The day pillar for Monday, 31 August 2026

Day pillar	丁丑 (ding chou)
Heavenly stem	丁 (ding)
Earthly branch	丑 (chou)
Day element	Fire 火 (huo)
Polarity	Yin
Month pillar	丙申 (bing shen), governed by 立秋 (liqiu)

Today's day pillar is 丁丑 (ding chou), a yin Fire day in the sixty-day cycle. The month pillar is 丙申 (bing shen), governed by the term 立秋 (liqiu).

丁 (ding), the fourth heavenly stem

丁 is yin Fire: the lamp, the forge, the candle, fire that someone is holding steady on purpose.

丁 is the yin counterpart to 丙 (bing). The image shifts from daylight to worked flame, the small fire that has to be tended and can be pointed at one thing at a time. Classical texts like it for detail and for endurance rather than for reach.

As the fourth stem it is yin, and it takes yin branches only: 丁丑 (ding chou), 丁卯 (ding mao), 丁亥 (ding hai). 丁 is also the fire hidden inside the branches 午 (wu), 未 (wei) and 戌 (xu), which is a first taste of how stems live below the surface as well as on top of it.

On the daily page a 丁 day shows Fire as the day element and yin as the polarity, the same element as a 丙 day read at a different setting.