San Fang Si Zheng (三方四正): The Four-Palace Context
Learn the exact four-palace geometry of San Fang Si Zheng, how to retrieve it for any palace, and why it is a context method rather than a lucky-star count.
Overview
San Fang Si Zheng (Sānfāng Sìzhèng, 三方四正) reads one focal palace together with the two palaces four and eight positions away and the directly opposite palace six positions away. In OpenFate’s zero-based grid the ordered indices are [i, (i+4)%12, (i+8)%12, (i+6)%12]. It is a relational reading frame, not four separate verdicts or a score.
At a glance
- Focal set
- One palace plus three related palaces
- Triad offsets
- +4 and +8
- Opposite offset
- +6
- Total unique indices
- 4
- Use
- Context for stars and transformations
- Not
- A numeric luck score
One question, four connected records
The focal palace names the question. Its two trine positions and opposite position bring in related resident stars, transformations, and tensions without erasing where each symbol actually sits.
“Three directions” commonly refers to the focal relationship with the two trine directions; “four cardinal relation” completes the frame with the opposite. Product data should store the four ordered indices explicitly.
- Keep the focal palace identifiable.
- Preserve each star’s resident palace.
How to calculate it
Take a validated palace index i from 0 through 11. Retrieve i, i+4, i+8, and i+6 modulo 12, then verify all four indices are unique and present in the chart.
Collect each record’s major and supporting stars, transformations, and relevant timing layer. Compare supportive and conflicting evidence instead of counting labels as uniformly favorable or unfavorable.
- Use modular geometry rather than visual orientation.
- Name the layer for every dynamic item.
Worked example and near-miss
For focal index 2, the ordered set is [2, 6, 10, 8]. If index 2 is the Life Palace, those are the exact four palace records used for its primary relational context.
A near-miss is [2, 5, 8, 11], which merely advances by three and produces a different geometry. Another near-miss is adding adjacent palaces because they look visually close in one layout.
- Test offsets with a known index fixture.
- Screen proximity is not relational geometry.
Method emphasis can vary
Common schools share the trine-and-opposite geometry, but differ in weighting, borrowing rules, brightness, transformations, and whether additional hidden or relative palaces are foregrounded.
OpenFate stores the four indices and treats borrowed stars as references only. Any later school-specific weighting should be a separate, named interpretation layer.
- Keep geometry stable and weighting explicit.
- Do not smuggle a school score into the core relation.
Context is not confirmation
Several symbols repeating across the four palaces can strengthen a traditional theme within the model, but repetition is not empirical confirmation of a real-world claim.
A responsible page records counterevidence and translates the pattern into a bounded question. It does not predict events, diagnose people, or declare one palace “saved” by another.
- Include contradicting as well as supporting evidence.
- Do not present internal consistency as external proof.
Complete topic index
Every workbook topic assigned to this canonical page appears at a stable anchor. Each entry records scope, inputs, flags, and alias ownership as an auditable reference—not a standalone interpretation. Duplicate backlog rows resolve to the same anchor instead of creating duplicate URLs.
- Conditions and inputs
- Missing-input rule: if a listed input or verified chart value is unavailable, stop at the definition; do not infer, calculate, or predict the missing value.
- Calculation flag: partial. Some steps are rule-based, but this atom does not establish a complete computed result; verify the page’s stated inputs and interpretive boundary.
- School-variant flag: sometimes. Check whether the page’s named rule or school condition applies before using this component.
- Category and guidance boundary
- Apply this only under the named calculation or school policy, and compare alternate rules before treating the result as reproducible.
- Source inheritance
- Complete topic index does not assert an atom-specific citation. It inherits this canonical page’s bibliography and locator notes as page-level context only; verify the relevant cited passage before relying on a claim.
Three Related Palaces
- Topic-specific scope
- Named inputs: none recorded.
- Conditions and inputs
- Calculation state: Partial
- School-variant state: Sometimes
- Stable reference
- ZW-PUB-0138
- Inventory classification
- 04 命盤結構與讀盤方法 · 命盤解剖與順序
Four Cardinal Palaces
- Topic-specific scope
- Named inputs: none recorded.
- Conditions and inputs
- Calculation state: Partial
- School-variant state: Sometimes
- Stable reference
- ZW-PUB-0139
- Inventory classification
- 04 命盤結構與讀盤方法 · 命盤解剖與順序
Three Directions and Four Cardinal Positions
- Topic-specific scope
- Named inputs: none recorded.
- Conditions and inputs
- Calculation state: Partial
- School-variant state: Sometimes
- Stable reference
- ZW-PUB-0140
- Inventory classification
- 04 命盤結構與讀盤方法 · 命盤解剖與順序
Step 4: Three Directions and Four Cardinals
- Topic-specific scope
- Named inputs: none recorded.
- Conditions and inputs
- Calculation state: Partial
- School-variant state: Sometimes
- Stable reference
- ZW-PUB-0149
- Inventory classification
- 04 命盤結構與讀盤方法 · 命盤解剖與順序
How to Calculate the Three Directions and Four Cardinals
- Topic-specific scope
- Named inputs: none recorded.
- Conditions and inputs
- Calculation state: Partial
- School-variant state: Sometimes
- Stable reference
- ZW-PUB-0183
- Inventory classification
- 05 宮位系統 · 隱性宮位與宮位關係
Sources and editorial basis
- iztro 紫微鬥數星盤「認識星盤」— focal 命宮, opposite 四正位, and two 三方位 shown as one four-palace relationAn open-source project guide describing the chart, twelve surrounding palaces, calculation inputs, and a beginner reading sequence.
- OpenFate Ziwei Derived Geometryapp/modules/ziwei/logic/derived.ts:151–165 — [index,+4,+8,+6] triad/opposite geometryPure calculation helpers for hour branches, borrowed-star references, and four-palace San Fang Si Zheng geometry.
- OpenFate Ziwei Profile Schemaapp/modules/ziwei/logic/schema.ts:506–522 — exactly four unique indices and engine geometry matchFail-closed validation for twelve unique palaces, one Life Palace, fourteen unique major stars, and exact relational geometry.