Ziwei plate in detail — Born Hour
The Ziwei plate is a twelve-palace natal map from celestial-time lunar month, day, and hour. English names on this page are the same labels as the chart: Life, Emperor, Hua Lu, Wood 3rd, and the rest. Structure and symbol — not a verdict.
What the plate is — and is not
Ziwei Dou Shu (紫微斗数) is a classical Chinese natal language of twelve palaces and stars. Born Hour computes a natal plate after celestial-time calibration, then shows it beside Four Pillars. The two systems share stems, branches, and some English names (Seven Killings, Canopy, Yang Blade) but they are not the same chart.
The result card is titled Ziwei plate. The center shows the five-element bureau (Wood 3rd, Metal 4th, Water 2nd, Fire 6th, or Earth 5th), plus Life palace and Body palace. Palaces keep earthly branches fixed from Yin (寅); the palace names rotate from Life.
Nothing on the plate is a prediction. Stars are cultural images. Compare (合盘) overlays two plates: Life-palace relations and flying Hua Lu / Hua Quan / Hua Ke / Hua Ji. Still structure, never a marriage or career forecast.
How Born Hour casts the plate
1. Convert civil birth time to celestial time (IANA zone, longitude, Equation of Time). Lunar month, day, and hour are taken from that instant.
2. Year stem and branch for Ziwei follow Lunar New Year (春节), not Li Chun. The Four Pillars Year Pillar still turns at Li Chun. Near that edge the two year stems can differ; the plate note says so. Do not force them to match.
3. Late Zi: if the celestial hour is 23:00–23:59, the lunar day used for placing Emperor advances by one. The plate flags Late Zi. This is 子初换日 for the Ziwei day count, aligned with Born Hour’s Day Pillar rule.
4. Leap month: after day 15, the month index counts as the next month (the same fixLeap used by common 中州/三合 implementations). Palace origin still starts at Yin.
5. Life palace = lunar month index minus hour branch; Body palace = month index plus hour branch (indexes from Yin). Palace stems use 五虎遁 from the Lunar-New-Year year stem.
6. Five-element bureau is taken from Life palace stem–branch, then Emperor is placed by the 安紫微 rhyme (lunar day ÷ bureau). Treasury sits opposite. The other twelve majors follow the Emperor chain and the Treasury chain.
7. Assistants, malefics, and peach stars are placed from year stem/branch, lunar month, and hour. Natal four transformations mark which stars the year stem turns into Hua Lu, Hua Quan, Hua Ke, or Hua Ji.
Life palace and Body palace
The plate center prints Life palace and Body palace with their stem–branch (for example 丁亥). Life is the origin of palace names. Body is a second emphasis — often the same palace, sometimes not. When they coincide, that palace carries both labels on the grid.
Life palace English is Life (命宫). Body palace English is Body (身宫). These are the same strings as the chart card. Do not rename them Soul, Ming, or Destiny in English overlays.
Twelve palaces
Each cell on the 4×4 plate is one palace: name + gan-zhi + stars. English titles below are copied from the plate API (PalaceLabel). Chinese is the subtitle, matching nameZh.
In compare, Born Hour highlights a subset: love reads Life, Spouse, Fortune; partnership reads Career, Wealth, Friends, Life; family reads Parents, Children, Siblings, Life; friendship reads Friends, Fortune, Travel, Life.
The Life palace is the plate’s origin. Palace names start here and rotate around the twelve earthly branches (fixed from Yin). Read its major stars as the natal tone — not a rank or destiny title.
Siblings names the house of peers and lateral bonds. On the plate it sits one step from Life. It describes a relational field, not a census of brothers and sisters.
Spouse is the house of intimate pairing. Born Hour highlights it in love compare. Attraction markers here are cultural color, never a marriage forecast.
Children is the house of what one generates and tends. In family compare it is a key palace. It is a generational theme, not a fertility prediction.
Wealth is the house of resource flow and stewardship. In partnership compare it is a key palace. It does not certify income, assets, or luck with money.
Health (疾厄 on the plate as Health) is the house of bodily climate and friction. It is a caution theme for pacing, never a diagnosis or medical claim.
Travel is the house of movement, distance, and being seen away from the origin. In friendship compare it is a key palace. It is not a visa or relocation forecast.
Friends is the house of companions, collaborators, and the social field (交友). Partnership and friendship compare both read it. It is not a popularity score.
Career (官禄 on the plate as Career) is the house of public role and duty. Partnership compare treats it as a key palace. It is vocation-as-structure, not a job title or promotion script.
Property (田宅) is the house of shelter, land, and what one inhabits. It describes a dwelling theme, not real-estate luck.
