Zi Wei Dou Shu Knowledge Sharing
How to Read a Zi Wei Dou Shu Chart: The Twelve Palaces, Main Stars, Four Transformations, and Three Layers of Time
A Zi Wei Dou Shu chart is a diagram made of twelve palaces. Each palace stands for one area of life, and the stars inside a palace show what you are like in that area; the chart also marks the Four Transformations, as well as layers of time such as the decade cycle and the annual cycle. The first time you look at a chart, it is enough to recognize what each of these things is. A chart shows your attitudes and values; it is not a report card of good and bad.
What Is on a Chart
| What you see on the chart | What it is | Where to read more |
|---|---|---|
| Twelve boxes | The twelve palaces; each one stands for an area of life | The next section of this article |
| The main stars in the boxes | The fourteen main stars, which correspond to fourteen basic personalities within you | The main star pages |
| The other stars in the boxes | Auxiliary stars, such as the six helper stars and the four challenging stars | "Main Stars and Auxiliary Stars" in this article |
| Lu, Quan, Ke, and Ji next to a star | The Four Transformations, the changes a star goes through because of time and circumstance | The Four Transformations in Zi Wei Dou Shu |
| Markings for the decade cycle and annual cycle | The layers of time for ten years and for one year | Decade Cycles and Annual Cycles in Zi Wei Dou Shu |
This table is for reference. In practice, a reading takes many more details into account.
The order of the palaces on a chart is fixed, and the positions of the twelve Earthly Branches do not change; the palaces stand for time and space. The palaces stand for your surroundings, and the stars show what kind of person you are in those surroundings. That is why both the stars and the palaces matter: a star always has to be read in the palace it sits in, never the star alone, and never the palace alone.
The Twelve Palaces
The twelve palaces are arranged in this order: the Life Palace, Siblings Palace, Spouse Palace, Children Palace, Wealth Palace, Health Palace, Mobility Palace, Friends Palace, Career Palace, Estate Palace, Fortune Palace, and Parents Palace.
| Palace | What it shows |
|---|---|
| Life Palace | What kind of person you are, and your attitudes and values; the Life Palace is like the chair of the board, and everything connects to it |
| Siblings Palace | How you get along with your brothers and sisters, and how you hope they see you; it also covers how you saw your mother as a child, and your attitude toward her |
| Spouse Palace | Your values in love, who you hope to be in a relationship, and how you are treated in one |
| Children Palace | Your attitude toward children, such as how you see having and raising children |
| Wealth Palace | Your attitudes around money: how you earn, how you spend, how you manage it, and the values you hold about money |
| Health Palace | Your attitude toward how you use your body |
| Mobility Palace | The image you show the outside world, and how you hope others see you; going out and getting around; it also stands for your inner world |
| Friends Palace | Your attitude toward everyone of your own generation, and how you hope they see you |
| Career Palace | The palace of work and what you pursue: the focus of your daily life, and your attitude toward what you pursue in life |
| Estate Palace | Your attitudes and values about family, your home environment, and your inner sense of security |
| Fortune Palace | Your state of mind, and your subconscious |
| Parents Palace | Mainly your relationship with your father and how you see him; as you grow up, it also covers authority figures in your life |
This table is for reference. In practice, a reading takes many more details into account.
The Parents Palace is about how you felt about your father as a child, not about your father himself, so even siblings each have a different Parents Palace.
The Four Linked Palaces
Take one palace as the palace in focus, then add the fifth box counting clockwise and the fifth box counting counterclockwise (counting the palace in focus as the first), and then its opposite palace. Together, these four palaces are called the Four Linked Palaces (San Fang Si Zheng). For example, the Four Linked Palaces of the Life Palace are the Life Palace, the Career Palace, the Wealth Palace, and the Mobility Palace. When you look at a palace, these four palaces are read together.
You can think of it as a company: the Life Palace is the chair of the board, the Career Palace is the sales manager, the Wealth Palace is the finance manager, and the Mobility Palace is the general manager. The three linked palaces influence the palace in focus only within their own meaning; for example, the Wealth Palace influences the Life Palace only in what has to do with money.
The Body Palace
Besides the twelve palaces, a chart also marks the "Body Palace." Which palace the Body Palace falls in depends on the shichen (two-hour period) you were born in: for the Zi and Wu hours, it is in the Life Palace; for the Chou and Wei hours, the Fortune Palace; for the Yin and Shen hours, the Career Palace; for the Mao and You hours, the Mobility Palace; for the Chen and Xu hours, the Wealth Palace; and for the Si and Hai hours, the Spouse Palace. The palace where your Body Palace sits is where you are willing to persevere and strive all your life.
The common view is that after age 35, the Body Palace becomes a "second Life Palace"; FuSang Vision's view is that this only counts once you can truly stand on your own.
