Opening the chart: year boundary, hour, Life Palace and star method
This page covers the year boundary, leap months, the hour branch, true solar time, the Life and Body palaces, the branch ring, and the five settings where the star method forks. The definition is not written here.
Editorial review: 2026-09-22 · Reviewed by fatequery
Which four inputs are frozen
Four inputs are frozen before a chart is opened: the birth date, the clock time, the birthplace, and the sex. The date supplies the year, month and day. The clock time is cut into two-hour branches. The birthplace restores that year’s time zone, and it is what true solar time would shift. Sex joins the direction of the decade after the five-element bureau is set.
Without the hour the Life Palace cannot be placed, and the other eleven names have nothing to follow. The place is the birthplace, not the city lived in now. The year boundary and the star method come after these four.
The year boundary and a leap month change the stem first
The same calendar day can take a different year stem if the year is cut on a different day. This site’s default year boundary is normal: before lichun the year is still the previous one. A lunar-new-year cut can change the stem for a birth that falls between lichun and the first lunar month. The four natal transformations follow that stem.
An unmarked leap month is converted as an ordinary month, and the Life Palace shifts from that step. The illustration is 15 June, lunar 5/23, not a leap month, year pillar geng-wu. Comparing stars after the year boundary has changed is not comparing one chart.
How the hour branch and true solar time move the Life Palace
A Zi Wei hour is a two-hour cell. Late zi starts at 23:00 and is not the same cell as 22:00, so the Life Palace moves one palace. The illustration’s 10:30 falls in si, away from zi and from the edge.
True solar time shifts the clock by the birthplace longitude. On an edge, the switch can land in the neighbouring branch. This illustration uses the default configuration and does not turn true solar time on by itself. Write whether the switch is on before naming the Life Palace branch.
The Life Palace and the Body Palace each take one cell
The same frozen inputs run through these pages: 15 June 1990, 10:30, male. The pillars are geng-wu, ren-wu, xin-hai, gui-si, and the bureau is fire-six. The Life Palace sits on chou. The set shows how the fields line up. It does not say the matter has already happened.
On this chart the Life Palace is on chou, with the Sun and the Moon. The Body Palace falls in Spouse, on hai, with Tian Tong. The Life Palace is the cell you start from. The Body Palace is the cell that is pushed forward later. Both sentences stay on a palace and a star. Without the hour there is no Life Palace, and the Body Palace cannot be checked.
The branch cells stay put; the palace names move
The twelve earthly-branch cells are fixed. After the Life Palace is set on one branch, the other names are laid on by the declared direction. This illustration is a yang-year male chart. The engine prints: chou Life, zi Siblings, hai Spouse, xu Children, you Wealth, shen Health, wei Travel, wu Friends, si Career, chen Property, mao Fortune, yin Parents.
If another chart places the Life Palace on a different branch, xu is no longer Children. A branch is not a Western sign. The engine prints Friends as 仆役, and Career’s name on the chart is 官禄. Copy the palace name and the branch before the stars.
Where the star method forks, in five settings
When stars land in different palaces, compare five settings first: the year boundary, the leap month, whether true solar time is on, the transformation table, and the star-placement method. One difference means the charts are not the same calculation. This illustration uses yearDivide normal, dayDivide forward, algorithm default, and the engine’s default ten-stem transformation table.
A different placement method can put the same hour’s stars in different palaces. One declared method is used at a time. If all five settings match and the charts still differ, write down the engine version. A different chart is not a verdict on whose life is more real.
Illustration: where this frozen set lands
15 June 1990, 10:30, male, hour si, year stem geng. Life on chou, Body in Spouse on hai, bureau fire-six. The Life Palace stars, the transformations and the decade on the next pages all come from this set. A second birthday is not introduced.
For what Zi Wei Dou Shu is, see what Zi Wei Dou Shu is. When the birth date, time and place are complete, open the chart page.
Common mistakes
- Naming a Life Palace while the hour is still incomplete.
- Treating two charts as one when the year boundary differs.
- Reading an earthly branch as a Western sign.
Use it in fatequery
Zi Wei chart
Cast a Zi Wei chart and read the palaces, stars, and transformations it prints.
Cast a free Zi Wei chart →Zi Wei synastry
Set two Zi Wei charts side by side and read the relationship the tool actually compares.
Compare two Zi Wei charts →Frequently asked questions
Two charts differ. What is compared first?
The year boundary, the leap month, true solar time, the transformation table, and the star method. One difference means they are not the same chart.
Is 23:00 already zi?
Late zi starts at 23:00 and is not the same cell as 22:00. The illustration’s 10:30 is si, not on that edge.
Can the Life Palace still move if true solar time is off?
On an edge, yes. A clock time far from the edge often stays in the same branch either way. Write the switch down before naming the palace.
Does this page cast the chart?
No. It only states the settings. A chart for one person is opened from the birth data on the chart page.
Sources and editorial basis
- 1. Ziwei Doushu Quanshu (received editions)
Used to cross-check palace names, star lists, and traditional wording. A received text can record a tradition; it cannot prove scientific validity or guarantee an event.
- 2. iztro Zi Wei Dou Shu engine
Supports only what the current fatequery configuration actually calculates: palace placement, major-star arrangements, and the recorded year-boundary, leap-month, and transformation settings. It does not prove that any traditional school is uniquely correct.
- 3. fatequery chart rule snapshot
Each generated report stores the engine settings that produced it. Compare those settings before treating two charts as the same calculation.