Fortune (福德) is the house of inner weather, taste, and how one rests. Love compare treats it as a key palace. It is climate, not a blessing certificate.
Parents is the house of origin, elders, and inherited form. Family compare treats it as a key palace. It is a lineage theme, not a verdict on family events.
Five-element bureau
The bureau in the plate center is not a Five Elements score from Four Pillars. It is the key for placing Emperor. English matches BureauLabel exactly.
Wood 3rd is the five-element bureau used to place Emperor. A “3” step in the 安紫微 rhyme — not a Wood personality and not the Four Pillars Wood score.
Metal 4th is a bureau of four. It only sets the Emperor/Treasury spacing. It is not a Metal Day Master claim.
Water 2nd is the smallest-step bureau. Same caveat: placement arithmetic, not a Water character label.
Fire 6th is the largest common step. It stretches the Emperor chain. It is not a Fire-person verdict.
Earth 5th is the mid-step bureau. Born Hour’s NYC 1990 example sits here when Life is 丁亥. Still only a placement key.
Fourteen major stars
Major stars render in the heavier weight on the plate. There are fourteen. The first six follow the Emperor chain; the next eight follow the Treasury chain (with gaps where the rhyme skips a palace).
English titles are the plate labels. Subtitles are the Chinese names you will see in a zh locale plate.
Emperor is the namesake major star. On the plate it marks a stewardship and dignity tone — the chart’s “center of command” as a cultural image, not a promise of rank, fame, or control over others.
Advisor is the calculating, plan-shifting major. It colors thought, timing of change, and the wish to rearrange. It is not a certificate of genius or a warning of instability.
Sun is outward light and daytime presence. It themes visibility, exposure, and giving warmth in public. It does not forecast celebrity, fatherhood, or eye disease.
Wealth here is the metal, accounting major — decisive handling of resources and form. The English name matches the palace called Wealth, but the star is not a salary guarantee.
Fortune (the major star, not the Fortune palace) themes ease, comfort, and a milder climate. It is not a luck charm and does not cancel effort.
Virgin is integrity under pressure: sharp ethics, refinement, and a refusal to blur lines. The English name is a traditional rendering of 廉贞 — not a statement about sexuality or purity tests.
Treasury is the storehouse major: conservation, holding, and administration of what is already gathered. It is not a vault of future riches.
Moon is inward light, night, care, and concealment. It themes receptivity and the private face of the plate. It does not forecast motherhood or emotional illness.
Greedy Wolf names appetite: to take in people, pleasure, knowledge, or risk. Social color, not a verdict of greed, addiction, or infidelity.
Giant Gate is the threshold of speech: disclosure, argument, and the words that open a door. It is not a curse of lawsuits or a promise of oratory fame.
Minister is ceremony, assistance, and protocol — standing beside a center rather than occupying it. It is not a government appointment.
Sage is elder counsel, shade, and moral shelter. It themes teaching and protection of form. It is not proof of longevity or religious office.
Seven Killings is the same English name as the Four Pillars ten-god. On the Ziwei plate it is a major star of kinetic pressure and frontier force. It is not inevitable harm, crime, or military fate.
Army Breaker themes tearing down a form to rebuild another. Reform and rupture as structure, not a script of destruction, divorce, or war.
Assistants (soft stars)
Soft stars (type soft) sit in a lighter weight. They color a palace; they do not replace a major. Literature and Rhetoric are the written/spoken pair. Left Deputy and Right Deputy are the assistant pair. Heavenly Kui and Heavenly Yue are noble-helper climates. Stored Salary and Horse are provision and mobility.
Left Deputy is an assistant star: support from the “left,” documentation and backing. It does not guarantee a helpful person will appear.
Right Deputy is the matching assistant from the “right.” Together with Left Deputy it themes paired support. Helpers are a climate, not a staff list.
Literature is documents, exams-as-metaphor, and written craft. On this plate the English name is Literature (not “Wen Chang”). It is not a diploma or publication forecast.
Rhetoric is spoken elegance, rhythm, and persuasion. Pair it with Literature as written vs spoken craft. It is not a singing-career script.
Heavenly Kui is a noble-helper marker (阳贵). It themes timely endorsement. It does not appoint a patron or cancel consequences.
Heavenly Yue is the complementary noble-helper (阴贵). Read with Heavenly Kui as a pair of endorsement climates, not two guaranteed benefactors.
Stored Salary is provision set aside — livelihood in storage, not a paycheck. It does not certify wealth, rank, or a stable job.
Horse is mobility, travel of effort, and the urge to move. It is not a relocation, vehicle, or escape forecast.
