Mourning Cloth (披麻)
Separate the historical term and literary star name from conflicting modern BaZi tables, without turning Mourning Cloth into a death forecast.
Overview
Mourning Cloth first names traditional bereavement clothing, and a Mourning Cloth Star also appears as a literary deity name. That history does not establish a universal BaZi formula. Modern Year-Branch, Day-Branch, and annual-cycle tables differ, so OpenFate leaves the marker uncalculated until a complete source rule is reviewed.
At a glance
- Literal origin
- Traditional mourning-cloth terminology
- Historical name
- A literary deity called Mourning Cloth Star
- Rule status
- No cross-source BaZi table
- Common variants
- Year Branch, Day Branch, and annual-cycle methods
- Cannot predict
- Death, funerals, or a relative’s health
- OpenFate engine
- This marker is not currently calculated
What the historical evidence actually shows
Pi Ma is an ordinary term connected with traditional mourning attire. Ming-era literature also lists a deity bearing the name Mourning Cloth Star.
Those sources establish vocabulary history, not a Four Pillars mapping. A Stem-Branch formula still requires a separate technical source, full table, and usage level.
- Keep name history separate from algorithmic evidence.
- Do not turn a novel’s deity list into a BaZi formula.
Why this page does not choose a single table
Modern pages variously derive Pi Ma from a Year Branch, a Day Branch, or a mixed natal and annual-cycle table. Many provide no chapter locator or full mapping.
Selecting one incomplete table would create false precision and spread the same unsupported result across languages. The defensible status is undefined until the evidence is reviewable.
- Require a locatable passage and complete twelve-branch map.
- Do not select a rule by search-result volume.
What a future implementation must expose
A versioned implementation would need the reference Year or Day Branch, target branch, matched pillar, natal or timing layer, and source version.
Alternative rules should coexist instead of overwriting one another, and old reports must retain their calculation snapshots. OpenFate currently calculates no Pi Ma result.
- Preserve the version and intermediate values.
- Return no-result when provenance is absent.
Mourning Cloth cannot forecast a death
The label cannot prove that the user or a relative will die, become ill, face disaster, or attend a funeral. It must not guide medical, insurance, will, or visitation decisions.
Use actual information and qualified medical, psychological, or legal support for health, grief, and care needs. A traditional label should not intensify fear.
- Do not infer a third party’s death or illness.
- Use respectful, non-alarmist language around grief.
Sources and editorial basis
- 《封神演義》卷九十九卷九十九神名名單保留「披麻星」歷史名稱，但不提供統一八字查法A literary source that preserves the names Mourning Cloth Star and Disheveled Hair Star. It establishes historical naming only, not a canonical Bazi lookup rule.
- OpenFate Editorial Methodology歷史命名與排盤規則分開；沒有具名來源表時不得宣稱命中，更不得預測喪事或死亡OpenFate separates deterministic chart calculation, traditional interpretation, and modern editorial explanation.