It looks up the traditional Vietnamese reading of a year of birth: the Can Chi name of the lunar year (for example Canh Ngọ), the zodiac animal (con giáp), the nạp âm and with it the mệnh, the element of the person (ngũ hành), the cung phi and the eight house directions of Bát trạch, the colours that go with the element, and the traditional age (tuổi mụ). It also draws the generating and overcoming cycle of the five elements, lists the animals that harmonise or clash with yours, and can put two people side by side. Everything is worked out in your browser and nothing about the date of birth is stored or sent.
This is folk tradition, kept for reference. The tool looks up fixed tables; it does not predict anything. There is no luck, money, health or marriage forecast and no compatibility score.
How to use it
- Choose Male or Female. The cung phi is different for the two.
- Choose what you know: the solar date (exact, the default), only the year of birth, or the lunar year itself.
- Type the date or the year. Impossible dates and dates in the future are refused, and the years 1900 to 2100 are supported.
- Tick Compare with another person to add a second person. The comparison lists facts only.
The cards update as you type. The table at the bottom shows 60 consecutive lunar years, starting 30 years before the current one, with your row marked, and the copy button turns the result into plain text.
Why the lunar year matters
Can Chi belongs to the lunar year, which starts on Tết (between 21 January and 20 February), not on 1 January. Someone born on 15 January 1990 was born before Tết 1990, which fell on 27 January 1990, so the lunar year is still 1989, Kỷ Tỵ, not Canh Ngọ. The tool converts a full date with the same algorithm as the lunar calendar converter, so the boundary is exact.
If you only give a year, the tool shows the result for the lunar year equal to that year and tells you the date of Tết and what the result would be for someone born before it. If you give the lunar year, it is used as typed.
Nạp âm and mệnh
The sixty-year cycle pairs ten stems (Giáp, Ất, Bính, Đinh, Mậu, Kỷ, Canh, Tân, Nhâm, Quý) with twelve branches (Tý, Sửu, Dần and so on). Giáp Tý is 1984 and the cycle repeats every 60 years. Each pair of consecutive years shares one nạp âm, a poetic name that ends in an element; that element is the mệnh. Two people born in consecutive years of a pair, such as 1990 Canh Ngọ and 1991 Tân Mùi, therefore have the same nạp âm (Lộ Bàng Thổ) and the same mệnh (Thổ).
| Years | Nạp âm | Mệnh |
|---|
| Giáp Tý, Ất Sửu | Hải Trung Kim | Kim |
|---|
| Bính Dần, Đinh Mão | Lư Trung Hỏa | Hỏa |
|---|
| Mậu Thìn, Kỷ Tỵ | Đại Lâm Mộc | Mộc |
|---|
| Canh Ngọ, Tân Mùi | Lộ Bàng Thổ | Thổ |
|---|
| Nhâm Thân, Quý Dậu | Kiếm Phong Kim | Kim |
|---|
| Giáp Tuất, Ất Hợi | Sơn Đầu Hỏa | Hỏa |
|---|
| Bính Tý, Đinh Sửu | Giản Hạ Thủy | Thủy |
|---|
| Mậu Dần, Kỷ Mão | Thành Đầu Thổ | Thổ |
|---|
| Canh Thìn, Tân Tỵ | Bạch Lạp Kim | Kim |
|---|
| Nhâm Ngọ, Quý Mùi | Dương Liễu Mộc | Mộc |
|---|
| Giáp Thân, Ất Dậu | Tuyền Trung Thủy | Thủy |
|---|
| Bính Tuất, Đinh Hợi | Ốc Thượng Thổ | Thổ |
|---|
| Mậu Tý, Kỷ Sửu | Tích Lịch Hỏa | Hỏa |
|---|
| Canh Dần, Tân Mão | Tùng Bách Mộc | Mộc |
|---|
| Nhâm Thìn, Quý Tỵ | Trường Lưu Thủy | Thủy |
|---|
| Giáp Ngọ, Ất Mùi | Sa Trung Kim | Kim |
|---|
| Bính Thân, Đinh Dậu | Sơn Hạ Hỏa | Hỏa |
|---|
| Mậu Tuất, Kỷ Hợi | Bình Địa Mộc | Mộc |
|---|
| Canh Tý, Tân Sửu | Bích Thượng Thổ | Thổ |
|---|
| Nhâm Dần, Quý Mão | Kim Bạc Kim | Kim |
|---|
| Giáp Thìn, Ất Tỵ | Phú Đăng Hỏa | Hỏa |
|---|
| Bính Ngọ, Đinh Mùi | Thiên Hà Thủy | Thủy |
|---|
| Mậu Thân, Kỷ Dậu | Đại Trạch Thổ | Thổ |
|---|
| Canh Tuất, Tân Hợi | Thoa Xuyến Kim | Kim |
|---|
| Nhâm Tý, Quý Sửu | Tang Đố Mộc | Mộc |
|---|
| Giáp Dần, Ất Mão | Đại Khê Thủy | Thủy |
|---|
| Bính Thìn, Đinh Tỵ | Sa Trung Thổ | Thổ |
|---|
| Mậu Ngọ, Kỷ Mùi | Thiên Thượng Hỏa | Hỏa |
|---|
| Canh Thân, Tân Dậu | Thạch Lựu Mộc | Mộc |
|---|
| Nhâm Tuất, Quý Hợi | Đại Hải Thủy | Thủy |
|---|
Tương sinh, tương khắc and the animals
In the generating cycle (tương sinh) Mộc generates Hỏa, Hỏa generates Thổ, Thổ generates Kim, Kim generates Thủy and Thủy generates Mộc. In the overcoming cycle (tương khắc) Mộc overcomes Thổ, Thổ overcomes Thủy, Thủy overcomes Hỏa, Hỏa overcomes Kim and Kim overcomes Mộc. Between two mệnh the tool only states the relation: sinh, khắc or bình hòa (the same element).
The twelve animals have tam hợp (four triangles: Thân-Tý-Thìn, Dần-Ngọ-Tuất, Tỵ-Dậu-Sửu, Hợi-Mão-Mùi), lục hợp (six pairs), lục xung (six opposite pairs) and tứ hành xung (three groups of four). The tool lists them for your animal with the next 12 lunar years in which each animal comes round.
Cung phi and the eight directions
The cung phi comes from the lunar year of birth and the sex. Add the four digits of the year, and again until one digit is left (1990 gives 19, then 10, then 1). Born up to 1999, a man takes 11 minus that number and a woman 4 plus it; born in 2000 or later, a man takes 9 minus it and a woman 6 plus it. A result above 9 is reduced by adding its digits, and 0 counts as 9. Then 1 is Khảm, 2 Khôn, 3 Chấn, 4 Tốn, 6 Càn, 7 Đoài, 8 Cấn and 9 Ly; the number 5 has no cung, so a man takes Khôn and a woman Cấn. The eight cung split into Đông tứ mệnh (Khảm, Ly, Chấn, Tốn) and Tây tứ mệnh (Càn, Khôn, Đoài, Cấn), and each cung has four good and four bad directions in the Bát trạch table, shown on a small compass with the same facts in text.
What it does not do
It does not tell the future, choose a wedding date, rate a marriage or promise anything. Feng shui and Can Chi are traditions that many people enjoy and follow; they are not science, and the tool is plain about that. The tables are the commonly published ones, checked on 15 October 2026, and different almanacs sometimes write a detail differently. For age and dates by the solar calendar use the age calculator or the date calculator, and for the retirement age the Vietnam retirement age calculator. The full table of 60 years is also in the Can Chi table article.
