TWELVE EARTHLY BRANCHES
Branch 4 of 12
- Yin Wood
- Rabbit
- Sunrise
- Pure Branch
- Zodiac animal
- Rabbit
- Month
- Awakening of Insects
- Hour
- 05:00–07:00
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Mao — Spring in Full Branch
Mao is the fourth Earthly Branch and the middle station of spring, where Wood no longer has to prove that it can emerge. It is pure Yin Wood with only Yin Wood hidden inside: shoots divide into branches, paths become networks and first light reveals what Yin set in motion before dawn.
At a glance
- Element
- Yin Wood
- Zodiac animal
- Rabbit
- Hidden stems
- Yin Wood
- Month
- Awakening of Insects · 03/06–04/04
- Hour
- 05:00–07:00
- Direction
- Due east
- Seasonal frame
- Spring · 寅卯辰
- Three Harmony frame
- 亥 · 卯 · 未 → Wood
A living lattice
Mao grows sideways as well as upward. It notices spacing, proportion and the route between people, then makes a setting easier to enter without demanding the centre of it.
Fine adjustment
Its advantage is fit rather than force: edit the line, change the tone, move one piece and let the whole arrangement breathe. This is useful wherever trust depends on detail.
The clean edge
Keeping every path open can turn tact into delay. Name the deciding condition and the date it will be used; harmony becomes more durable after an honest boundary, not before it.
What is hidden inside
- Yin Wood100%Primary qi · Wood
Mao is one of the three pure branches, holding only Yin Wood. The diagram therefore shows one undivided 100% root weight rather than a main, middle and residual layer. This describes the engine's rooting model, not a complete verdict on a chart's elemental balance.
Where it falls in the year and in the day
- 寅
- 卯
- 辰
- 巳
- 午
- 未
- 申
- 酉
- 戌
- 亥
- 子
- 丑
- 子
- 丑
- 寅
- 卯
- 辰
- 巳
- 午
- 未
- 申
- 酉
- 戌
- 亥
The Mao month runs from Awakening of Insects to Clear and Bright (about Mar 6–Apr 4), when spring Wood reaches its strongest stretch. Mao hour is 05:00–07:00, when forms become visible at sunrise. One is seasonal expansion; the other is daily disclosure.
卯 and the other eleven
Mao–Xu are a Six Harmony pair assigned to Fire. Mao supplies living Wood and Xu holds residual Fire, yet actual transformation still depends on season and the entire chart rather than the pair alone.
- 卯 · 戌Fire
卯 in each of the four pillars
Year branch
Mao in the year branch can place courtesy, presentation or social coordination high in the early environment. The useful question is whether peace was created through real agreement or through subjects nobody named.
Month branch
Mao in the month branch gives pure Yin Wood the seasonal command at spring's peak. Read the chart for where that abundance goes: Fire can make it visible, Metal can define it and Earth can give the growth something concrete to work on.
Day branch — spouse palace
Mao in the day branch places only Yin Wood in the spouse palace. Rapport may be built through tact and attentive adjustment; a clear yes or no prevents sensitivity from becoming prolonged ambiguity.
Hour branch
Mao in the hour branch favours later work that spreads through craft, relationships or repeated cultivation. Future plans gain strength from a network, but still need one named decision-maker when paths diverge.
The five 卯 day pillars
Each stem that can sit on this branch makes a different pillar. Open one for the full profile.
- Yin Wood RabbitYin Wood rooted in pure Yin Wood: responsive and finely branched, with a firm selection rule needed among many viable paths.
- Yin Fire RabbitA focused Fire fed by fine Wood: expression, teaching or design becomes clear when attention is not scattered.
- Yin Earth RabbitCultivated Earth over an active root: care and maintenance work, provided growth is given room instead of being packed down.
- Yin Metal RabbitFine Metal above fine Wood: precise pruning and exact taste, useful until improvement starts cutting away the living part.
- Yin Water RabbitRain feeding spring growth: quick sensitivity and generous response, steadied by light, spacing and a defined outlet.
A classical note
Mao means flourishing: it says that all things grow luxuriantly.
Records of the Grand Historian, Treatise on Pitch Pipes
The line describes a stage of vegetation, not a Rabbit personality. Yin was the first push; Mao is what happens when that life branches, thickens and occupies visible space. In a chart, this supplies a seasonal quality, while the other seven characters decide how it can be used.
Frequently asked questions
What does Mao mean in a BaZi chart?
Mao is a pure Yin Wood branch and the Rabbit sign. It marks 05:00–07:00, the month from Awakening of Insects to Clear and Bright and the east. Its only hidden stem is Yin Wood.
Why is Mao called a pure branch?
Mao contains one hidden stem rather than three: Yin Wood. That gives its rooting direction unusual concentration, but it does not mean every chart with Mao is simply 'strong Wood'. Season, position and all the other stems and branches still matter.
Is a Mao–You clash always negative?
No. It opposes pure Wood and pure Metal, so it can describe pruning, renegotiating standards, changing presentation or separating what no longer fits. It is constructive when the chart needs definition and destabilising when useful growth is already fragile.
Does being born in a Rabbit year mean Mao defines the whole chart?
No. The zodiac animal uses only the year branch, while BaZi contains four branches and four stems. A Mao month, day or hour has a different scope, and no single branch can establish personality or fortune by itself.
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