San Cai: the elements of the Heaven, Person and Earth grids
Once the Five Grids are worked out, name numerology also looks at the San Cai, or Three Talents: it gives the Heaven, Person and Earth grids an element based on the last digit of each number, and asks whether the three help or hold each other back.
Who this is for: this system works only on names written in Chinese characters. If you have a Chinese name, or are choosing one, enter it in characters (traditional forms) and the calculator explains the result in English. It cannot be applied to names in the Latin alphabet.
Last digit to element
| Last digit | Element |
|---|---|
| 1, 2 | Wood |
| 3, 4 | Fire |
| 5, 6 | Earth |
| 7, 8 | Metal |
| 9, 0 | Water |
For example, a Person grid of 17 ends in 7, so it is Metal; an Earth grid of 20 ends in 0, so it is Water.
How the elements relate
| Wood | Fire | Earth | Metal | Water | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wood | Same | Generating | Controlling | Controlling | Generating |
| Fire | Generating | Same | Generating | Controlling | Controlling |
| Earth | Controlling | Generating | Same | Generating | Controlling |
| Metal | Controlling | Controlling | Generating | Same | Generating |
| Water | Generating | Controlling | Controlling | Generating | Same |
The generating cycle runs Wood → Fire → Earth → Metal → Water → Wood; the controlling cycle runs Wood → Earth → Water → Fire → Metal → Wood. The full picture is on the Five Elements page.
The traditional reading
Tradition says the smoothest arrangement is Heaven generating Person and Person generating Earth, all the way down; a Person grid controlled by Heaven or Earth is harder going, and matching elements are steady. But these are elements of stroke-count digits, and they have nothing to do with the elements in a BaZi chart. A name's elements cannot "top up" your chart; to see which element you actually need, look at your Useful God.
Five Grids calculator
Enter a Chinese surname and given name in characters (traditional forms). The calculator looks up the Kangxi stroke count of each character and works out the Heaven, Person, Earth, Outer and Total grids and the San Cai elements, explained in English. If a character is missing or you follow another counting school, you can edit the strokes yourself. Everything is calculated in your browser.
Strokes follow the Kangxi Dictionary with radicals restored to their full form (氵 counts 4, 艹 counts 6 …); the numerals one to ten count as their value. Character data derived from the Unicode Unihan database.
Common misconceptions
A name's San Cai elements can make up for an element missing in your BaZi.
San Cai elements come from the last digits of stroke counts; BaZi elements come from the stems and branches of your birth time. What your chart lacks or needs is read from its Useful God.
A name with controlling San Cai must be changed.
San Cai is one school's view, and standards vary. The meaning of the name and how you feel about it matter more.
Want to pick characters by your BaZi Useful God instead of by stroke numbers? See BaZi baby names →
A straight word: the Five Grids are a modern Japanese method, not an ancient one
The popular Five Grids method (Heaven, Person, Earth, Outer and Total grids read against the 81 numbers) was put together by the Japanese author Kumasaki Kenō in the early 20th century and later became common in Taiwan. It is not a classical Chinese tradition, and schools disagree both on how to count strokes and on which numbers are lucky. What makes a name good is its meaning, its sound, how it feels to write, and what it means to you; none of that is measured by strokes. We don't recommend changing a name because of an "unlucky" number. Everything on this site is for reference and entertainment.
See the San Cai of a name
Enter a Chinese name to get the Heaven, Person and Earth grids and their elements.
San Cai FAQ
How are the San Cai elements assigned?
By the last digit of the Heaven, Person and Earth grids: 1–2 Wood, 3–4 Fire, 5–6 Earth, 7–8 Metal, 9–0 Water.
Are a name's elements the same as the elements in my BaZi chart?
No. San Cai elements come from stroke-count digits; BaZi elements come from the stems and branches of your birth time. The two are unrelated.