Glossary of Chinese Metaphysics
Twenty essential terms from the Daoist Arts tradition — BaZi, Feng Shui, numerology, almanac practice, and talisman symbolism — each defined with its classical source and cross-linked to the in-depth guides and tools on this site. Use the index below or search the terms directly.
BaZi · Destiny Analysis
BaZi 八字 bā zì — Eight Characters
The Four Pillars of Destiny: a Chinese metaphysical framework that maps a person's birth year, month, day, and hour into eight characters — two per pillar, each a Heavenly Stem paired with an Earthly Branch. The result is a structured map of innate temperament and life phases, analyzed through the Five Elements and the Ten Gods.
Classical source: The modern system was systematized by Xu Ziping (徐子平) in the Song dynasty (960–1279 CE); its roots lie in the Han dynasty Gan-Zhi calendrical system.
Four Pillars 四柱 sì zhù
The four structural columns of a BaZi chart — Year, Month, Day, and Hour. Each pillar carries one Heavenly Stem (天干) and one Earthly Branch (地支), giving eight characters total. The Month pillar is the strongest influence on the chart's elemental balance; the Day Master sits in the Day pillar.
Classical source: Pillar-based charting is the organizing principle of the Ziping method, standard since the Song dynasty.
Related: BaZi Day Master Chart Analysis Tool
Day Master 日主 rì zhǔ
The Heavenly Stem of the Day pillar — the "self" of the chart. Every other element in the eight characters is read relative to the Day Master: which elements strengthen it, which drain it, and which of the Ten Gods its interactions produce.
Classical source: The concept of the Day Master as the chart's reference point is central to the Ziping school of BaZi.
Da Yun 大运 dà yùn — Major Luck Cycles
Ten-year luck periods that govern each decade of adult life in a BaZi chart. Da Yun begin after a "starting age" (起运) calculated from the distance between the birth date and the nearest solar term; the classical rule is that three days of chart time equal one year of life.
Classical source: The Da Yun calculation method is described in classical BaZi manuals of the Ming and Qing dynasties, building on Song foundations.
Related: BaZi Chart Analysis Tool
Ten Gods 十神 shí shén
Ten relational archetypes derived from how each chart element interacts with the Day Master: Direct Wealth (正财), Indirect Wealth (偏财), Direct Officer (正官), Seven Killings (七杀), Direct Resource (正印), Indirect Resource (偏印), Companion (比肩), Rob Wealth (劫财), Eating God (食神), and Hurting Officer (伤官). Together they describe career, wealth, relationships, and inner character.
Classical source: The Ten Gods framework was formalized within the Ziping method and refined through Ming-Qing BaZi literature.
Related: Day Master BaZi Tool
Five Elements 五行 wǔ xíng — Wu Xing
Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal, and Water — the five dynamic phases that generate and control one another (生 / 克 cycles). They are the shared substrate of BaZi, Feng Shui, Chinese naming, and almanac practice: every chart, room, name, and date is read through this elemental map.
Classical source: The Five Elements framework appears in the Shang Shu (Book of Documents, c. 5th century BCE) and was systematized by Zou Yan (邹衍) in the Warring States period.
Feng Shui · Environmental Harmony
Feng Shui 风水 fēng shuǐ — Wind and Water
The Chinese science of environmental correspondence: arranging space so that qi flows harmoniously around the occupant. Applied to homes, offices, and graves, it considers orientation, elemental balance, and the movement of energy through a space.
Classical source: Codified by Guo Pu (郭璞) in the Zang Shu (葬書, Book of Burial, c. 276–324 CE) — the text that first defined feng shui as "qi riding the wind and scattering, bounded by water and stopping."
Qi 气 qì — Life Energy
The animating energy of the cosmos and the body. In Feng Shui, qi moves through buildings and landscapes; in BaZi, it is the substance the Five Elements describe. Good practice guides, gathers, and protects qi; bad practice lets it stagnate or scatter.
Classical source: The concept pervades classical Chinese thought, from the Nei Ye (c. 4th century BCE) to the Zang Shu's definition of feng shui itself.
Related: Feng Shui Five Elements
Bagua 八卦 bā guà — Eight Trigrams
The eight trigrams of the I Ching — Qian, Dui, Li, Zhen, Xun, Kan, Gen, Kun — used in Feng Shui as a spatial map of eight life sectors: Wealth, Fame, Love, Family, Health, Children, Knowledge, and Career. Each sector corresponds to a trigram, a direction, and an element.
Classical source: The trigrams are the foundation of the Yijing (I Ching), whose earliest layers date to the Western Zhou (c. 1000 BCE).
Related: Feng Shui I Ching Beginner Guide
Flying Star 玄空飞星 xuán kōng fēi xīng — Xuan Kong
A time-space school of Feng Shui in which nine stars move through the eight Bagua sectors plus the center, shifting every year and every 20-year period (运). Annual Flying Star charts are used to locate the year's wealth star and avoid its afflictions.
Classical source: The Xuan Kong system was consolidated by Jiang Da Hong (蒋大鸿) in the early Qing dynasty.
