Zi Wei Dou Shu
Purple Star astrology: the 12 palaces, 14 major stars and the Four Transformations.
Course names, family names and outlines are shown in English. Lessons use English when a published translation is unavailable; the lesson shows a notice when this happens.
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Level 1Units: 7
Level 1 · Unit 1
What Zi Wei Dou Shu is
The Purple Star system: its name, its traditional founder, the birth data it uses and the 4×4 chart grid.
- The Purple Star system
- Origins and Chen Tuan
- Birth data: lunar date and double hour
- The chart grid
- Checkpoint: What Zi Wei Dou Shu is
Level 1 · Unit 2
The 12 palaces
The twelve palaces and their order, counting from the Life palace, the Body palace, and reading palaces in groups.
- The Life palace and the first six
- The other six palaces
- Counting the palaces and the Body palace
- Three sides and four directions
- Checkpoint: The 12 palaces
Level 1 · Unit 3
The 14 major stars
The Zi Wei and Tian Fu star groups, the traditional symbolism of key stars, and a first look at the Four Transformations.
- The 14 major stars and the Zi Wei group
- The Tian Fu group
- What the stars symbolise
- Preview: the Four Transformations
- Checkpoint: The 14 major stars
Level 1 · Unit 4
The sky behind Zi Wei
The star lore behind the system: the Purple Forbidden Enclosure, the Northern Dipper's seven names, the classic texts, the spread of the art and the star names.
- The Purple Forbidden Enclosure
- The Northern Dipper's seven names
- Classic texts and the spread of the art
- Reading the star names
- Checkpoint: The sky behind Zi Wei
Level 1 · Unit 5
The lunar birth date in practice
Big and small lunar months, the Lunar New Year boundary compared with BaZi, leap-month rules and turning a clock time into a double hour.
- Lunar months and days
- The Lunar New Year boundary
- Leap months
- From clock time to double hour
- Checkpoint: The lunar birth date
Level 1 · Unit 6
Placing the Life and Body palaces
The standard rule: count the month forward from 寅, then the hour backward for the Life palace and forward for the Body palace, with the six Body palace pairs.
- Step one: the month cell
- Step two: the Life palace
- Step three: the Body palace
- Putting both together
- Checkpoint: Placing the Life and Body palaces
Level 1 · Unit 7
The palace ring in practice
Filling all twelve palaces from the Life cell, the six opposite pairs, the four trine triangles, and building a full palace frame from birth data.
- Filling the ring
- Six opposite pairs
- Four trine groups
- A full frame from birth data
- Checkpoint: The palace ring
Level 2Units: 7
Level 2 · Unit 1
Auxiliary stars: the six lucky and six malefic
The six lucky and six malefic auxiliary stars in their pairs, how they are placed, and 禄存 flanked by 擎羊 and 陀罗.
- The six lucky stars
- Placing the lucky pairs
- The six malefic stars
- Lu Cun and its two neighbours
- Checkpoint: Auxiliary stars
Level 2 · Unit 2
Star brightness
How a star's expression depends on its palace branch: the grades from 庙 to 陷, the Sun and Moon stars, and brightness in a reading.
- What brightness means
- Tai Yang: the Sun by day
- Tai Yin: the Moon by night
- How brightness shapes a reading
- Checkpoint: Star brightness
Level 2 · Unit 3
Placing the 14 major stars
Finding 紫微 from the lunar day and the bureau, laying out the Zi Wei group backward, mirroring 天府 across the grid and laying out the Tian Fu group forward.
- Finding Zi Wei: when the day divides
- Finding Zi Wei: the odd-even step
- Laying out the Zi Wei group
- Tian Fu and its group
- Checkpoint: Placing the 14 major stars
Level 2 · Unit 4
Finding the five element bureau
Working out 五行局 yourself: cell stems by the five tigers rule, the nayin element of the Life cell, a counting shortcut, and the path from birth data to 紫微.
- Cell stems: the five tigers rule
- The Life cell's stem and branch
- A shortcut for the nayin
- From birth data to the bureau
- Checkpoint: Finding the five element bureau
Level 2 · Unit 5
Star pairs and the twelve layouts
How 紫微's cell fixes every major star: its six partners, the two star families that share cells, fixed patterns such as 杀破狼, and checking a layout.
- Zi Wei's six partners
- Two families that share cells
- Stars in fixed geometry
- Checking a layout
- Checkpoint: Star pairs and the twelve layouts
Level 2 · Unit 6
Empty palaces and borrowed stars
Palaces with no major star: how many a layout has, borrowing the opposite palace's major stars, what still counts inside, and a worked chart with an empty Life palace.
- When a palace has no major star
- Borrowing from the opposite palace
- What still counts in an empty palace
- An empty Life palace: a worked chart
- Checkpoint: Empty palaces and borrowed stars
Level 2 · Unit 7
More minor stars: 天马, 红鸾, 天喜, 天刑, 天姚
Five widely used minor stars: 天马 from the year branch, 红鸾 and 天喜 as an opposite pair, 天刑 and 天姚 from the month, and how lightly to weigh them.
