Guess what? I’ve been studying bazi for more than a year now! It’s been giving me all of these feelings that I had when I first started studying western astrology. It’s this sheer excitement and also this fascination with the art and the craft. Everything in life starts to feel a bit more magical.

I wanted to write this article playing with examining just Kim Taehyung’s day pillar in bazi not because I feel that I’m so good at it or like I have any expertise to show off yet but because I truly love the art, I am endlessly fascinated with idols, and I wanted to share that with anyone reading this in case you catch the bazi bug too.

Since the day pillar is just a small component of the eight character chart, this also feels like a low stakes way to explore the practice of reading. Keep in mind that an overall description of your chart has a lot more stuff involved than I’m doing here. You have to look at both your chart and your timing and know how to read the balances and imbalances. What I’m doing here is really just for fun.

I’m reading the day pillar of the four pillar chart because the day pillar is usually seen as the pillar that reflects your character. All of the other parts are viewed using the day pillar in bazi.


In at least two instances, I’ve seen Taehyung talk about how his bazi chart has too much wood. Let’s see why he keeps saying this and what he might be thinking about when he says that here.

Taehyung’s day pillar stem is Yi wood and his day pillar branch is Wei sheep. There are four branches that have earth and Wei sheep is one of them. However, each of these earth branches will also have a bit of another phase inside of itself. Even though Wei sheep is an earth branch, it’s the earth branch that has wood in it (cow is earth with metal, dragon has water, and dog has fire). As the first phase of autumn, Wei sheep also has a little fire leftover from the summer and is dry earth.



Yi wood must be really important to Taehyung. Here is the poem from the Di Tiansui about Yi wood:

乙木虽柔，割羊解牛。
怀丁抱丙，跨凤乘猴。
虚湿之地，骑马亦忧。
藤萝系甲，可春可秋。

There’s actually two people in BTS who have Yi wood as the stem in their day pillar: Taehyung and Hoseok. I’m going to look at and give my own interpretation of the Di Tiansui poem about Yi wood just once here because Taehyung’s day pillar is rooted in yin wood and talk about other things when I do Hobi’s day pillar.

In the first line of this poem, we already see Taehyung’s day pillar mentioned. Wei sheep and Chou cow are right there in the second part of the first line. The first four characters express how soft Yi wood is. Yi wood is like grass or flowers or vines. It’s tender and breakable. However, the second part of the line where Wei sheep and Chou cow are mentioned contrast that apparent softness with its ability to carve out and shape land. Both Wei sheep and Chou cow are earth branches so this line is really talking about how roots cut the earth (confusing, I know, because sheep and cows eat grass).

Basically—Yi wood has a soft appearance but it’s strategic. This is yin wood so there's precision involved here. This is especially true if Yi wood is riding Wei sheep or Chou cow since those are the branches that end winter and summer or midday and night. Guess what? Taehyung happens to have Yi wood riding Wei sheep. His Yi wood has something to take root in and plant itself in.

He’s like this grass that appears very soft and flowery on the surface. What do you see when you plow up the soil and take a look at what’s going on under the surface with grass? You see an intricate network of roots all clenching onto the soil. The grass is extremely self controlled. That’s Taehyung.

The second line in the poem shows how Yi wood interacts with fire and metal. It conceives fire and holds onto it, nurturing it. Wood can literally generate more fire and too much dry wood will actually start a wildfire. Yi wood crosses over the phoenix (another word for chicken) and rides the monkey. In the wuxing, metal is Yi wood’s authority so this discusses how Yi wood interacts with people or things trying to control it. It overlooks that authority or it finds a way to make use of those obstacles. Look at how vines grow. If something’s in the way, it’ll just go around.

The last two lines of the poem kind of go together. The third line is saying that Yi wood doesn’t do well in an empty and wet place. This makes sense because wood as a phase in the wuxing is considered a yang phase. Yang phases can be killed by the cold. Plants also die during the winter. Even when Yi wood is sitting on top of a Wu horse, which is very yang, it will die during the winter.

However, the last line says that Yi wood can last through both spring and autumn if it’s attached to a big tree or Jia wood. Basically, Yi wood doesn’t like to be alone. It likes to attach to something larger with a larger purpose. These are survival instructions.

