Learn a chart in this order: its date boundaries, eight characters, Day Master, seasonal month, stem relationships, branch relationships and timing layers.
1. Build one chart
Enter an example date in the birth-chart explorer. Keep its year, month, day and hour visible while you learn. Begin with the day stem: this is the Day Master used to name the Ten Gods.
2. Follow the relationships
Read the five-phase generating and controlling cycles, then compare polarity to find each Ten God. Open the hidden stems inside each branch before describing element composition.
3. Add timing
The month pillar supplies the sequence for ten-year luck pillars. Annual, monthly and daily pairs add shorter periods. Compare each pair with the natal stems and branches rather than treating the period label as a complete reading.
4. Try a second tradition
Read a Zi Wei chart by palace and star, or form an I Ching hexagram from six lines. Their terms overlap with BaZi, but their chart structures and questions differ.