Monthly Pillars: Months by Solar Term, the Layer Below Luck and Annual Pillars

Luck pillars cover ten years and annual pillars one; the next layer down is the monthly pillar. Its stem and branch follow fixed rules, and each month begins at a jie solar term, not on the first day of a lunar month: Li Chun (Start of Spring) opens the Yin month, Jing Zhe (Awakening of Insects) the Mao month, and so on to Xiao Han (Minor Cold), which opens the Chou month. You read a month the same way as a year, only it carries less weight: useful for choosing timing, not for drawing conclusions.

How monthly pillars are laid out

1. The branch is fixed: Li Chun starts the Yin month, then Mao, Chen, Si and onward, until Xiao Han starts the Chou month. It is the same every year.
2. The stem follows the year stem: the Five Tigers rule (wu hu dun) gives the stem of the Yin month from the year stem; after that, each month moves on one stem.

The rule works like this: stems that combine share the same starting point. Jia and Ji years open with Bing-Yin; each next pair (Yi-Geng, Bing-Xin, Ding-Ren, Wu-Gui) starts two stems further on, giving Wu-Yin, Geng-Yin, Ren-Yin and Jia-Yin. It is the same method used for the natal month pillar; see how to find the month pillar.

Monthly pillars of 2026 (Bing-Wu 丙午 year)

Monthly pillars of 2027 (Ding-Wei 丁未 year)

Monthly pillars of 2028 (Wu-Shen 戊申 year)

Start times are calculated by our calendar engine (lunar.js) and given in Taiwan time (UTC+8). The Chou month begins at Xiao Han in the following January but still belongs to the same annual pillar. For what each solar term means, see the 24 solar terms.

How to read a monthly pillar

• The same steps: which Ten God the month is to your Day Master, whether it is favorable, and whether it clashes or combines with your pillars, just as with a year.
• Less weight: the monthly pillar is the third layer, below luck and annual pillars. A favorable month in an unfavorable year is a window to breathe; an unfavorable month in a favorable year is a small snag. Neither turns the direction of the whole year.
• Months that clash the year: when the month's branch clashes the year's branch (the Chou month of a Ding-Wei year, for example), that month is often read as the one where the year's changes cluster.
• Good for timing: for signing a contract, moving or starting something new, favorable months are worth considering; for picking an actual date, see date selection.