Saju
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Saju (사주, 四柱) means literally four pillars, Sa means four and Ju means pillars in Korean. Every person has their own saju, which is the year, month, day, and time (hour) of their birth, by lunar calendar. By Chinese zodiac, every year, month, day, and time is assigned to one of the 12 animals of Chinese zodiac, thus this makes 20,736 (12x12x12x12) kinds of saju.
In Korea, saju is usually used when people get married and for fortune-telling. Some people think that a person's destiny is predetermined by their Saju. Saju is closely related to Chinese zodiac, Yin and yang, and Five elements.
Contents |
[edit] The twelve animals
[edit] The year
Each individual personality is associated with an animal which represents it. This is where many Chinese Astrology descriptions in western society draw solely from. Each year in the 60 year cycle contains twelve animals, each with five possible elements, which distinctively vary the base animal's personality which equals to 60 possible combinations. For example, 2006 is the year of Dog.
- rat
- ox
- tiger
- rabbit (or hare)
- dragon
- snake
- horse
- sheep (or goat)
- monkey
- rooster (or phoenix)
- dog
- pig (or boar)
[edit] The months
It is a common misconception that there are only the singular animals assigned by year. These yearly cycles represent what others perceive you as being: while a person might appear to be a Dragon they might actually be a Snake internally and an Ox secretively. Combined with 5 elements, this makes for 8640 combinations (5 elements, 12 animals, 12 months, 12 times of day). The inner animal is assigned by the month of birth. This dictates your love life and inner persona and is critical to a proper understanding of your compatibility with other signs. It may be considered what the individual wishes to become, or believes to be their true self. The secret animal is determined by exact time of birth and is your own true sign which your personality is based on. It is important to compensate for daylight savings or any clock adjustment performed by your country, as it is mapped according to the sun's location and not the local time.
The twelve animals also apply to the lunar months. The month born affects a person's inner animal, as stated above. Remember, the Chinese Calendar is offset to start in the traditional February.
| Solar Longitude |
Segment Name | Lunar Month (Ordinal - Name) |
|---|---|---|
| 315° | 立春 lìchūn | 1st - 虎 Tiger |
| 330° | 雨水 yǔshuǐ | |
| 345° | 啓蟄 qǐzhé (驚蟄 jīngzhé) | 2nd - 兔 Rabbit |
| 0° | 春分 chūnfēn | |
| 15° | 清明 qīngmíng | 3rd - 龍 Dragon |
| 30° | 穀雨 gǔyǔ | |
| 45° | 立夏 lìxià | 4th - 蛇 Snake |
| 60° | 小滿 xiǎomǎn | |
| 75° | 芒種 mángzhòng | 5th - 馬 Horse |
| 90° | 夏至 xiàzhì | |
| 105° | 小暑 xiǎoshǔ | 6th - 羊 Goat |
| 120° | 大暑 dàshǔ | |
| 135° | 立秋 lìqiū | 7th - 猴 Monkey |
| 150° | 處暑 chùshǔ | |
| 165° | 白露 báilù | 8th - 雞 Rooster |
| 180° | 秋分 qiūfēn | |
| 195° | 寒露 hánlù | 9th - 狗 Dog |
| 210° | 霜降 shuāngjiàng | |
| 225° | 立冬 lìdōng | 10th - 豬 Pig |
| 240° | 小雪 xiǎoxuě | |
| 255° | 大雪 dàxuě | 11th - 鼠 Rat |
| 270° | 冬至 dōngzhì | |
| 285° | 小寒 xiǎohán | 12th - 牛 Ox |
| 300° | 大寒 dàhán |
[edit] The hours
The Chinese zodiac is also used to label times of day, with each sign corresponding to a "large-hour" or shichen (時辰), which is a two-hour period. (24 divided by 12 animals) The large hour a person is born is their secretive animal, as stated above.
- 23:00 - 01:00: rat
- 01:00 - 03:00: ox
- 03:00 - 05:00: tiger
- 05:00 - 07:00: rabbit
- 07:00 - 09:00: dragon
- 09:00 - 11:00: snake
- 11:00 - 13:00: horse
- 13:00 - 15:00: goat
- 15:00 - 17:00: monkey
- 17:00 - 19:00: rooster
- 19:00 - 21:00: dog
- 21:00 - 23:00: pig
