What Na Yin is
納音 nàyīn means “received sound” or “contained tone”. The system groups the sixty stem-branch pairs into thirty consecutive pairs and gives each pair an element with a vivid image. The result is a third layer of elemental meaning that does not follow from the stem or branch alone: 甲子, made of yang wood over yang water, has the Na Yin “Gold in the Sea”.
Na Yin is older than the Day-Master method. In earlier fate calculation, centred on the year of birth, the Na Yin of the year pillar was a person’s main element, and it is still how some people speak of being, for example, a “metal rat”. In Zi Ping-style Bazi it is secondary but still widely printed, and our calculator shows the Na Yin of each of your four pillars.
The full table
| Pillars | Na Yin | English |
|---|---|---|
| 甲子 乙丑 | 海中金 | Gold in the Sea |
| 丙寅 丁卯 | 炉中火 | Fire in the Furnace |
| 戊辰 己巳 | 大林木 | Wood of the Great Forest |
| 庚午 辛未 | 路旁土 | Earth by the Roadside |
| 壬申 癸酉 | 剑锋金 | Metal of the Sword Blade |
| 甲戌 乙亥 | 山头火 | Fire on the Mountain |
| 丙子 丁丑 | 涧下水 | Water in the Ravine |
| 戊寅 己卯 | 城头土 | Earth on the City Wall |
| 庚辰 辛巳 | 白蜡金 | White Wax Metal |
| 壬午 癸未 | 杨柳木 | Willow Wood |
| 甲申 乙酉 | 井泉水 | Well Spring Water |
| 丙戌 丁亥 | 屋上土 | Earth on the Roof |
| 戊子 己丑 | 霹雳火 | Thunderbolt Fire |
| 庚寅 辛卯 | 松柏木 | Pine and Cypress Wood |
| 壬辰 癸巳 | 长流水 | Long-Flowing Water |
| 甲午 乙未 | 砂中金 | Gold in the Sand |
| 丙申 丁酉 | 山下火 | Fire at the Foot of the Mountain |
| 戊戌 己亥 | 平地木 | Wood of the Plain |
| 庚子 辛丑 | 壁上土 | Earth on the Wall |
| 壬寅 癸卯 | 金箔金 | Gold Leaf Metal |
| 甲辰 乙巳 | 覆灯火 | Lamp Fire |
| 丙午 丁未 | 天河水 | Water of the Heavenly River |
| 戊申 己酉 | 大驿土 | Earth of the Great Post Road |
| 庚戌 辛亥 | 钗钏金 | Hairpin and Bracelet Metal |
| 壬子 癸丑 | 桑柘木 | Mulberry Wood |
| 甲寅 乙卯 | 大溪水 | Water of the Great Stream |
| 丙辰 丁巳 | 砂中土 | Earth in the Sand |
| 戊午 己未 | 天上火 | Fire in the Sky |
| 庚申 辛酉 | 石榴木 | Pomegranate Wood |
| 壬戌 癸亥 | 大海水 | Water of the Great Sea |
The names follow the chapter headings of San Ming Tong Hui, which has a short essay on each of the thirty. English renderings vary; ours aim to be literal. Chinese names also vary slightly between sources: 甲申 乙酉 is often written 泉中水 instead of 井泉水, and 砂 is often written 沙. Our calculator displays the forms used by the lunar-javascript library (泉中水, 沙中金, 沙中土); they refer to the same entries.
Where the elements come from: music
Why should 甲子 be metal? The traditional explanation is musical. San Ming Tong Hui cites the Song-dynasty scholar Shen Kuo’s Dream Pool Essays (笔谈), which links the sixty pairs to the twelve pitch-pipes of Chinese music, each taking five notes in turn:
尝观《笔谈》论六十甲子纳音，本六十律，旋相为宫，法也。“I have read the Brush Talks on the Na Yin of the sixty jiazi: it is based on the sixty tones, each in turn serving as the tonic — that is the method.”— San Ming Tong Hui 《三命通會》, 卷一 · 总论纳音. Original text: Wikisource · also on ctext.org (different edition). Translation: bazimethod.
