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.
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 one to three hidden stems per branch. Find the branch character in your chart, then look up its row in the table below. Within BaziTrace's lookup, the same branch always gives the same list of hidden stems.
Hidden stems table for all 12 Earthly Branches
This table is the canonical reference for what BaziTrace reports. Each row lists every hidden stem carried by one earthly branch, split across the Main, Secondary, and Residual columns. If a branch has fewer than three stems, the missing layers show as “None”.
| Branch | Main (本气) | Secondary (中气) | Residual (余气) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 子Zi | 癸GuiWater | None | None |
| 丑Chou | 己JiEarth | 癸GuiWater | 辛XinMetal |
| 寅Yin | 甲JiaWood | 丙BingFire | 戊WuEarth |
| 卯Mao | 乙YiWood | None | None |
| 辰Chen | 戊WuEarth | 乙YiWood | 癸GuiWater |
| 巳Si | 丙BingFire | 戊WuEarth | 庚GengMetal |
| 午Wu | 丁DingFire | 己JiEarth | None |
| 未Wei | 己JiEarth | 丁DingFire | 乙YiWood |
| 申Shen | 庚GengMetal | 壬RenWater | 戊WuEarth |
| 酉You | 辛XinMetal | None | None |
| 戌Xu | 戊WuEarth | 辛XinMetal | 丁DingFire |
| 亥Hai | 壬RenWater | 甲JiaWood | None |
The row order reflects BaziTrace's branch-to-stem lookup. This page does not assign a 60 / 30 / 10 or any other percentage to the three layers. Different schools of thought sometimes name the secondary layer differently or weight the three layers differently; BaziTrace uses the rows above and does not blend other lineages.
Reading example: 寅 (Yin)
To use the table, first read your own chart and find the earthly branch you want to look up. For example, branch 寅 (Yin) carries three hidden stems:
- Main (本气): 甲 (Jia) — Wood
- Secondary (中气): 丙 (Bing) — Fire
- Residual (余气): 戊 (Wu) — Earth
The ten-god label for each hidden stem is decided by comparing it to your day master, using the same rules you use for visible stems (see the ten gods page). The table alone cannot tell you whether a layer is strong or weak, nor can it tell you anything about the future — it only names what the chart contains.
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 in every reading.
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?
Within BaziTrace, yes — the page you are reading uses the only map the engine consults. Branch 子 (Zi) always carries 癸 (Gui); branch 申 (Shen) always carries 庚 (Geng), 壬 (Ren), 戊 (Wu); and so on. Different schools of thought sometimes name the secondary layer differently or weight the three layers differently; BaziTrace does not blend other lineages, so any two BaziTrace readings of the same chart will always agree on the hidden stems.
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.
Read next: Ten gods (十神) in a Bazi chart · Reading the five elements · Try the calculator.