Short answer
To find your Day Master, look up the heavenly stem of your birth day in a Korean saju calendar (manseryeok), or enter your birth date in a free check that does the day count for you; that stem is your birthday type.
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Find my birthday type, freeThe manual way
Traditional readers use a manseryeok (만세력), a perpetual calendar that lists the stem and branch for every day. Find your birth date, read the day pillar, and the top character is your Day Master. For example, 庚 means you are Gyeong Metal, the Sword.
Three things trip people up. Use your local birth date, not UTC. If you were born between 11 pm and midnight, many Korean schools count you on the next day. And the day pillar does not care about solar terms or the lunar calendar; those affect the year and month pillars.
The ten Day Masters and their plain names
| Birthday type | Saju name | Element | In one line |
|---|---|---|---|
| The Tall Pine | Gap Wood 甲 | Yang Wood | Loyal, proud and steady. Protects first, talks later, and would rather fix your problem than say how they feel. |
| The Climbing Flower | Eul Wood 乙 | Yin Wood | Sweet, adaptable and quietly unstoppable. Bends to fit, remembers everything, and finds a way around every wall. |
| The Sun | Byeong Fire 丙 | Yang Fire | Warm, loud and generous. Loves big and fast, hates being ignored, and lights up every room including the group chat. |
| The Candle | Jeong Fire 丁 | Yin Fire | Quiet, deep and intensely loyal. Falls rarely and completely, reads meaning into everything, and remembers how you made them feel. |
| The Mountain | Mu Earth 戊 | Yang Earth | Calm, solid and protective. Slow to start, very hard to move, and shows love by quietly taking care of things. |
| The Garden Field | Gi Earth 己 | Yin Earth | Nurturing, practical and quietly brilliant. Notices everything, feeds everyone, and overthinks one text for forty minutes. |
| The Sword | Gyeong Metal 庚 | Yang Metal | Blunt, loyal and protective. Says the hard thing out loud, forgives slowly, and shows love by fixing your problems. |
| The Jewel | Sin Metal 辛 | Yin Metal | Elegant, sensitive and hard to forget. Wants to be chosen clearly and out loud, and goes politely cold when hurt. |
| The Ocean | Im Water 壬 | Yang Water | Free, curious and magnetic. Falls fast, dives deep, then needs air. Hates labels that feel like paperwork. |
| The Rain | Gye Water 癸 | Yin Water | Intuitive, gentle and quietly perceptive. Senses what is wrong before anyone says it, and analyses text tone like a contract. |
Why we say 'birthday type'
'Day Master' is a translation of 일간 (日干), 'day stem'. It is accurate but it sounds like a video game boss. We say birthday type because it tells you what it is: the type you get from your birthday. Every term like this is explained in plain English in the glossary.
FAQ
Is the Day Master the same as the day pillar?
No. The day pillar has two characters: the stem on top (your Day Master) and the branch below. There are ten Day Masters and sixty day pillars.
Can my Day Master change?
No. It comes from your birth date. Only the interpretation changes, depending on the rest of your chart.
What if I don't know my birth date for sure?
Your Day Master depends on the exact date, so an unsure date gives an unsure type. If you are choosing between two dates, check both and see which description rings truer.