Zhengdao Jushi explains: The time, place, and environment of a person's birth form a specific cosmic information field, commonly referred to as the Four Pillars or the Birth Date and Time. The year, month, day, and hour are the four pillars, each represented by a heavenly stem and an earthly branch, totaling eight characters. These eight characters can be converted into the Five Elements—Metal, Water, Wood, Fire, and Earth—which interact through mutual generation and control. The Five Elements represent five fundamental elements, forming the basis for the universe and all natural phenomena. In Buddhism, they are called "Earth, Water, Fire, Wind, and Void." Each person is unique, born in a specific time and environment. Many things in the world can be changed through hard work in later life, such as knowledge, career, wealth, and love, but the Ba Zi is fixed and cannot be changed unless one is reborn. Therefore, understanding the secrets hidden in one's Ba Zi has important reference value for everyone.

Not knowing the birth time is a common problem in Ba Zi divination. An inaccurate birth time leads to errors in calculations. In this case, try to get more detailed time information. If the time is completely unknown, try to determine whether it was morning, afternoon, or evening.
1. If only the time of dusk or dawn is known: Please refer to the current time of dusk and dawn in the birthplace for reference.
2. If only a rough time is known, such as the afternoon: You can test different hours within that time period and see if the favorable and supportive elements are consistent. If they are, it may not have much impact on changing one's fortune through the Five Elements after birth.

Some folk experts use the following methods (not necessarily accurate, as there are no other methods available, so they can only be used as references):
1. Look at the hair whorl: A person's hair whorl continues to grow while in the womb until the umbilical cord is cut, at which point the whorl stops turning. The direction of the hair whorl can indicate the approximate time of birth: "The whorls of Chen, Xu, Chou, and Wei turn to the left, while those of Yin, Shen, Si, and Hai turn to the right, and those of Zi, Wu, Mao, and You are in the middle."
2. Look at the face shape: Those born under Zi, Wu, Mao, and You have round faces, those born under Yin, Shen, Si, and Hai have long faces, and those born under Chen, Xu, Chou, and Wei have irregular faces with unequal upper and lower widths.
3. Look at the little finger: Stretch out the palm without bending it, compare the tip of the little finger with the first horizontal wrinkle of the ring finger. If the little finger matches the wrinkle, it indicates birth in the hour of Yin, Shen, Si, and Hai. If it is longer, it indicates birth in the hour of Zi, Wu, Mao, and You. If it is shorter, it indicates birth in the hour of Chen, Xu, Chou, and Wei.
4. Observe the sleeping posture (the position of the fetus when leaving the mother): "Those born under Zi, Wu, Mao, and You face upwards, those born under Yin, Shen, Si, and Hai lie on their sides, and those born under Chen, Xu, Chou, and Wei face downwards. When giving birth, one must carefully observe this."
5. Ask about siblings: "Those born under Yin, Shen, Si, and Hai have two or three siblings (some have 3-5), those born under Zi, Wu, Mao, and You have one, and those born under Chen, Xu, Chou, and Wei have only one."
6. Comprehensive deduction: Based on the combination of personality, profession, destiny, and life path, make a comprehensive judgment, especially focusing on the destiny palace, because without the birth time, it is impossible to predict the long-term future, and thus the destiny palace cannot be determined, which affects the accuracy of the monthly and annual fortune predictions.