Day pillar type
Black Ox (Gui Chou): Personality and Matches
Hongsimdang Editorial Team · Last updated
Black Ox (Gui Chou) is the day pillar where rain and mist that seep in quietly (癸) rests on earth at the end of winter (丑). In short, it is polished within responsibility and structure and builds trust a little at a time.
What decides the Black Ox: day stem and day branch
Your day pillar is the stem and branch of the day you were born: the upper character is the day stem and the lower one is the day branch. For Black Ox (Gui Chou), the day stem is 癸 (Yin Water) and the day branch is 丑 (Ox). The “Black” in the name is the color of the day stem’s element, and “Ox” is the zodiac animal of the day branch. Both are Hongsimdang’s own labels.
The day stem 癸 is likened to rain and mist that seep in quietly. You say little and keep watching, and by the time you speak you have usually reached the heart of the matter. The day branch 丑 is earth at the end of winter. The Ox is popularly pictured as steady, tough and quietly persistent, but that is the folk image of the zodiac. The actual reading comes from the element relationship and life stage that follow.
Read as elements, your stem and branch form an authority pair, in which the branch presses on the stem. The branch’s element presses on your stem, so you tend to be polished within the frame of rules, responsibility and other people’s expectations. The branch 丑 also holds the hidden stems 癸, 辛, 己, which lay another side beneath the one that shows.
Seen from your day stem 癸, the day branch 丑 sits at the Crown (Guan Dai) stage of the twelve life stages. It is the stage of putting on your clothes to go out, so confidence and opinions show readily on the outside.
How the Black Ox shows up at work
Your strength gets polished in settings with rules, roles and deadlines. A strong sense of responsibility means people hand you a lot, but when what you carry piles up, fatigue arrives all at once, so line up someone to hand things to early.
Nothing flashy, but the longer the campaign runs, the better you look, and not quitting is itself a form of credibility. Until you feel sure, you can hide for too long, or keep putting off the first step.
Under load you keep going without showing it, and when you hit your limit you can stall all at once.
It helps to turn what you have kept up into numbers or records, so you can see your own progress and give yourself credit for it.
How the Black Ox shows up in relationships and love
You are aware of your partner’s standards and of how others see you, and you work to stay proper. Your own wishes tend to get pushed back, so letting small true feelings out in daily life makes the relationship easier.
You show sincerity through actions rather than words. You warm up slowly, but the friendships tend to last.
A partner who does not rush you and who notices your steady effort is likely to suit you best.
How the Black Ox handles money
Fixed income and a solid system keep you stable, and discipline works as your defense. In tense periods unexpected costs tend to pile up, so keep a reserve in a separate account from the start.
You save quietly, bit by bit, and gather information before you act, so big mistakes are rare. The cost is that you sometimes let a good opening pass.
You are good at quietly building savings and better at keeping than spending, but skimping on necessary costs can come back later as a bigger bill.
Day branches that harmonize with the Black Ox and ones that clash
The day branch of Black Ox (Gui Chou) is 丑 (Ox). Which day branch the other person has decides the relation between your two branches, as shown below. A day branch that is not listed has no direct harmony or clash with yours.
| Their day branch | Relation between branches | How it reads |
|---|---|---|
| Rat (子) | Six Harmony | pulls together and fills in |
| Ox (丑) | Same day branch | like with like |
| Snake (巳) | Triple Harmony partner | moves in the same direction, and the group is complete once a third branch joins |
| Rooster (酉) | Triple Harmony partner | moves in the same direction, and the group is complete once a third branch joins |
| Dragon (辰) | Break | cracks are likely |
| Horse (午) | Harm, Resentment / Ghost Gate | small misunderstandings pile up; attracts yet irritates |
| Goat (未) | Clash, Punishment | head-on opposition; rubs, so friction is likely |
| Dog (戌) | Punishment | rubs, so friction is likely |
Harmony, Clash, Punishment, Harm, Break and Resentment are relations fixed mechanically by the pair of branches. They say nothing about anyone’s character being better or worse.
2027 (Ding Wei year) and the Black Ox
2027 is a Ding Wei year. The year’s stem and branch change over at the start of spring, around February 4, 2027. The Ding of 2027 is the money and openings your day stem steers. The amounts and range that move tend to widen, and your eye for managing what comes in and goes out is tested. The year branch Wei clashes with your day branch, so the foundations of daily life, such as home, workplace and routines, tend to prompt a rethink. Wei also enters a Punishment relation with your day branch, so stubborn standoffs with people close by are more likely, and rounding the edges of how you say things helps.
What the day pillar alone cannot tell you
The day pillar is one of the four pillars of a chart. The year, month and hour pillars, the ten-year luck cycles, and Zi Wei Dou Shu and Western astrology readings are not included on this page. Two people with the same Black Ox can show it differently depending on their other pillars, and your day pillar alone does not settle personality or fate.
To see all four pillars, use the free BaZi calculator. To read a specific question through to timing, a personal reading is the next step.
See the whole chart with the free BaZi calculator →Personal readings →Day Pillar Types →
Frequently asked questions
How do I find out whether I am a Black Ox?
The day of Black Ox (Gui Chou) comes around once every 60 days, and people born on a 癸丑 day belong to this type. Enter your birth date on the day pillar type index to check.
Why am I a Black Ox if my birth-year animal is not the Ox?
The birth-year animal comes from the year branch, while the Ox in Black Ox comes from the day branch 丑. They are two separate calculations. Even if your birth year belongs to another animal, a day branch of 丑 makes your day pillar a Ox.
Which types match the Black Ox?
Looking only at day branches, the Six Harmony partner of 丑 is the Rat (子), and the clash comes from the Goat (未). That is one narrow view. How well two people fit depends on all four pillars and on how they treat each other.
See other types
Same color
- Black Monkey (Ren Shen)
- Black Rooster (Gui You)
- Black Horse (Ren Wu)
- Black Goat (Gui Wei)
- Black Dragon (Ren Chen)
- Black Snake (Gui Si)
- Black Tiger (Ren Yin)
- Black Rabbit (Gui Mao)
- Black Rat (Ren Zi)
- Black Dog (Ren Xu)
- Black Pig (Gui Hai)
Same animal