The constitutional map

This is the finished constitutional map for a birthdate of 14 March 1994 - exactly what StemMap produces. Every element you see - the six-circle wheel, the organ placements, the connecting line, the inner-energy dots, the centre, and the five analysis tables - is part of a single, integrated picture of a person's energetic constitution.

The following sections walk through the real calculation, step by step, with the full working shown for one birthdate. Or skip to the calculator →

We show the full working for one birthdate rather than reproducing the classical reference tables - enough to check our method against a chart you already have.

Step 1

The year boundary

The first question is: which year does this birthdate belong to? The Chinese year does not begin on 1 January - and in this method, it does not begin at Lìchūn (立春) either.

Our worked example is 14 March 1994. The year-table row for 1994 shows first_half = 10-02 (10 February) and second_half = 07-08 (7 August). 14 March falls after 10 February and before 7 August, so this is 1994, first half.

Step 2

The five elements

The wheel is built on the five movements - Fire, Earth, Metal, Water, and Wood - arranged around a central circle. Each circle represents one element and its corresponding energetic quality. The centre holds a special role: it receives the corrective energy, which we will meet later.

The six positions are fixed; what changes from person to person is which organs appear in each. The map you see here is one of 240 distinct configurations.

Step 3

The Heavenly Stem

Each year carries a Heavenly Stem (tiān gān, 天干). The stem is computed as year mod 10, and it determines one organ placement on the wheel - the organ that sits inside its great-movement circle.

This is a critical distinction: the stem organ goes inside the circle of its great movement, which is not necessarily its own element. GB is a Wood organ but sits in Earth here, because 1994's great movement is Earth. That distinction is the single most common hand-drawing error.

Step 4

The Earthly Branch

Each year also carries an Earthly Branch (dì zhī, 地支), computed as (year − 4) mod 12 + 1. The branch determines a second organ placement - this one sits outside its own element circle, and it is always underlined.

Step 5

The six-division layer

The six divisions (liù qì, 六氣) are six pairs of organs that govern the energetic climate of the year. The first half uses the branch's sī tiān; the second half uses its zài quán. That pair appears on the wheel - one organ outside its element circle, the other outside its own - connected by a line.

The line IS the layer; it is not decoration. It records which two organs the six-division pairing brought onto the map.

Step 6

The inner-energy dots

Every organ already placed on the wheel also receives an inner-energy dot. The dot sits inside a different circle from the organ's own element - it marks the organ's inner energy, a secondary energetic relationship.

On this map, four dots appear - GB→Water, PC→Earth, SI→Earth, BL→Metal - one for each organ placed so far.

Step 7

The corrective energy

The branch also carries its own corrective organ(s). For Xū (戌), the corrective organs are GB and TH. These sit in the centre circle, completing the wheel.

With the centre filled, the wheel is complete.

Step 8

The analysis tables

Beside the wheel, StemMap renders five analysis tables:

• Like / Unlike Qi - the like and unlike values recorded for this year's stem and branch.
• Elements (EL / EN) - the element codes recorded for this constitution.
• Four Possibilities - the entries recorded for this constitution, in their original order. Some maps have four; others have three or two.
• F.G / F.D - the two six-division values recorded for this map.
• Missing organs - the organs not present on this particular map.

These five tables are not calculated. They were transcribed from classical source documents and are reproduced exactly as recorded, because their derivation rules are not fully documented in the available literature. StemMap reproduces the classical values rather than re-deriving them.

Step 9

Accuracy & coverage

StemMap covers 120 years of birthdates (1924–2043), producing 240 distinct constitutional maps. Every one of the 240 stored maps was independently re-derived from the classical lookup tables. All 240 reproduce exactly - the same organ placements, the same inside and outside positions, the same underline, the same dots, the same centre. If a single map disagreed with the rules described here, we would know.

The doctrine of the Five Movements and Six Qi (Wǔ Yùn Liù Qì, 五運六氣) appears in the Huángdì Nèijīng Sùwèn (黃帝內經素問), in discourses 66–71 and 74 - the seven comprehensive discourses added to the received text by Wang Bing (王冰) in his 762 CE recension.

Step 10

Try it

Enter a birthdate to build the map. Unregistered visitors will see the account wall - create a free account for 3 complete maps a month.