Convert a recorded clock to true solar time using its historical zone, east-positive longitude and equation of time. Enter the resulting date and clock in the chart explorer to compare a solar-time chart.
年 · 月 · 日 · 時 · four nested clocks
Four Clocks of a Bazi Chart: Year, Month, Day & Hour Pillars
At 13 Oct 2026, 14:55 CST (UTC+8), the four coordinates are year 丙午 Yang Fire Horse, month 戊戌 Yang Earth Dog, day 庚申 Yang Metal Monkey and hour 癸未 Yin Water Goat. Each changes on its own clock.
One date · four coordinates
The four clocks do different work
The same birth moment is counted in units of years, seasonal months, days and two-hour periods. A branch names the position on each cycle; a stem completes each pillar.
- 01Year pillar
A stem–branch coordinate whose Four Pillars boundary is Li Chun; the popular outer animal here turns at Chinese New Year.
Open the guide → - 02Month pillar
One of twelve branch months opened by the alternating jie solar terms, not by Gregorian month starts.
Open the guide → - 03Day pillar
One position in the continuously advancing sixty-day count; its stem is the Day Master.
Open the guide → - 04Hour pillar
A two-hour branch paired with a stem derived from the day stem. It cannot be recovered without a birth time.
Open the guide →
Edges matter
A boundary is part of the answer
Two results can differ without either arithmetic being wrong when they name different turning points. The convention must stay visible beside the result.
- 01Chinese New Year
Turns the familiar outer-animal year used by the zodiac-year calculator.
Date guide → - 02Li Chun
Turns the Four Pillars year and opens the Tiger branch month.
Compare boundaries → - 03Twelve jie terms
Open the twelve branch months at astronomical moments that drift by year.
Term atlas → - 0423:00 and midnight
The Rat hour wraps midnight; published day-pillar schools can differ during its first civil hour.
Rat hour →
Clock and place
A recorded time still needs a method
Modern birth records use civil time. Choose the birthplace's named time zone and the chart resolves the offset that applied on the entered date, including daylight-saving changes. The pillar day and hour still use the recorded local clock.
Named zone or fixed offset
Use an IANA city/region name to apply its date-specific civil-clock rule. A fixed UTC offset is available when the historical record already supplies one. A skipped clock time must be corrected; a repeated clock time needs its first or second occurrence selected.
Solar time is a different choice
The named zone does not infer longitude or adjust to apparent solar time. Those approaches need a separately declared method; this chart uses civil time and shows the chosen time reference beside the result.