Yin Earth Snake (Ji Si, 己巳) day pillar
A Yin Earth day master, the Garden, sitting on the Snake.
Your day pillar is the pair of characters for the day you were born. The top one, the stem, is your day master — you. The bottom one, the branch, is what it sits on. The sixty pillars come round in turn, one a day, so about one person in sixty was born on a Ji Si day.
Its sound element: Wood of the Great Forest (Da Lin Mu, 大林木)
The sixty pillars go in pairs, and each pair carries a sound element (Na Yin, 纳音) — an image, separate from the element of the stem. The classic San Ming Tong Hui (三命通会) describes each pillar by it:
Flowers and grass on a hilltop; likes spring and autumn.
山头花草，喜春及秋
What the Snake holds, and what it is to Yin Earth
Each branch holds one to three stems. The ones under your own day master are the closest things to you in the chart.
- Yang Fire (Bing, 丙), the main one — Direct Resource (Zheng Yin, 正印). What produces you, opposite polarity. Straightforward support: what teaches, shelters and backs you.
- Yang Metal (Geng, 庚) — Hurting Officer (Shang Guan, 伤官). What you produce, opposite polarity. Output with an edge on it. The name means it injures the Direct Officer (正官), which is why the tradition reads it as talent that does not sit well with authority.
- Yang Earth (Wu, 戊) — Rob Wealth (Jie Cai, 劫财). Same element, opposite polarity. A peer who takes rather than shares — the tradition reads it as what draws on your resources through people close to you.
A Ji Si day at each birth hour: San Ming Tong Hui (三命通会)
Two volumes of this classic go hour by hour, and at each hour say something about this exact day pillar. These are its sentences on a Ji Si day; what it says about the other five Yin Earth days is on the Yin Earth day master page. Hours are true solar time, not clock time.
Ox hour 01:00–03:00 · Yin Wood Ox (Yi Chou, 乙丑)
Tiger (寅) and Rabbit (卯) months, the Seven Killings (偏官) pattern. With no Rooster (酉) or Dog (戌) character, an advancing-in-letters noble destiny.
寅卯月，偏官格。无酉戌字，文进贵命。
Tiger hour 03:00–05:00 · Yang Fire Tiger (Bing Yin, 丙寅)
punished first and strong after. A Tiger (寅) month, the Direct Officer (正官) pattern, the writing conspicuous and noble. Pig (亥) and Rat (子) as Water with a Water period, noble. Pure Dog (戌), a military office of the third grade. Monkey (申) and Pig in year and month, the four birth positions complete, greatly noble — or else it does not end well.
先刑后旺。寅月，正官格，文章显贵。亥子水，水运，贵。纯戌，武职三品。年月申亥四生局全，大贵，或不善终。
Rabbit hour 05:00–07:00 · Yin Fire Rabbit (Ding Mao, 丁卯)
with nothing clashing or breaking, wealth and rank; Tiger (寅), Horse (午) and Dragon (辰) in year or month, punishment, injury and unfavourable. A Pig (亥) month with Wood and Fire periods, noble. If born in spring with Yang Wood (甲) or Yin Wood (乙) showing, officer and Killings (煞) too strong — with something to check and transform them, also noble; otherwise ill and an early death.
无冲破，富贵；寅午辰年月，刑伤不利。亥月，木火运，贵。若春生透甲乙者，官煞太旺，有制化，亦贵；否则凶夭。
Dragon hour 07:00–09:00 · Yang Earth Dragon (Wu Chen, 戊辰)
the self solitary and afterwards it comes out. Spring, officer and nobility; summer, level and settled; autumn, cruel and violent; winter, the wealth strong. The year period likewise.
身孤后发。春官贵；夏平稳；秋凶暴；冬财旺。岁运同。
Snake hour 09:00–11:00 · Yin Earth Snake (Ji Si, 己巳)
a Horse (午) year or month, awe and authority blazing, the name and repute shining. A spring month, the children filial and the wife worthy. Autumn and winter ordinary, noble but not conspicuous. Dragon (辰) and Dog (戌), wealth, Resource (印), officer and Eating God (食); Monkey (申), Hurting Officer (伤官) producing wealth — all reckoned favourable.
