Frequently asked questions — what the tool computes, which rules it follows, and what it refuses to claim

Yili Paipan · Knowledge base · Updated 2026-09

1. What this site is — and what it is not

What it is: a chart calculator plus a rules translator. Birth data goes in; deterministic calendar arithmetic produces the four pillars and a Zi Wei Dou Shu chart; explicit rules (Ten Gods, palace logic, yearly activation) are then rendered as readable sentences.

• Same birth data + same rules = the same chart, every time, and you can recompute it by hand from the published rules
• Readings follow stated rules rather than improvised mysticism, and terminology is explained rather than assumed
• There is a mechanism for judging the framework yourself: past-event validation backwards, dated follow-up statements forwards

What it is not: it is not a prediction service and not a diagnosis of anything.

• No fatalistic claims — no event is said to "have to" happen
• No medical, psychological, investment, legal, employment or marital advice
• No fear-selling ("without this remedy something bad follows") and no implication that paying changes outcomes
• No claims about death or disasters, ever

2. Getting a chart: what to enter

The form asks for five things, and nothing else:

No name, no place of birth and no longitude are requested, and the entered clock time is used as-is (see the boundary note in section 4).

3. Terminology at a glance

For the full derivation of these terms, see What is BaZi (Four Pillars)?

4. Boundaries, accuracy and known gaps

• True solar time (真太阳时) is not implemented. There is no longitude correction and no equation-of-time adjustment; the entered clock time is used directly. This is a known accuracy gap.
• Unknown birth hour is not supported. A double-hour slot must be chosen, because the hour pillar drives the Zi Wei life palace and body palace. Comparing the neighbouring slots is more honest than inventing a default.
• Time zones are not converted. Enter the local clock time at the place of birth.
• Lineage differences exist and we do not hide them. Where schools disagree — late-Zi day rollover, hidden-stem tables, parts of the four-transformation table — we pick one documentable path and name it, without claiming it is the only correct one.
• No accuracy percentage is published. A "92% accurate" badge would be a marketing number, not a measurement; the past-event validation and follow-up tracker exist so you can build your own picture instead.
• This is a traditional cultural framework, not a science. We make no claim of scientific validity and we do not ask you to believe anything — the rules and their limits are published so you can assess them yourself.

5. Pricing, data and how to judge it

• During beta everything is free. Our payment channel is under review, so membership features — the full reading, unlimited past-event validation, follow-up tracking, per-month deep dives — are open at no charge while that review runs.
• Your birth data stays in your browser. Inputs and chart results are held in local storage on your device by default and are not uploaded; payment details, when billing opens, are handled by the payment provider.
• Past events are the test. Enter real events from recent years (moving, job changes, family events). The system computes the corresponding yearly stems and branches and shows whether the chart's relations harmonise with them. A match is presented as resonance, not destiny; a miss is information too.
• Follow-up tracking is the forward test. Dated statements are recorded with a window and later marked met / partly met / not met, so any hit-rate you read is one you produced yourself.
• The interface is Chinese-first. These English pages document the method and the rules; a fully English UI is not built yet. We would rather say that plainly than let you discover it later.

Frequently asked questions

Does Yili Paipan tell me my future?

No. The tool computes a chart from calendar arithmetic and renders fixed rules as plain language. It is provided for entertainment and cultural study only, makes no claims and no predictions, does not sell remedies to change outcomes, and gives no medical, financial, legal or life-decision advice.

What do I need to enter to get a chart?

A birth date (solar or lunar), one of 13 double-hour slots, your gender (used only for the direction of luck pillars and Zi Wei decades), and the civil year you want to inspect. No name, no place of birth and no longitude are requested.

I do not know my exact birth time. Can I still use it?

Not properly. An hour slot must be selected, because the hour pillar determines the Zi Wei life palace and body palace. If you are unsure, compare the two or three neighbouring slots and treat the differences as uncertainty rather than picking one and trusting it. A birth certificate or family record is the usual way to settle the question.

Which school or lineage does the site follow?

One documented convention: Lichun (立春) year boundary, solar-term months, late-Zi (23:00–24:00) rollover to the next day, the traditional hidden-stem table, and the four-transformation table published on the rules page. Where schools differ we say so in place rather than silently. We do not claim to be uniquely correct — we commit to rules that stay stable and self-consistent.

Where is my birth data stored?

In your browser's local storage on your own device; it is not uploaded to us, and it is not sold or rented. When billing opens, card details are handled by the payment provider rather than stored by the site.

Related entries

• BaZi & Zi Wei computation rules
• Method & boundaries — how charts are computed

See also：Computation method · Computation rules · Pricing