LESSON P02 / 05 OF 20
Solar terms and month boundaries
The Bazi month follows solar terms, not the calendar.
Original app lesson · freely available here
Taipei local time, shown to the minute.
Months turn on solar terms
The month pillar turns on a major solar term — Start of Spring, Waking of Insects, Clear and Bright — not on the first of a month.
Births on 3 and 5 February can sit in different month pillars because Start of Spring falls between them.
The year too
The Bazi year turns at Start of Spring, not at Lunar New Year and not on 1 January. Births just before the new year often carry the previous year pillar.
This is a calendar definition, and the app already applies it.
Why it matters for reading
The month pillar is often read as a person’s home ground: upbringing, and where they work hardest and best. One pillar off changes that.
For births near a term boundary, confirm before drawing conclusions.
Years turn at Start of Spring and months at major terms. Confirm boundary births before reading.
CHECK YOURSELF
Try the lesson questions
No score. An incorrect first answer enters your review book.
When does the Bazi year change?
The Bazi year turns at Start of Spring, so births before it often keep the previous year pillar.
What is the month pillar usually read as?
The month pillar is home ground. Later life and children belong to the hour pillar.
Sources and further reading
- Hong Kong Observatory · The 24 solar termsAstronomical boundaries and the two alternating term groups.
- lunar-javascript · Adopted calculation dataVersion 1.7.7 used for replayed cases and correspondence-table checks. Algorithm agreement is not textual collation.
- Lesson cases and conventions7 January 2000, Taipei, 10:30 / 11:30 / 12:00, civil time. Replayed with a fixed calculation version; not independently validated against an almanac.
YOUR STUDY / P02
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