Why do I think that the last two lines go together? The fourth line says that Yi wood can survive spring and autumn but that even extreme heat can’t save it from winter. I believe that this is saying that Yi wood prefers moderate seasons and that it is a moderate stem. It doesn’t like extreme conditions.

What does this say about Taehyung? Taehyung’s day pillar is like this dry land where only the most fearless grass dares to grow. Moreover, Taehyung is born in winter so all this lonesome grass is really very brave to grow where it does.

Taehyung has to be resilient. He needs to be. He’s going to be stringent and conservative with what he has.

This has to do with self expression. Grass that grows on dry land in the dead of winter is going to feel like it can’t afford to express itself outwardly, almost as though it’s afraid that it won’t have new ideas if it shows its hand. Sometimes, people like this can read as really quiet. It’s not that they’re shy. It’s more so that they just like to think twice or even six times before they speak. They choose their words carefully. Creatively, other people might assume that these people are procrastinating. That’s not quite it. It’s more so that they’re unsure whether the environment is safe enough for them to release something personal. I’m thinking that Taehyung is probably like this with his music since he has been working on his first album for years and years.

Wood is the element that is actually known for its anger (and horniness). It can get mad really easily! It’s such a youthful phase so it can have a teenager-like temperament. Wood is rebellious. If you try to make it grow one way, it’ll grow in another direction.

Taehyung is rebellious! He lives how he likes! He doesn’t care! He wears no underwear under thin sweatpants and bounces around. He goes barefoot. He puts his feet on the table. He doesn’t smile if he doesn’t feel like it. Yi wood is really naughty and so is Taehyung. They can do all kinds of mischievous things and get up to no good. Taehyung has the audacity to grow on dry land. He is a daring little branch.

Wei sheep has a little fire and that means that it dries Yi wood out. Whew! Add a little spark and it’ll definitely turn into a fire.

When Taehyung tells us during Vlive that he has too much wood, I think that he’s actually metaphorically telling us that he is learning how to control his temper. He’s said similar things about how he’s learning how to grow up before. Wood tends to be really passionate. It’s interested in carnal activities as well but it’s also known for having an explosive temper especially when it’s in such a combustible state.

Now, let’s talk about the branch as an animal. Wei is the sheep of the zodiac and sheep tend to live in flocks. In the story about the zodiac as a race on the Jade River, the sheep, the monkey, and the chicken actually all worked together to build a boat. They did all this teamwork and sailed to the finish line as a group. All four of these branches are known for being collaborative.

Yi wood, too, like to join teams since grass doesn’t really grow on its own. Taehyung loves being on a team! He loves BTS and he loves being amidst crowds, loves ARMY. He likes to play video games with ARMY. Even after BTS announced their hiatus, the first thing that Taehyung does is he joins a group which he calls his Wooga Squad.

There’s contradiction here. Yi wood and Wei sheep both look for other people. They want to be truly seen and they’re going to want people on their side whenever they make an endeavor. However, remember that potential to burn up? Taehyung is going to be someone who also needs a ton of space in relationships so that he can self regulate. He’s just that sensitive to his environment and to other people around him.

I think about Taehyung in BTS. He’s so close with all of the members. He spends so much time with Jungkook and Jimin. He loves Hobi and he loves Jin too. He tells Yoongi that he loves him often and we see him teasing Namjoon all the time. But what about his room in the dorms? Did you notice during their dorm tour that Taehyung mentions he asked for a wall to be put up in his room with Namjoon so that they can each have their own space?

The thing that I like most about Taehyung is that we get to see him fight with other members and then repair those relationships. He fights with Jin about dancing and with Jimin about dumplings. He even mentions that he fears growing apart from Jungkook. Then, we see him make up to Jin and write 4’o’clock about his fight with Jimin. We see him spend more time with Jungkook because they did grow apart. None of Taehyung’s relationships are perfect and he doesn’t expect them to be perfect. He doesn’t show us these polished and stale relationships. He shows us relationships that are always in states of transition and repair. Relationships that last are usually ones that can go through repair.

Taehyung challenges ARMY in this way too. He’s probably dating Jennie and an idol dating can be something that alienates them from their fans. But Taehyung is just doing his thing. He is willing to disrupt his relationship with his fanbase so that there’s more room for his humanity. He expects the world to be a place that makes space not just for smooth and polished people but for the sometimes prickly too.