2 yǐ 乙 Yin Wood Liver

3 Bing HS3 bǐng 丙 Yang Fire Small Intestine

4 Ding HS4 dīng 丁 Yin Fire Heart

5 Wu HS5 wù 戊 Yang Earth Stomach

6 Ji HS6 jǐ 己 Yin Earth Spleen

7 Geng HS7 gēng 庚 Yang Metal Large Intestine

8 Xin HS8 xīn 辛 Yin Metal Lung

9 Ren HS9 rén 壬 Yang Water Urinary Bladder

10 Gui HS10 guǐ 癸 Yin Water Kidney

Heavenly Stem Combinations and Clashes[edit | edit source]
H
H1 H2 H3 H4 H5 H6 H7 H8 H9 H10
S

Clash 5Com Clash

H1
Element Earth Direction

Clash
5Com Clash
H2 Elemen
Metal Direction
t

Clash
Clash 5Com
H3 Directio
Element Water
n

Clash 5Com Clash

H4
Element Wood Direction

Clash Clash 5Com

H5
Element Element Fire

5Com Clash Clash

H6
Earth Element Element

Clash 5Com Clash

H7
Direction Metal Element

Clash
5Com Clash
H8 Directio
Water Element
n

Clash 5Com Clash

H9
Direction Wood Element

Clash
Clash 5Com
H10 Elemen
Direction Fire
t

Notes:

1. In the above table, "5Com" means the 5 Combinations of two adjacent Heavenly Stems. These
combinations result in a good structure of a person's Ba Zi
2. "Clash" means that the Heavenly Stems clash with each other in the Ba Zi, when they are next to each
other. Clashes will result in a poor structure of a person's Ba Zi.
3. If there is a Clash of two adjacent Stems, as well as a Combination with another Stem, the Clash will not
occur, as Combinations take precedence over Clashes.