Related: Bagua Feng Shui Analysis
Command Position 命位 mìng wèi
The single most important rule of bedroom Feng Shui: the bed should sit against a solid wall, able to see the bedroom door without being directly in line with it. The occupant should be able to see who enters while resting — a position of security that lets qi settle and sleep deepen.
Classical source: Grounded in the Zang Shu tradition's principles of protection and support, as applied to the sleeping chamber.
Explore: 12 Bedroom Layout Rules Feng Shui Tool
Numerology & Naming
Lucky Numbers 吉祥数字 jí xiáng shù zì
Digits whose Mandarin homophones carry auspicious meaning: 8 (bā, 发 fā, "prosperity") is the wealth king; 9 (jiǔ, 久, "eternity") carries imperial weight; 6 (liù, 顺, "smooth") flows well; while 4 (sì, 死, "death") is the number most buildings, hotels, and phone plans avoid.
Classical source: Homophone-based number symbolism is documented across Chinese folk practice and classical numerology; the 888 pattern is a modern commercial crystallization of ancient sound-correspondence thinking.
Explore: Why 8 & 9 Rule Number Fortune Tool
Shuli 数理 shù lǐ — Number Principle
The classical numerology that reads the energy of digits and stroke counts — used to evaluate phone numbers, license plates, addresses, and the stroke structure of names. Each digit carries an elemental and phonetic value that interacts with the owner's BaZi balance.
Classical source: The number-principle (数理) school draws on the Han dynasty Xiang Shu (象数, image-and-number) tradition.
Related: Lucky Numbers Number Analysis Tool
Mingzi 取名 qǔ míng — Chinese Naming
The practice of choosing a Chinese name by balancing the child's BaZi Five Elements with auspicious characters, stroke counts, and sound. A name that supplies a missing element — or avoids a clashing one — is said to support the child's destiny.
Classical source: Name analysis by strokes and elements descends from the Xiang Shu tradition and the classical Shuowen Jiezi (说文解字, 121 CE) character scholarship.
Explore: Free Name Tool Choose a Name by BaZi
Almanac & Auspicious Dates
Tong Shu 通书 tōng shū — Chinese Almanac
The classical Chinese almanac used to select auspicious dates. For each day it lists favorable (宜) and unfavorable (忌) activities — from weddings and moves to haircuts and business launches — based on the day's stems and branches, solar terms, and deity positions.
Classical source: The almanac tradition descends from the imperial calendars of the Tang dynasty, printed for popular use from the Song onward.
Explore: Auspicious Date Tool
Tai Sui 太岁 tài suì — Grand Duke of Jupiter
The annual ruling deity of the year's Earthly Branch, corresponding to Jupiter's position. Years in which your zodiac sign "clashes" with Tai Sui (犯太岁) are treated with caution — traditionally managed with remedies, care in major decisions, and alignment with one's favorable directions.
Classical source: Tai Sui practice is rooted in Han dynasty astronomical worship of the planet Jupiter and its 12-year cycle.
Related: Tong Shu Date Selection Tool
Auspicious Date Selection 择日 zé rì — Ze Ri
The classical practice of choosing dates for weddings, moves, renovations, and business launches by weighing the almanac's daily verdicts, the couple's or owner's BaZi charts, and the solar terms. A well-chosen date aligns the event with favorable elemental and temporal energy.
Classical source: Date selection (择日) is one of the five classical arts of Chinese metaphysics, documented in the almanac literature from the Tang dynasty onward.
Explore: Auspicious Dates Tool 2027 Almanac Guide
Sacred Talismans
Pi Xiu 貔貅 pí xiū — Wealth Beast
The mythical wealth-retaining beast — dragon head, lion body, single horn, and famously no anus, so it swallows fortune and never lets it go. Worn as a bracelet or placed as a statue to attract and hold wealth, ward off harm, and harmonize the owner's element.
Classical source: The Pi Xiu appears in Sima Qian's Shiji (史记, Records of the Grand Historian, c. 94 BCE), where it accompanies the armies of the Yellow Emperor; Han dynasty jade carvings survive in museum collections today.
Explore: Complete Pi Xiu Guide Sacred Collection
Qilin 麒麟 qí lín
The benevolent mythical beast of wisdom and good omens — the counterpart of the Pi Xiu: where the Pi Xiu brings retained prosperity, the Qilin brings wisdom, virtue, and the arrival of noble events.
Classical source: The Qilin appears in the Shiji and throughout the Spring and Autumn Annals tradition as an omen of sage rule.
Related: Pi Xiu Wealth Symbols Compared
Caishen 财神 cái shén — God of Wealth
The Chinese God of Wealth, honored at the Lunar New Year and in homes and businesses. In practice he is complementary to the Pi Xiu: Caishen brings fortune in, while the Pi Xiu holds the door shut behind it — attraction and retention working as one system.
Classical source: Caishen worship consolidated in the Ming dynasty, with roots in earlier folk deities of prosperity and the classical virtue of righteous wealth.
Related: Pi Xiu Sacred Collection
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