Frequently Asked Questions

JadeMirror is a Chinese astrology and face-reading app. It maps your exact birth date, time, and place to your Four Pillars (your animal, element, and the hidden parts of your chart), reads your face through mian xiang when you upload a photo, and turns all of it into a clear daily reading. The chart is computed by a deterministic engine grounded in the real tradition, then written up in plain language.

Yes, there is a free tier. Everyone gets their full zodiac chart, a daily headline, and one free face reading. Jade Tier unlocks the complete daily reading, face readings on demand, your full 2026 yearly reading, compatibility, and every shareable card. You can see the plans on the pricing page.

The chart itself is exact. JadeMirror computes your Four Pillars the traditional way, from the solar calendar and the real position of the sun, so your animal, element, day master, and yearly standing are calculated, not guessed. The written interpretation is for insight and reflection, not medical, psychological, financial, or legal advice.

No, but it helps. Your birth date alone fixes your year animal and element and gives a full reading. Adding your birth time unlocks the hour pillar, your secret animal, which is the most personal layer of the chart. If you do not know your time, you can leave it out and add it later.

Your sign comes from your birth year, but with one catch: the zodiac year turns at Lìchūn, the start of spring on the solar calendar (around February 4), not at Lunar New Year. If you were born in late January or early February, the common online charts often give you the wrong animal. JadeMirror uses the solar date, so it gets the edge cases right. See all twelve animals.

At Lìchūn, around February 4 each year. This is a solar term, the astronomical start of spring, and it is what traditional Chinese astrology (Bazi) uses to set the year pillar. Lunar New Year, which moves between late January and mid February, is the cultural festival, not the astrological boundary.

The Four Pillars, or Bazi (literally eight characters), are the year, month, day, and hour of your birth, each written as one Heavenly Stem and one Earthly Branch. Your zodiac animal is only the year branch. The day pillar, called the day master, represents you and is the heart of the chart. Together the pillars describe temperament, relationships, and life timing.

The five elements, Wu Xing, are Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal, and Water. Each birth year carries one, paired with your animal, which is why a Fire Horse and a Water Horse read so differently. The elements flow in a generating cycle and a controlling cycle, and the balance of them across your chart shapes the reading. JadeMirror identifies yours from your birth date.

Compatibility runs on the branches, not just the animals. The strongest matches are the trines (三合 San He), groups of three animals that support each other, and the six harmonies (六合 Liu He), paired animals. The hardest are the clashes (六沖), animals six apart, like Rat and Horse. JadeMirror reads these for any two charts.

Tài Suì is the Grand Duke of the year, the energy of the ruling animal. When your sign clashes with, or is the same as, the year animal, tradition calls it a turbulent year that asks for care. 2026 is the Fire Horse, so Horses are in their own year (本命年) and Rats are in a clash year. It is about caution and timing, not doom.

Western astrology is built on the month you were born (your sun sign) and the planets. Chinese astrology is built on the year, month, day, and hour as stems, branches, and elements. Western leans toward personality; the Chinese system leans toward life-arc and timing. They are different frameworks, and many people read both.

Mian xiang is the traditional art of reading a face for temperament and life-arc. It looks at structure: the Three Courts (the horizontal thirds of the face), the Five Mountains (forehead, chin, nose, and the two cheekbones), and the proportion and balance among features. JadeMirror does this from a single photo. Learn how face reading works.

Face reading is one of the oldest interpretive traditions in the world, and JadeMirror treats it as exactly that: a structured reading of facial architecture, offered for insight and reflection. It reads what a face is built like, never what it happens to be wearing, and it is not a medical or psychological assessment.

Your photo is used to generate your reading and is not sold or shared. You can read the full details on the biometric data page and the privacy policy.

2026 is the year of the Fire Horse, written Bǐng Wǔ, a Yang Fire Horse. Its energy is bold, fast, and restless, good for momentum and change, with a real risk of burning out if you run too hard. Astrologically the year begins at Lìchūn around February 4, 2026. See the 2026 outlook.

In a Fire Horse year the animals that form harmonies and trines with the Horse tend to flow best, while the Rat (the Horse's direct clash) and the Horse itself (in its own year) are asked to move with more care. Your real standing depends on your whole chart, not just your animal, which is what your yearly reading works out.

Yes. Without an account, your birth details are stored only on your own device. If you sign in, they sync to your account so every device picks them up, and we never sell your data. See the privacy policy.

Yes. You can cancel in one tap, and you keep access through the end of the period you already paid for. There is also a one-time 12-Month Pass if you prefer to pay once with no auto-renewal.

Readings are available in English, Simplified Chinese, Cantonese, and Hokkien, and your reading is written in the language you choose.