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Hidden stems (藏干) in a Bazi chart

The four pillars you see on the chart (eight characters with the hour, six without) are the visible characters. Inside each of the twelve earthly branches there are also one to three hidden stems (藏干). BaziTrace reports these hidden stems as labelled relationships to the day master, drawn from a fixed, documented table.

Structural labels, not destiny claims. The hidden-stem map is a fixed lookup, not a judgment. The same branch always carries the same hidden stems, regardless of the year, month, or hour pillar above it.

What a hidden stem is

Every earthly branch (子丑寅卯辰巳午未申酉戌亥) holds a fixed set of stems:

Main layer (本气). One stem, the dominant energy of the branch.
Secondary layer (中气). Zero or one stem, present in most branches.
Residual layer (余气). Zero or one stem, a small leftover energy in some branches.

BaziTrace reports up to three hidden stems per branch. The map is mirrored between the browser engine and the server-side allowlist so a tampered client can never inject a different set.

Why the map is fixed

Traditional readings of hidden stems sometimes mix in year and month stems, or apply a solar-term substitution. BaziTrace does neither. The hidden-stem map is a pure lookup keyed by the branch han character, drawn from the same table on the client and on the server. This keeps the engine deterministic and auditable.

How BaziTrace labels hidden stems

Each hidden stem is labelled by its relationship to the day master using the same ten-god rules as the visible stems (see the ten gods page). The day master is itself a visible stem, so hidden-stem labels use the same derivation and never invent a new label family.

You can see the labels on your own chart in the “Ten gods (十神) and hidden stems (藏干)” section below the five-element tally.

What BaziTrace does NOT do with hidden stems

Does not add hidden stems to the visible five-element tally. The wu-xing counts only sum visible stem + branch, by the documented tally rule.
Does not alter the four pillars. Hidden stems are derived labels; they never replace or modify the visible characters.
Does not score a “real” strength reading. There is no internal ranking, no weighted average, no favourable-element inference.
Does not predict anything. Like every other chart field, hidden stems are descriptive only.

How to read hidden stems

Read each branch as a small list of one to three stems, each labelled with the same ten-god vocabulary you already use for visible stems. The labels describe the chart; they do not describe the person.

Frequently asked questions

Does BaziTrace count hidden stems in the five-element tally?

No. The wu-xing tally only sums visible stem + branch. Hidden stems are reported separately, never folded into the count.

Are hidden stems the same in every reading?

Yes. The map is a fixed lookup. Branch 子 always has the same hidden stem; branch 申 always has the same three; and so on.

Can hidden stems change the day master or the four pillars?

No. Hidden stems are derived labels only. The day master and the four pillars are computed independently from the visible stems and branches.