Zi Wei Dou Shu Knowledge Base
Learn Zi Wei Dou Shu through chart construction, twelve palaces, major stars, Four Transformations, reading geometry, timing, and school variants.
Overview
Zi Wei Dou Shu organizes a birth chart into twelve moving palace roles, stars, relational geometry, transformations, and timing layers. Start with the chart grammar before interpreting any single symbol.
At a glance
- Core chart
- Twelve palaces arranged on a fixed Earthly Branch grid
- Core entities
- Fourteen major stars plus supporting and auxiliary stars
- Reading geometry
- Focal palace, triad palaces, and opposite palace
- Dynamic layer
- Lu, Quan, Ke, and Ji transformations across natal and timing layers
- OpenFate policy
- Versioned product calculation rules with visible provenance
- Learning order
- Calculate → locate → relate → qualify → time → apply
Explore concepts
- Zi Wei Dou Shu learning path
Zi Wei Dou Shu Foundations
Start with what Zi Wei Dou Shu is, how its chart is structured, and how declared rules turn birth information into a reproducible chart.
Read definition - Zi Wei Dou Shu History and Sources
Ziwei History and Sources: A Source-Reviewed Guide
Learn Ziwei History and Sources with sourced evidence, reproducible steps, an example, variants, and clear limits.
Read definition - Zi Wei Dou Shu learning path
Zi Wei Dou Shu Calculation Variants
Compare calculators through input, boundary, school, table, and version evidence instead of judging screenshots.
Read definition - Zi Wei Dou Shu Chart Construction
Ziwei Chart Construction: A Source-Reviewed Guide
Learn Ziwei Chart Construction with sourced evidence, reproducible steps, an example, variants, and clear limits.
Read definition - Zi Wei Dou Shu learning path
Zi Wei Dou Shu Palaces
Learn the complete twelve-palace framework, the Life Palace anchor, fixed branch positions, rotating role names, and responsible palace reading.
Read definition - Zi Wei Dou Shu learning path
Zi Wei Dou Shu Major Stars
Learn the complete fourteen-major-star set and use Zi Wei Star as a model for contextual, source-aware star pages.
Read definition - Zi Wei Dou Shu star system
Supporting Stars in Zi Wei Dou Shu
Learn fourteen supporting stars through placement rules, palace evidence, combinations, worked examples, and explicit interpretation limits.
Read definition - Zi Wei Dou Shu canonical learning path
Minor Stars and Twelve-Cycle Systems: Evidence-Led Guide
Minor Stars and Twelve-Cycle Systems: sourced topics, methods, examples, and evidence limits.
Read definition - Zi Wei Dou Shu canonical learning path
Palace Geometry and Star Conditions: Evidence-Led Guide
Palace Geometry and Star Conditions: sourced topics, methods, examples, and evidence limits.
Read definition - Zi Wei Dou Shu learning path
Transformation Methods and Variants
Trace Hua Lu, Hua Quan, Hua Ke, and Hua Ji from source stem to star, resident palace, timing layer, and school table.
Read definition - Zi Wei Dou Shu canonical learning path
Configurations and Patterns: Evidence-Led Guide
Configurations and Patterns: sourced topics, methods, examples, and evidence limits.
Read definition - Zi Wei Dou Shu learning path
Zi Wei Dou Shu Reading Methods
Start with the exact San Fang Si Zheng four-palace geometry and learn how to combine context without losing provenance.
Read definition - Zi Wei Dou Shu source-reviewed cluster
Zi Wei Timing and Period Layers
Learn Zi Wei timing through reproducible decade-to-hour records, explicit overlays, boundary policies, and cautious observation windows.
Read definition - Zi Wei Dou Shu source-reviewed cluster
Zi Wei Schools and Rule Variants
Audit Zi Wei school labels with exact locators while separating label existence, inspectable doctrine, and product configuration.
Read definition - Zi Wei Dou Shu source-reviewed cluster
Zi Wei Applications and Safety
Apply Zi Wei to life questions through chart evidence, consent, safeguards, and reversible actions.
