Wood Nayin: Great Forest Wood, Willow Wood, Pine and Cypress Wood, Level-Ground Wood, Mulberry Wood, Pomegranate Wood
When someone says "I'm a Great Forest Wood life," they mean the Nayin of their year pillar. There are six kinds of Wood life, and each has an image of its own. Wood pictures growth, reach and kindness. There is the massed Great Forest Wood, the evergreen Pine and Cypress Wood and the supple Willow Wood, as well as Level-Ground Wood that needs support, the practical Mulberry Wood and the fruit-bearing Pomegranate Wood.
The six Wood Nayin at a glance
| Nayin | Stem-branch pair | What it pictures | Birth years (from the Start of Spring) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Great Forest Wood (大林木) | Wu-Chen, Ji-Si | A great forest, dense and thriving, growing in groups rather than alone | 1928, 1929, 1988, 1989 |
| Willow Wood (楊柳木) | Ren-Wu, Gui-Wei | A willow, supple and bending with the wind, quick to adapt | 1942, 1943, 2002, 2003 |
| Pine and Cypress Wood (松柏木) | Geng-Yin, Xin-Mao | Pine and cypress, evergreen through the cold, patient and tough | 1950, 1951, 2010, 2011 |
| Level-Ground Wood (平地木) | Wu-Xu, Ji-Hai | Plants on open flat ground, which need support to grow tall | 1958, 1959, 2018, 2019 |
| Mulberry Wood (桑柘木) | Ren-Zi, Gui-Chou | Mulberry and silkworm thorn, practical trees that feed silkworms and clothe people | 1972, 1973, 2032, 2033 |
| Pomegranate Wood (石榴木) | Geng-Shen, Xin-You | A pomegranate tree, heavy with fruit and able to stand drought | 1980, 1981, 2040, 2041 |
Years change at the Start of Spring: if you were born before it, you take the previous year's pillar. If your birthday falls between late January and mid-February, check with the tool below.
A Wood life does not mean "add more Wood"
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. The year life is taken from the year pillar with the year changing at the Start of Spring; favorable and unfavorable elements come from this site's strength engine.
"I'm a Wood life, so I should wear more green" is a common mistake. The Nayin is only a symbol taken from the year pillar, and in our sample the year-life Nayin element is favorable in just 45.3% of charts. What you should strengthen comes from your favorable elements.
Nayin production, control and marriage matching
Classical marriage matching often compared two people's year lives: Water produces Wood is a producing match, Metal controls Wood a controlling one. But the classics also carve out exceptions based on the images; for example, the classics say mature timber such as Pine and Cypress Wood or Great Forest Wood can be carved into something fine when it meets Metal. Schools disagree on the details. Our compatibility reading looks at how two whole charts interact; the year-life Nayin is reference only, and a "controlling" Nayin pair is never taken to mean a bad match.
Find your Nayin: which "life" are you?
Enter your date of birth to see your year-life Nayin (with the year changing at the Start of Spring), the Nayin of all four pillars and what each pictures, and whether your year-life element is one of your favorable elements. If you were born between late January and mid-February, the tool also shows what changes if the year is counted from Lunar New Year. Everything is calculated in your browser; nothing is uploaded.
Your year life needs only your date of birth; the hour only affects the hour pillar's Nayin and the favorable-element check.
A straight word: your Nayin is a classical symbol, not your whole chart
The Nayin element is a "year life" worked out from the year pillar. It was widely used in classical marriage matching and date selection, but Zi Ping BaZi reads a person from the Day Master and the interplay of the four pillars. In our sample, the year-life Nayin element is one of the chart's favorable elements in only 45.3% of cases and an unfavorable one in 48.1%, about as good as a coin toss. Enjoy the Nayin as an image; for what to strengthen and which way to go, look at your favorable elements. Everything on this site is for reference and entertainment.
Which Wood life are you?
Enter your birth date to see your year-life Nayin, the Nayin of all four pillars, and whether it is one of your favorable elements.
Wood Nayin FAQ
What are the six Wood Nayin?
Great Forest Wood (Wu-Chen and Ji-Si); Willow Wood (Ren-Wu and Gui-Wei); Pine and Cypress Wood (Geng-Yin and Xin-Mao); Level-Ground Wood (Wu-Xu and Ji-Hai); Mulberry Wood (Ren-Zi and Gui-Chou); Pomegranate Wood (Geng-Shen and Xin-You).
Which birth years are Great Forest Wood?
People whose year pillar is Wu-Chen and Ji-Si. Between 1924 and 2043 that is 1928, 1929, 1988, 1989, with the year changing at the Start of Spring.
Does a Wood life need more Wood?
Not necessarily. The Nayin is a year-life symbol; what to strengthen depends on your favorable elements. In our sample the year-life Nayin element is favorable in only 45.3% of charts.