午年月，权威赫赫，名誉昭昭。春月，子孝妻贤。秋冬平常，贵而不显。辰戌，财印官食；申，伤官生财，俱作吉推。
Horse hour 11:00–13:00 · Yang Metal Horse (Geng Wu, 庚午)
noble. Tiger (寅), Horse (午) and Dog (戌) months, the Metal Spirit (金神) entering a Fire country, read as Direct Resource (印绶), conspicuously noble. Dragon (辰), Dog, Ox (丑) and Goat (未) in year or month, marquis or earl. If it meets a period binding the Killings (煞), it certainly does not end well. A Rooster (酉) month with a southeastern period, noble.
贵。寅午戌月，金神入火乡，作印绶论，贵显，辰戌丑未年月，侯伯。若逢合煞运，必不善终。酉月、东南运，贵。
Goat hour 13:00–15:00 · Yin Metal Goat (Xin Wei, 辛未)
a Metal Spirit (金神) day. Born in Tiger (寅), Horse (午) or Dog (戌) months, noble; Pig (亥), Rabbit (卯), Dragon (辰) and Horse running Metal, Fire, Water and Wood periods, greatly noble.
金神日。寅午戌月生，贵；亥卯辰午，行金火水木运，大贵。
Monkey hour 15:00–17:00 · Yang Water Monkey (Ren Shen, 壬申)
greatly ill, punishment. Yin Earth (己), Rooster (酉) and Ox (丑) months, Hurting Officer (伤官); running a wealth period, favourable. Tiger (寅), Horse (午) and Dog (戌) months, the Metal Spirit (金神) entering a Fire country, the period southwestern, noble. Monkey (申), Rat (子) and Dragon (辰) months with Wood and Fire periods, noble.
大凶，刑。己酉丑月，伤官，行财运，吉。寅午戌月，金神入火乡，运西南，贵。申子辰月，木火运，贵。
Rooster hour 17:00–19:00 · Yin Water Rooster (Gui You, 癸酉)
Snake (巳), Rooster (酉) and Ox (丑) months, Hurting Officer (伤官) injured to the full, dwelling in a military office and the censorate. Rabbit (卯) and Dog (戌) months, the Metal Spirit (金神) entering a Fire country, noble and able in speech; nobility injured, he collects himself and retires early, because Water and Earth are spoiled at Rooster.
巳酉丑月，伤官伤尽，居武职、风宪。卯戌月，金神入火乡，贵而能言，伤贵，收心早退，以水土败在酉故也。
Dog hour 19:00–21:00 · Yang Wood Dog (Jia Xu, 甲戌)
Tiger (寅), Horse (午) and Dog (戌) months, the Metal Spirit (金神) entering a Fire country, conspicuously noble. Pig (亥) and Dog in year or month, holding office as a governor, with a great name. A Rat (子) month with Wood and Fire periods, the highest grade.
寅午戌月，金神入火乡，贵显。亥戌年月，官居守令，极有声名。子月、木火运，极品。己末日甲戌时，克陷遭刑。寅午年月，三、四品，贵。戌月、东南运，五品。纯辛卯年月，刑。
Pig hour 21:00–23:00 · Yin Wood Pig (Yi Hai, 乙亥)
Tiger (寅), Horse (午) and Dog (戌) months, the Metal Spirit (金神) entering a Fire country, noble. A Snake (巳) month with a northwestern period, office to duke or minister. Rabbit (卯) and Horse, the censorate. Pure Rat (子) and Pig (亥) in year and month, wealth siding with the Killings (煞), read as abandoning — it governs great military authority.
寅午戌月，金神入火乡，贵。巳月、西北运，官至公卿。卯午，风宪。纯子亥年月，以财党煞，作弃看，主大兵权。
The Snake and the other animals
When the day branch meets these — in a year, a ten-year luck period, or someone else’s chart — the classics read it by these relationships.
- Clashes with
- Pig
- Pairs with (six harmony)
- Monkey
- In a trine with
- Ox, Rooster
- Punishment with
- Tiger, Monkey
- Harms
- Tiger
- Breaks
- Monkey
The next Ji Si days: 21 December 2026, 19 February 2027, 20 April 2027. It returns every sixty days.
Famous people born on a Ji Si day
- Chiang Kai-shek Leader of the Republic of China, 1928–1975
The Yin Earth day master · Before it: Wu Chen · After it: Geng Wu · All sixty day pillars