The fetus god: where does it sit today?
In Taiwanese and Chinese families, a pregnant woman will often hear an older relative say, "The fetus god is in the bedroom today, don't hammer anything in there." The idea comes from the almanac's daily fetus god entry, which changes with the day pillar.
How to read an entry like "倉庫床 外正東"
The entry has two halves. The first names places inside the home: the door, the grain mill (碓磨), the kitchen stove (廚灶), the storeroom (倉庫), the bedroom bed (房床), the stove (爐), the toilet (廁) or the chicken coop (棲). The second gives a side and a direction: inside the room (房內) or outside the house (外), then east, south, west or north. So 倉庫床 外正東 means "the storeroom and the bed; outside the house, due east." The grain mill and mortar were old tools for husking and grinding grain; today people read them as kitchen equipment.
The fetus god for all 60 day pillars
| Day pillar | Fetus god (English) | Almanac entry |
|---|---|---|
| Jia-Zi 甲子 | Door and mortar; outside the house, southeast | 占門碓 外東南 |
| Yi-Chou 乙丑 | Grain mill and toilet; outside the house, southeast | 碓磨廁 外東南 |
| Bing-Yin 丙寅 | Kitchen stove and stove; outside the house, due south | 廚灶爐 外正南 |
| Ding-Mao 丁卯 | Storeroom and door; outside the house, due south | 倉庫門 外正南 |
| Wu-Chen 戊辰 | Bedroom bed and chicken coop; outside the house, due south | 房床棲 外正南 |
| Ji-Si 己巳 | Door and bed; outside the house, due south | 占門床 外正南 |
| Geng-Wu 庚午 | Grain mill; outside the house, due south | 占碓磨 外正南 |
| Xin-Wei 辛未 | Kitchen stove and toilet; outside the house, southwest | 廚灶廁 外西南 |
| Ren-Shen 壬申 | Storeroom and stove; outside the house, southwest | 倉庫爐 外西南 |
| Gui-You 癸酉 | Bedroom bed and door; outside the house, southwest | 房床門 外西南 |
| Jia-Xu 甲戌 | Door and chicken coop; outside the house, southwest | 占門棲 外西南 |
| Yi-Hai 乙亥 | Grain mill and bed; outside the house, southwest | 碓磨床 外西南 |
| Bing-Zi 丙子 | Kitchen stove and mortar; outside the house, southwest | 廚灶碓 外西南 |
| Ding-Chou 丁丑 | Storeroom and toilet; outside the house, due west | 倉庫廁 外正西 |
| Wu-Yin 戊寅 | Bedroom bed and stove; outside the house, due west | 房床爐 外正西 |
| Ji-Mao 己卯 | Main gate; outside the house, due west | 占大門 外正西 |
| Geng-Chen 庚辰 | Grain mill and chicken coop; outside the house, due west | 碓磨棲 外正西 |
| Xin-Si 辛巳 | Kitchen stove and bed; outside the house, due west | 廚灶床 外正西 |
| Ren-Wu 壬午 | Storeroom and mortar; outside the house, northwest | 倉庫碓 外西北 |
| Gui-Wei 癸未 | Bedroom bed and toilet; outside the house, northwest | 房床廁 外西北 |
| Jia-Shen 甲申 | Door and stove; outside the house, northwest | 占門爐 外西北 |
| Yi-You 乙酉 | Grain mill and door; outside the house, northwest | 碓磨門 外西北 |
| Bing-Xu 丙戌 | Kitchen stove and chicken coop; outside the house, northwest | 廚灶棲 外西北 |
| Ding-Hai 丁亥 | Storeroom and bed; outside the house, northwest | 倉庫床 外西北 |
| Wu-Zi 戊子 | Bedroom bed and mortar; outside the house, due north | 房床碓 外正北 |
| Ji-Chou 己丑 | Door and toilet; outside the house, due north | 占門廁 外正北 |
| Geng-Yin 庚寅 | Grain mill and stove; outside the house, due north | 碓磨爐 外正北 |
| Xin-Mao 辛卯 | Kitchen stove and door; outside the house, due north | 廚灶門 外正北 |
| Ren-Chen 壬辰 | Storeroom and chicken coop; outside the house, due north | 倉庫棲 外正北 |
| Gui-Si 癸巳 | Bedroom bed; inside the room, north | 占房床 房內北 |
| Jia-Wu 甲午 | Door and mortar; inside the room, north | 占門碓 房內北 |
| Yi-Wei 乙未 | Grain mill and toilet; inside the room, north | 碓磨廁 房內北 |
| Bing-Shen 丙申 | Kitchen stove and stove; inside the room, north | 廚灶爐 房內北 |
| Ding-You 丁酉 | Storeroom and door; inside the room, north | 倉庫門 房內北 |
| Wu-Xu 戊戌 | Bedroom bed and chicken coop; inside the room, center | 房床棲 房內中 |
| Ji-Hai 己亥 | Door and bed; inside the room, center | 占門床 房內中 |
| Geng-Zi 庚子 | Grain mill; inside the room, south | 占碓磨 房內南 |
| Xin-Chou 辛丑 | Kitchen stove and toilet; inside the room, south | 廚灶廁 房內南 |
