Jia Wood is the first of the ten Heavenly Stems in Chinese style fortune telling. What are the Heavenly Stems and what do they show us? They don’t give any information about life or our circumstances—instead, they show us our ideas. Jia Wood is the first archetype in Chinese cosmology. It is the start of life and the leader of all ideas. If you want to check to see if Jia Wood represents your personality in Chinese astrology, find a bazi chart calculator and look for your day stem. Your day stem is the anchor of your day and represents your personality.

(I titled this article “day master” because the day stem of your chart is often translated as “day master” and this is the most common search term related to the concept. However, you can call your day stem your day destiny, your chart ruler, or simply your day stem.)

Jia Wood/甲木 is a tree—a big and majestic tree towering over you like a canopy, a small vine-like tree snaking its way around a building, or a sunken cypress with its knobs littered across a lake. Jia Wood, as a big tree, has 大哥 energy. 大哥 literally translates to big brother but can be used to casually call on a friend, an older guy, or just some random guy you want to address respectfully. I’ve heard some astrologers call Jia Wood 兄 (xiong, hyung, ani) which also just means big brother.

What is big brother energy? Big brother watches over you. He makes sacrifices for you and pays for you when you eat out. Big brother takes responsibility. He tries things first to make sure that they’re okay before encouraging you to also try. He teaches you how to do things in life so that you feel prepared.

That’s Jia Wood energy. Jia Wood is big brother energy. Jia Wood day stem people are usually found starting school clubs about their various interests because they just love bringing people together.

Jia Wood is a leader. They love to play the hero sometimes because big brothers love to protect their younger siblings. They make great teachers because they like to show you the way.

Trees bring in new life. They literally bring in the spring. The character for wood 木 shows a tree and gives clues about what Jia Wood needs to thrive. In the character, you see a tree with its arms outstretched in three different directions. You also see three roots all facing the ground.

Jia Wood needs roots because trees need roots. The deeper and more solid its roots are, the more Jia Wood can grow. Jia Wood may be a big brother but big brother also needs a big brother. Jia Wood people thrive when they receive support from an older generation, from their own mentors and teachers. They can teach well when they are taught well.

Bruce Lee was a Jia Wood day stem person. He learned all he could from his mentor Ip Man. Then, he started his own school and doctrine of martial arts theory. Throughout his life, Bruce Lee never stopped paying homage to Ip Man.

The roots of a tree represent that tree’s education. Jia Wood people are like trees. They love receiving education.

The three lines on the top part of 木 are not all facing one direction. They face three different directions. When Jia Wood receives support from stable ground and deep roots, they are able to stretch out towards the sky. Why are the branches in the tree character all facing different directions instead of all going up, then, you might ask?

Look at a tree. Seriously, look at one. If you don’t see a tree near you, find a picture of a tree and look at it. Notice how that tree’s branches grow.

Trees don’t grow straight up—they follow the sun’s path across the sky. That’s why a tree growing alone in a field will become round. They actually emulate the shape of the sky itself. The sky isn’t flat. It is round. The sun moves in a circular pattern across the sky.

But a tree that is growing in a forest isn’t round. It can’t be. There’s too many trees around. Trees in a forest will grow however they can. They will grow straight up because they are trying to find, or even compete for, the fastest path towards the sun. Sometimes, you even see trees growing right up against other trees because that path just happens to be the fastest way to get to the sun.

Trees are alive and life is opportunistic. If a tree has deep roots, then it can grow in any pattern. It can grow sideways, straight up, round, or twisted. Ideas are a bit like life. As long as Jia Wood people receive education, they will use their ideas to create a path for themselves. You can’t stop an idea from growing and spreading by trying to block it. It will find a way around. It will break through. A tree can break through even concrete if it has strong enough roots.

In Chinese cosmology, wood is Jupiter. Jupiter is literally called the Wood Star. Jupiter likes to grow and expand. So does wood because wood is alive.

Jia Wood people love to create a school of knowledge. Bruce Lee created his own martial arts school. bell hooks, who was also Jia Wood day stem, created her own institute. J.R.R. Tolkien was a Jia Wood day stem person. He created a world and initiated a genre of fiction. Trees are mini ecosystems that host many small critters just like how a school of thought or a literary genre hosts many students.

But is Jia Wood always growing and expanding? Is a tree always growing?

Trees are famous for one thing—they go dormant during the winter. Trees shed their leaves during the fall and they go to sleep all winter. They’re cat-like in that way and this is why Tiger Earthly Branch carries the energy of Jia Wood. Trees are able to erupt into life in the spring because they save their energy all winter. Cats are able to pounce so high because they nap so long.

A person with Jia Wood day stem is an idealist. They have great ideas. They’re geniuses. But they are not active all the time. When they feel inspired, they whip into motion and go a bunch of things at once. They really impress you. However, Jia Wood people also go through long periods of dormancy when they’re not going anything.

Cocky? Yes. Jia Wood people are cocky. They can be because they know that they will get it done when they get around to it. They understand their own energies. They procrastinate because they know that they are gifted.

Satoshi Tajiri, the creator of Pokemon, is a Jia Wood day stem person. His day pillar is Wood Tiger, making his Jia Wood strong and rooted. Tajiri’s parents thought that he was a delinquent because he cut classes to go to the arcade and he finished high school late. He was incredibly lazy. However, as soon as Pokemon was approved by Nintendo, Tajiri whipped into motion and grinded for six years. After he finished with the project, Pokemon became a top selling franchise and a global phenomenon.

Trees teach us how to grow—they tell us that, to grow, you have to rest. You have to let a Jia Wood person rest. If Tajiri didn’t fuck around and go to the arcade his whole teenaged life, he wouldn’t have been able to make Pokemon. The arcade was the ground where Tajiri was planting his roots and receiving his education.

Kim Seokjin of BTS also has Jia Wood day stem. He has a schedule where he sleeps for twenty four hours and then works for twenty four hours. This is just how Jia Wood, being a tree, works. They do a big rest and then they do a big grow.

Jia Wood is big brother—a leader and an initiator. But they’re not growing all the time. No one can grow all the time because perpetual growth is physically impossible. The reason why Jia Wood grows so fast is because they understand how to rest. They are outstanding because they use their energy efficiently.