What Is Korean Saju?

Where does Saju begin?

Saju can look complicated at first.

But it starts with something very simple.

Saju begins with the year, month, day, and hour of a person’s birth.

These four parts of time are shown as four pillars.

That is why Saju (四柱) literally means Four Pillars.

The year, month, day, and hour each form one pillar.

Each pillar has two characters.

Four pillars therefore contain eight characters in total.

Year   Month   Day   Hour
  ↓      ↓      ↓     ↓
      Four Pillars
           ↓
    Eight Characters

You may also hear the Korean term Saju Palja.

Here is the easiest way to remember it:

Saju = Four Pillars Palja = Eight Characters

For now, that is enough.

The Eight Characters come from two traditional systems called the Heavenly Stems and Earthly Branches.

There are ten Heavenly Stems and twelve Earthly Branches.

In each pillar, a Stem and a Branch are paired together.

These characters are also connected with Yin and Yang and the Five Elements.[1]

You do not need to memorize all of these names now.

We will meet them one by one in later articles.

So far, we have only looked at the basic structure of Saju.

Using those characters to talk about a person’s tendencies or life belongs to the next step: interpretation.

In Korean traditional culture, Saju has long been used in practices concerned with fortune and fate.[1]

But a tradition being used for a long time is not the same as proving that it can predict the future accurately.

A Saju chart is not a person’s whole life.

Where we grow up, the people we meet, our surroundings, and the choices we make are also part of life.

Saju should not replace important medical, financial, or relationship decisions.

If Saju is new to you, there is no need to rush into prediction.

Start with this:

Saju is a traditional structure that represents birth time through Four Pillars and Eight Characters.

That is a good place to begin.