- 天马, the Heavenly Horse
- 红鸾 and 天喜
- 天刑 and 天姚
- Weighing minor stars
- Checkpoint: More minor stars
Level 3Units: 7
Level 3 · Unit 1
The Four Transformations (四化)
The full year-stem table for 化禄, 化权, 化科 and 化忌, where schools differ, and finding the natal transformations in a chart.
- The table: 甲 to 戊
- The table: 己 to 癸
- Reading the four labels
- Natal transformations in a chart
- Checkpoint: The Four Transformations
Level 3 · Unit 2
Three sides, four directions and decade limits
Reading a palace with its trines and opposite by branch, then the ten-year decade limits: bureau starting ages and direction.
- The three sides by branch
- Decade limits and the bureau
- Which way the limits run
- Finding the current decade
- Checkpoint: Three sides and decade limits
Level 3 · Unit 3
Annual charts (流年)
The annual Life palace from the year branch, the year stem's own transformations, and reading a year inside its decade.
- The annual Life palace
- Which natal palace is activated
- The year's own transformations
- Natal, decade and year together
- Checkpoint: Annual charts
Level 3 · Unit 4
Tracing the Four Transformations
Reading the stem table star by star, the stars it leaves out, 化禄 and 化忌 in a palace's three sides, and 双禄 with a 2026 annual layer in a worked chart.
- One star through the stems
- Stars the table leaves out
- 化禄 and 化忌 in the three sides
- 禄存 meets 化禄, and a year on top
- Checkpoint: Tracing the Four Transformations
Level 3 · Unit 5
The decade chart (大限盘)
Turning a decade limit into a full chart: the decade's twelve palaces, a lifetime of decades in both directions, the decade's three sides and a worked decade reading.
- The decade's twelve palaces
- A lifetime of decades
- The decade's three sides
- A worked decade reading
- Checkpoint: The decade chart
Level 3 · Unit 6
Small limits (小限) and moving stars
A second one-year frame: the small limit from the birth-year branch, sex and age, how it sits beside the annual Life palace, and the year's moving 禄存, 擎羊, 陀罗 and 天马.
- A second yearly frame
- Counting the small limit by age
- Small limit beside the annual palace
- The year's moving stars
- Checkpoint: Small limits and moving stars
Level 3 · Unit 7
Monthly charts (流月)
Finding a year's first month with the classic 斗君 rule, stepping the months round the ring, and reading natal, decade, year and month together in a worked invented chart.
- Finding month 1: 斗君
- The months around the ring
- Five frames in one chart
- Keeping the layers in proportion
- Checkpoint: Monthly charts
Level 4Units: 7
Level 4 · Unit 1
Flying stars (飞星四化)
Palace stems from the five tigers rule, flying a palace's Four Transformations into other palaces, and self-transformation (自化).
- Palace stems (宫干)
- Flying a palace's transformations
- Self-transformation (自化)
- Flying 化忌 and school differences
- Checkpoint: Flying stars
Level 4 · Unit 2
Case studies
Three invented charts read step by step: natal transformations, the three sides, decade and annual palaces, and flying 化忌, phrased with care.
- Case A: natal transformations
- Case A: the three sides
- Case B: decade and year
- Case B: flying 化忌
- Checkpoint: Case studies
Level 4 · Unit 3
Ethics in Zi Wei practice
Using Zi Wei Dou Shu with care: no fatalism about 化忌 or malefic stars, gendered rules, relationship questions, fees and remedies.
- No fatalism
- Gendered traditional rules
- Relationship and marriage questions
- Fees and remedies
- Checkpoint: Ethics in Zi Wei practice
Level 4 · Unit 4
Mapping a chart's flights
A whole-chart flight table for one invented chart: where each palace sends 化禄 and 化忌, which palaces receive most, two-way links, and 化忌 facing the opposite palace.
- A flight table for one chart
- Where the flights land
- Two-way links and self-transformations
- 化忌 facing the opposite palace
- Checkpoint: Mapping a chart's flights
Level 4 · Unit 5
Case study C: from birth data to reading
One invented chart built from scratch with every level of the course: frame and bureau, stars and natal labels, decade, year and small limit, then flights and a careful summary.
- Case C: building the frame
- Case C: stars and natal labels
- Case C: decade, year and small limit
- Case C: flights and a careful summary
- Checkpoint: Case study C
Level 4 · Unit 6
Professional practice: preparing a reading
Working like a professional: checking birth data, handling an uncertain double hour, naming conventions when apps disagree, and running a consultation and write-up.
- Checking the birth data
- When the double hour is uncertain
- Conventions and disagreeing apps
- The consultation and the write-up
- Checkpoint: Professional practice
Level 4 · Unit 7
Capstone: case D, a question about work
A final invented case from start to finish: data checks, frame and bureau, stars and labels, the 2026 frames, Career flights and a careful answer to the client's question.
- Case D: data and frame
- Case D: stars and natal labels
- Case D: the frames of 2026
- Case D: answering the question
- Checkpoint: Capstone