ABSTRACT
Ancient Chinese people commonly accept that all things in the universe are widely connected, which includes plants, animals, and people, as well as their surroundings. Although there is still no unanimously accepted theory on the linkage between birth time and one’s destiny/fortune, numerous Eight Characters books have tried to offer certain reasonable explanations. The eight characters profile enables one’s fortune to be described in eight Chinese characters, and thus enables a logical analysis of the relationship among the characters, which centres on the relationship between Month Branch and Day Stem. There are many other elements that are not an essential part of eight characters fortune telling theory but can nonetheless be used together with eight characters. In summary the practice of eight characters can be regarded as a window to a deeper understanding of Chinese philosophy as well as to the vast background of Chinese culture.