It then gives the generative rule in musical terms — “marry within the same kind, beget a child eight places on”:
纳音之法，同类娶妻，隔八生子，律吕相生之法也。“The method of Na Yin: within the same kind, take a wife; eight places on, beget a child. This is the method by which the pitch-pipes generate one another.”— San Ming Tong Hui 《三命通會》, 卷一 · 总论纳音. Original text: Wikisource · also on ctext.org (different edition). Translation: bazimethod.
甲子，金之仲，同位娶乙丑，隔八下生壬申“Jiazi is the middle of metal; in the same position it marries Yichou; eight places on, it begets Renshen below.”— San Ming Tong Hui 《三命通會》, 卷一 · 总论纳音. Original text: Wikisource · also on ctext.org (different edition). Translation: bazimethod.
Following that rule round the cycle, the elements appear in the order metal, fire, wood, water, earth — San Ming Tong Hui says Na Yin “begins with metal … and ends with earth” (始于金…终于土) — and the thirty images fill out in the table above. Another explanation found in the literature uses the numbers associated with the stems and branches; both arrive at the same table, which has been stable for about a thousand years.
Why gold in the sea and not just “metal”?
Each element appears six times in the table, and the six images describe stages. For metal: Gold in the Sea and Gold in the Sand are latent metal, not yet refined; Metal of the Sword Blade and Hairpin and Bracelet Metal are worked metal; White Wax Metal and Gold Leaf Metal are delicate. San Ming Tong Hui explains that the differences come from where each pair sits in the cycle of growth and decline:
此金之数之所以难同而又有海中沙中之异。“This is why the metals cannot be the same, and why there is the difference between “in the sea” and “in the sand”.”— San Ming Tong Hui 《三命通會》, 卷一 · 总论纳音. Original text: Wikisource · also on ctext.org (different edition). Translation: bazimethod.
Practitioners who use Na Yin pay attention to these images, and San Ming Tong Hui devotes a separate essay to each of the thirty, describing which other Na Yin each one welcomes or fears. These readings are traditional lore rather than calculation.
How Na Yin is used today
- Year Na Yin as a “life element”. Popular almanacs list a person’s Na Yin by birth year: people born in a 甲子 or 乙丑 year are “Gold in the Sea”. Remember that the Bazi year starts at 立春.
- Compatibility. Traditional matchmaking sometimes compared the year Na Yin of two people by the generating and controlling cycles.
- Secondary detail in a full chart. In Zi Ping analysis, Na Yin is usually a supplementary layer; the stems, branches, hidden stems and ten gods carry the main analysis.
Na Yin of the current years
2024 (甲辰) and 2025 (乙巳) share Lamp Fire (覆灯火). 2026 (丙午) and 2027 (丁未) share Water of the Heavenly River (天河水). Each change happens at 立春, not on 1 January.
Common questions
Is my Na Yin my “real” element?
It depends on the system. In the older year-based approach, the year Na Yin was the main personal element. In Zi Ping Bazi, which is what this site follows, the main element is that of the Day Master, and Na Yin is a secondary layer. Many people meet Na Yin first through almanac charts of “your element by birth year”, which is why the two get confused.
Why do the elements of Na Yin and the stems disagree?
Because they are computed differently. The stem element belongs to a single character; Na Yin belongs to a pair of pillars and comes from the musical generation rule. 甲子 is wood over water by its characters, but metal by Na Yin. Both are traditional, and they answer different questions.
See yours
The calculator shows the Na Yin under each pillar. The year Na Yin is the one almanacs use; the day Na Yin is sometimes read alongside the Day Master.
Keep learning
More in Bazi basics, plus core guides — or go back to the Bazi calculator home page.
Classical quotations are copied from the public-domain texts on Wikisource; links let you check every line. English translations are our own. Traditional Bazi statements are reported as tradition, not as fact.