Main Stars and Auxiliary Stars
Zi Wei Dou Shu has fourteen main stars: Zi Wei, Tian Ji, Tai Yang, Wu Qu, Tian Tong, Lian Zhen, Tian Fu, Tai Yin, Tan Lang, Ju Men, Tian Xiang, Tian Liang, Qi Sha, and Po Jun. These fourteen main stars correspond to fourteen basic personalities within you.
Each star has its own core value, called its "energy transformation"; for example, Ju Men is described as "transforming into Darkness." No reading of a star can go beyond its core value. The energy transformation is a quality of the star itself; it is not the same as the Four Transformations of Lu (Prosperity), Quan (Power), Ke (Fame), and Ji (Obstacle).
The stars other than the main stars are called auxiliary stars. To start, it is enough to recognize two groups. The six helper stars (Zuo Fu, You Bi, Tian Kui, Tian Yue, Wen Chang, and Wen Qu) stand for help, but help is not always a good thing. The four challenging stars (Qing Yang, Tuo Luo, Huo, and Ling) stand for four kinds of emotions that are hard to rein in. Di Kong and Di Jie are not counted as challenging stars.
All the stars on a chart are neutral, and the same star is never read differently because of your gender.
The Four Transformations and the Three Layers of Time
The Four Transformations are the changes a star goes through because of time and circumstance: Lu means "something extra," Quan means "wanting to hold," Ke means "letting things show and being seen," and Ji means "a sense of something missing." A transformation never exists on its own; it always comes from a particular star. For where the Four Transformations come from, and the table of the ten Heavenly Stems, see The Four Transformations in Zi Wei Dou Shu.
A chart has three layers of time. The natal chart shows your attitudes and values over your whole life; the decade cycle is a ten-year stretch, showing your character, values, and focus during those ten years; and the annual cycle shows the opportunities or influences your surroundings bring you that year. For how the decade cycle starts and how to find the annual cycle, see Decade Cycles and Annual Cycles in Zi Wei Dou Shu.
Where to Look First
The first time you open a chart, you can start by finding the Life Palace. The Life Palace shows what kind of person you are, and everything connects to it. Next, look at which main stars are in the Life Palace; they correspond to the basic personalities within you. Then find the Four Linked Palaces of the Life Palace, that is, the Career Palace, the Wealth Palace, and the Mobility Palace; these four palaces are read together.
At this point, it is enough to "recognize" things: know which box is which palace, and which stars are inside. When you see a star, remember to think about it back in the palace it sits in. If you don't have your own chart yet, you can start with the free calculator; create a free account and you can see each palace on your chart at different points in time.
What Actually Happens Depends on How Each Palace Works
Zi Wei Dou Shu doesn't divide things into good and bad; every judgment is a relative comparison. Never read a single palace or a single star alone; the more clues you can look at, the closer you get to what is really there. If a sign on the chart does not happen in real life, real life is what counts.
Frequently Asked Questions
If I'm not sure of my birth time, can I still make a chart?
Zi Wei Dou Shu uses your birth time, ideally down to the minute; FuSang Vision uses the longitude of your place of birth to convert it to true solar time. The shichen is counted in the local time at your place of birth. If you are not sure of your shichen, you can treat the chart as a reference for now, and compare it with how things actually are for you.
How is Zi Wei Dou Shu different from Ba Zi (Four Pillars), zodiac signs, and MBTI?
These are all tools for understanding yourself; each one simply looks at things from a different angle. The results of a Zi Wei Dou Shu analysis are more useful for deciding what to do next. Zi Wei Dou Shu is also often called "the emperor's art"; it is said that in ancient times, it was used to understand a person and to judge how to put people to work.
What if there is no main star in my Life Palace?
A Life Palace with no main star is called an empty palace. The view FuSang Vision follows is that an empty palace always borrows all the stars of the opposite palace, including the main stars, auxiliary stars, challenging stars, and Four Transformations.
2027 Report
Where is 2027 centered for you?
Read from your natal chart, decade cycle, and 2027 annual cycle: the theme of your year, what to make the most of, and what to watch. Free to request.
See the 2027 reportFrequently Asked Questions
What is Zi Wei Dou Shu?
Zi Wei Dou Shu (Purple Star Astrology) is a traditional Chinese astrology system. It uses your birth date and time to create a chart for a professional reading.
Is this just fortune-telling?
Not at all. Zi Wei is a sophisticated system for analyzing your personality, talents, and life cycles. It’s more like a mirror for self-reflection than a prediction machine. We don’t predict fixed outcomes; we reveal timing patterns and potential to help you make more aligned decisions.
Do I need to believe in astrology for this to work?
Not at all. Think of this as a personalized map or a personality framework. The more open you are to self-discovery, the more insight you’ll receive.
What if I don’t know my exact birth time?
An accurate birth time (to the hour) is essential for an accurate reading. We highly recommend checking your birth certificate or asking a family member. If you’re unsure, use the closest time you can confirm.
Will my information be kept private?
We never sell your birth data or reports. We share them only with service providers that help us run FuSang Vision, and only to generate your chart and reports.
