Explore personal qualities through the calendar's daily pairs

The sixty-pair cycle in everyday life

Pairing the Ten Heavenly Stems—Jia, Yi, Bing and the rest—with the twelve Earthly Branches—Zi, Chou, Yin and the rest—in order produces a complete cycle of sixty pairs. Originating in ancient China as a way to count days, the cycle is said to have continued without interruption for more than 3,000 years.

The sixtieth birthday is called Kanreki because it returns to the birth year's pair. Koshien Stadium was named for the Jia-Zi year of its completion in 1924. The Jinshin War and Boshin War familiar from Japanese history lessons also take their names from the pairs of the years in which they occurred.

Calendar pairs and the Four Pillars Day Pillar

A pair assigned to a calendar date is a way to count days. A Four Pillars birth reading considers year, month, day and hour placements together. This site's Day Pillar uses the true-solar date at the birthplace, which may differ from the entered clock date. When the time is unknown, feasible Year, Month and Day combinations within the actual local day are retained as candidates.

For a detailed birth-chart reading,Compare possible Day Pillars in a Four Pillars readingYes. You can enjoy the symbolism of the calendar pair found here and placements that include birth time and location, each for its own purpose.