Read definition
Start with the chart grammar
A Zi Wei Dou Shu chart is not a list of independent star meanings. It is a structured map: palace-role names move over a fixed branch grid, stars occupy specific palaces, and each focal palace must be read with its triad and opposite palace.
Begin with chart structure, calculation inputs, the twelve palaces, and the fourteen major stars. Only then add Four Transformations, supporting stars, brightness, combinations, and timing layers.
- Do not read a star without its actual palace and relational context.
- Do not treat a palace name as a fixed Earthly Branch coordinate.
- Keep deterministic chart facts separate from interpretive judgment.
Why the calculation policy is visible
Zi Wei Dou Shu schools can differ on year boundaries, leap months, true solar time, Four-Transformation tables, brightness, and some placement rules. Two calculators can therefore produce different charts from the same apparent input.
OpenFate records its engine revision, school lineage, boundary policy, leap-month handling, time policy, and transformation table. A rule page explains each material choice so a chart can be reproduced and compared instead of accepted as a black box.
- Confirm date, clock time, birthplace, time zone, and time precision before comparing charts.
- Compare rulebook metadata before deciding that one chart is wrong.
- Treat school-specific rules as named variants, not universal facts.
A beginner-safe reading order
First identify the question and its focal palace. Next inspect the resident stars, the full San Fang Si Zheng group, Four Transformations, brightness, and relevant supporting or challenging stars. Add natal and timing layers only after the base structure is clear.
A useful interpretation explains which chart facts support it, which conditions would weaken it, and which alternatives remain possible. It does not convert one symbol into a fixed personality label or guaranteed life event.
- Locate: identify the exact palace, star, transformation, and timing layer.
- Relate: inspect the triad, opposite palace, co-stars, and transformation edges.
- Qualify: state school scope, missing inputs, counter-evidence, and uncertainty.
From a definition to personal evidence and back
Every canonical Wiki page links to the chart tool and to the definitions needed for the next reading step. The tool supplies deterministic evidence such as the actual palace, resident stars, transformation source, and timing layer; interpretation remains a separate, bounded step.
After inspecting a personal chart, return to the exact Wiki pages for the rules that produced the evidence. This creates a checkable loop: query, definition, calculation, evidence, interpretation boundary, and related rule.
- Use the chart tool to verify whether a symbol is actually present.
- Use related definitions to check the whole relational context.
- Use sources and variant notes when calculators or schools disagree.
Sources and editorial basis
- 《紫微斗數全書》 (Ziwei Doushu Quanshu)全覽目錄：卷一至卷三；卷一「諸星問答論」與卷二「安身命例」至十二宮各篇A searchable transcription of the transmitted three-volume text, used for named rules, palace chapters, and historical star descriptions—not as scientific validation.
- 趙翊吾〈紫微斗數之起源與發展〉趙翊吾〈紫微斗數之起源與發展〉，頁81–82「貳、紫微斗數的起源」及頁95「肆、結論」An academic-journal article used to frame historical development and attribution cautiously; its philosophical claims are not treated as empirical proof.
- iztro 紫微鬥數星盤「認識星盤」：十二宮格、中宮資料、三方四正連線與初學判讀順序An open-source project guide describing the chart, twelve surrounding palaces, calculation inputs, and a beginner reading sequence.
- iztro 紫微鬥數安星訣「安星訣」第1–18項：命身宮、十二宮、五行局、主星系、四化與流派註記A public rule catalogue for placing the Life and Body Palaces, the twelve roles, Zi Wei, major-star systems, and Four Transformations, with explicit variant notes.
- OpenFate Ziwei Calculation Rulebookapp/modules/ziwei/logic/rulebook.ts:69–125,167–180 — versioned engine, school, boundary, leap-month, time, and 四化 policiesThe product-owned calculation policy for engine version, boundaries, leap months, true solar time, placement rules, and Four Transformations. It proves configured behavior, not lineage.