| Ren-Yin 壬寅 | Storeroom and stove; inside the room, south | 倉庫爐 房內南 |
| Gui-Mao 癸卯 | Bedroom bed and door; inside the room, west | 房床門 房內西 |
| Jia-Chen 甲辰 | Door and chicken coop; inside the room, east | 占門棲 房內東 |
| Yi-Si 乙巳 | Grain mill and bed; inside the room, east | 碓磨床 房內東 |
| Bing-Wu 丙午 | Kitchen stove and mortar; inside the room, east | 廚灶碓 房內東 |
| Ding-Wei 丁未 | Storeroom and toilet; inside the room, east | 倉庫廁 房內東 |
| Wu-Shen 戊申 | Bedroom bed and stove; inside the room, center | 房床爐 房內中 |
| Ji-You 己酉 | Main gate; outside the house, northeast | 占大門 外東北 |
| Geng-Xu 庚戌 | Grain mill and chicken coop; outside the house, northeast | 碓磨棲 外東北 |
| Xin-Hai 辛亥 | Kitchen stove and bed; outside the house, northeast | 廚灶床 外東北 |
| Ren-Zi 壬子 | Storeroom and mortar; outside the house, northeast | 倉庫碓 外東北 |
| Gui-Chou 癸丑 | Bedroom bed and toilet; outside the house, northeast | 房床廁 外東北 |
| Jia-Yin 甲寅 | Door and stove; outside the house, northeast | 占門爐 外東北 |
| Yi-Mao 乙卯 | Grain mill and door; outside the house, due east | 碓磨門 外正東 |
| Bing-Chen 丙辰 | Kitchen stove and chicken coop; outside the house, due east | 廚灶棲 外正東 |
| Ding-Si 丁巳 | Storeroom and bed; outside the house, due east | 倉庫床 外正東 |
| Wu-Wu 戊午 | Bedroom bed and mortar; outside the house, due east | 房床碓 外正東 |
| Ji-Wei 己未 | Door and toilet; outside the house, due east | 占門廁 外正東 |
| Geng-Shen 庚申 | Grain mill and stove; outside the house, southeast | 碓磨爐 外東南 |
| Xin-You 辛酉 | Kitchen stove and door; outside the house, southeast | 廚灶門 外東南 |
| Ren-Xu 壬戌 | Storeroom and chicken coop; outside the house, southeast | 倉庫棲 外東南 |
| Gui-Hai 癸亥 | Bedroom bed; outside the house, southeast | 占房床 外東南 |
Computed by our calendar code (lunar.js) from the day pillar; it repeats every 60 days.
What people traditionally do
- Avoid hammering nails, drilling, moving large furniture or digging where the fetus god is said to be that day.
- If renovation cannot wait, some families ask a temple or a date-selection master for help.
- This is a folk custom. For anything about health and care during pregnancy, follow the advice of your doctor or midwife.
Look up the almanac for any day
It opens on today (Taiwan time). Change the date to see any day's favorable and avoid lists, each with a plain-English note, plus the day's clash, fetus god, Pengzu taboos, lucky directions and the good and bad hours. Everything is calculated in your browser.
Common misconceptions
The fetus god stays in one place for the whole pregnancy.
In the almanac it moves every day with the day pillar, on a 60-day cycle. There is a separate belief in a "monthly fetus god" that moves by the month.
Disturbing the fetus god harms the baby's health.
That is a folk belief with no medical basis. If you have any concerns during pregnancy, ask your doctor.
A straight word: the almanac is a traditional calculation
The favorable and avoid lists, the spirits and the good hours in a Chinese almanac come from the calculation rules of traditional almanac books, and different publishers sometimes disagree. We compute them with the open-source calendar library lunar.js, using exactly the same rules as our date selection finder. It is a piece of cultural heritage, not a scientific forecast: for anything that matters, go by the real circumstances and your own judgment. Everything on this site is for reference and entertainment.
Beyond the almanac: your own BaZi chart
Enter your birth date for a free Four Pillars chart: your Day Master, Five Elements and Ten Gods.
The fetus god: common questions
Where is the fetus god today?
Pick a date in the tool on this page and it shows that day's fetus god entry. It follows the day pillar and repeats every 60 days.
What does 外 mean in a fetus god entry?
外 means outside the house and 房內 means inside the room; the word after it is the direction. 外正東, for example, is "outside the house, due east."