How to Read a Four Pillars (Saju) Chart
A Four Pillars chart is laid out as four columns — year, month, day, and hour, usually read right to left in traditional format — each containing a Heavenly Stem on top and an Earthly Branch below it. That gives eight characters total, sometimes called the "eight characters" (八字, Bazi) that the whole system is named after in Chinese.
The starting point for reading any chart is the Day Master — the stem in the day column — since it represents the person at the center of the chart. From there, a reading typically looks at how the other seven characters relate to the Day Master: which elements support it, which restrain it, and how balanced or lopsided the overall Five Element count is.
A full professional reading goes further, layering in the Ten Gods (a system describing each character's specific relationship to the Day Master), Luck Pillars (age-based ten-year cycles), and the specific interactions between branches (combinations, clashes, harmonies). This site's free calculator covers the foundational layer — your four pillars, Day Master, and Five Element balance — as a starting point for exploring the rest.
For entertainment and self-reflection purposes only. Not a substitute for professional advice.