Children in BaZi: Men Read the Officer Stars, Women Read Output
When it comes to children, a man's chart and a woman's chart look at different Ten Gods. It is not a question of who matters more; it follows the classical logic of family stars. For a woman, children are "what I produce," so they are Output. For a man, children are "what my wife produces," so they are the Officer stars. Add the hour pillar, the Children Palace, and you have the basic frame.
Why men and women differ
| Man's chart | Woman's chart | |
|---|---|---|
| Children star | Seven Killings, Direct Officer | Eating God, Hurting Officer |
| The reasoning | The wife is Wealth, and Wealth produces the Officer stars, so what the wife produces is the Officer | What I produce is Output, so what I give birth to is Output |
| No children star in the four pillars | 4.9% | 5.3% |
| Children star is favorable | 22.7% | 36.2% |
How we counted: our engine cast one chart for every day from 1960 to 2005, with the birth hour drawn by a fixed-seed random sample, 16,802 charts in all; each chart was read once as a man's and once as a woman's.
Classical texts go on to separate sons from daughters, but the schools disagree, so we do not. Modern readers also often treat Output as "the energy of caring, expressing and raising," and use it for both men and women to read how you parent. The children section of our in-depth reading takes that approach; this page follows the classical split by gender. The two do not conflict: one looks at how children appear in your chart, the other at how you are with your children.
The hour pillar: the Children Palace
The hour pillar stands for children and the younger generation, and for later life. A children star in the hour pillar is often read as a deep bond with your children and close contact with them in later years. When the hour branch combines with the day branch, the Spouse Palace (about 8.4% of charts), a common reading is that the family's center of gravity tends to settle on the children; when they clash (about 8.5%), the couple are more likely to see parenting differently and need to talk it through. Without a birth hour, this palace cannot be read at all.
What a chart cannot tell you
Some folk methods count "how many children" from the twelve life stages, or predict "a boy or a girl" from whether the hour pillar is yin or yang. These methods vary wildly between schools and rest on nothing reliable, and we do not use them. Whether to have children, how many and when are matters of medicine, circumstance and two people's choices, not something a chart decides. What BaZi can say more about is what you are like with your children: whether you tend to worry too much, whether you lean toward letting go or managing closely, and where you are likely to press your own expectations onto them.
Look up your six relations: where each star sits, how the palaces interact
Enter your Gregorian birth date and sex (the spouse and children stars differ for men and women) to see where the stars for your parents, siblings, spouse and children sit in the Four Pillars, whether each is favorable, and how the pillar palaces clash or combine with your Spouse Palace. Everything is calculated in your browser; nothing is uploaded.
Uses your Gregorian birth date, with the day changing at 11 p.m. Without a birth hour, the hour pillar (the Children Palace) cannot be read.
A straight word: the six relations show the shape of a bond, not a verdict
In BaZi, the six relations describe how present a family member is in your chart, how the two of you tend to interact, and which issues that relationship is more likely to run into. A chart cannot tell you what kind of people your parents are, and it cannot decide whether you and your family will get along; that comes down to choices and effort on both sides. If you are facing a hard family situation, turn first to people you trust or to professional help. Everything on this site is for reference and entertainment.
Want to see how you relate to your children?
The children section of the in-depth reading looks at how strong your Output is and describes your parenting tendencies, your bond with your children, and where you are likely to get stuck.
Children in BaZi FAQ
Which star stands for children in BaZi?
Classically, a man's children stars are Seven Killings and Direct Officer, and a woman's are Eating God and Hurting Officer. By position, the hour pillar is the Children Palace.
Why do men's and women's charts use different children stars?
A woman's children are what she gives birth to, and what I produce is Output. A man's children are what his wife gives birth to; the wife is Wealth, and Wealth produces the Officer stars, so the Officer is used.
Can BaZi tell how many children I will have, or whether boys or girls?
No. Folk methods such as counting children from the twelve life stages or judging sex from the yin or yang of the hour pillar have no reliable basis, and we do not use them. What BaZi can speak to is the shape of the parent-child relationship.
Can I still read children without a birth hour?
The children star can still be found in the year, month and day pillars, but the hour pillar, the Children Palace, cannot be read, so treat the result as a rough guide.