Malefic stars
Malefic (煞) stars mark friction climates. Yang Blade and Spinning flank Stored Salary. Fire and Bell are ignition/startle. Void and Robbery are emptying and draining. They are not moral scores and not event forecasts.
Yang Blade is a sharp edge beside Stored Salary. The English name matches the classical 羊刃 image used elsewhere in Born Hour. Sharpness needs a channel; it is not a violence prediction.
Spinning is the clinging, delaying edge on the other side of Stored Salary. It themes entanglement and slow friction, not a trap or prison sentence.
Fire is sudden heat and ignition of a palace. Intensity of climate, not burns, accidents, or fever as events.
Bell is a startling, ringing intensity paired with Fire in classical placement rules. Alarm as metaphor, not a disaster timetable.
Void is emptying, skipping, or a hollow in a palace’s effort. Classical void is a philosophical gap, not “this area of life does not exist.”
Robbery is a draining, intercepting climate — effort leaking. It is not a crime, theft, or bankruptcy forecast.
Peach and canopy markers
The plate types Red Phoenix, Heavenly Joy, and Peach Blossom as peach, and Canopy as peach as well in Born Hour’s natal set. Love compare flags peach in Life and Spouse; friendship compare uses Life and Friends.
Red Phoenix is a joy-and-meeting marker. On the plate it is typed as peach. Social festivity, not a wedding date or soulmate certificate.
Heavenly Joy is the celebrating counterpart of Red Phoenix (often six palaces apart). Shared joy as climate, not a party or pregnancy prediction.
Peach Blossom (咸池) is aesthetic magnetism and social bloom. The English name is Peach Blossom — attraction as symbol, not an affair script.
Canopy is distance, research, and a taste for solitude or specialized beauty. The English name matches Four Pillars Canopy (华盖). It is not exile or monastic fate.
Brightness
Each major (and some others) carries a brightness grade stored on the star: Temple, Prosperous, Gain, Benefit, Even, Fallen, Weak. These are 庙旺得利平陷不. The grid currently emphasizes names and four transformations; brightness still belongs to the same natal object and should be read with the same English words.
Temple is the strongest classical brightness: the star is said to sit as if in its own shrine. Climate of ease in that palace, not invincibility.
Prosperous is strong, outgoing qi. The star has room to act. It is not a fame forecast.
Gain is supportive placement — the star obtains help from the palace. Help is a tone, not a gift list.
Benefit is useful, workable placement. Advantage as structure, not a tip to bet on.
Even is middling brightness: neither shrine nor fall. Read other stars before leaning on it.
Fallen is weakened, awkward placement. The star’s theme is harder to express cleanly. It is not a disaster label.
Weak (不) is the thin end of the scale. The star is present but faint. Absence of force, not erasure of the palace.
Four transformations
Natal four transformations come from the Ziwei year stem (春节). A marked star on the plate shows Hua Lu, Hua Quan, Hua Ke, or Hua Ji — the same strings as the compare overlay (ziweiMut_lu and siblings in the app).
In compare, the other person’s year stem can fly onto this plate (飞星四化). A flying Hua Ji into Life or Spouse is a structural watch, not a breakup script. A flying Hua Lu into Career is not a promotion.
The table below is the classical 十干四化 used by Born Hour. Star names are plate English.
Natal 四化 by year stem
Each Lunar-New-Year year stem turns four specific stars. Read the line against the plate in front of you: if the year stem is 庚, look for Sun → Hua Lu, Wealth → Hua Quan, Moon → Hua Ke, Fortune → Hua Ji.
甲: Virgin → Hua Lu · Army Breaker → Hua Quan · Wealth → Hua Ke · Sun → Hua Ji
乙: Advisor → Hua Lu · Sage → Hua Quan · Emperor → Hua Ke · Moon → Hua Ji
丙: Fortune → Hua Lu · Advisor → Hua Quan · Literature → Hua Ke · Virgin → Hua Ji
丁: Moon → Hua Lu · Fortune → Hua Quan · Advisor → Hua Ke · Giant Gate → Hua Ji
戊: Greedy Wolf → Hua Lu · Moon → Hua Quan · Right Deputy → Hua Ke · Advisor → Hua Ji
己: Wealth → Hua Lu · Greedy Wolf → Hua Quan · Sage → Hua Ke · Rhetoric → Hua Ji
庚: Sun → Hua Lu · Wealth → Hua Quan · Moon → Hua Ke · Fortune → Hua Ji
辛: Giant Gate → Hua Lu · Sun → Hua Quan · Rhetoric → Hua Ke · Literature → Hua Ji
壬: Sage → Hua Lu · Emperor → Hua Quan · Left Deputy → Hua Ke · Wealth → Hua Ji
癸: Army Breaker → Hua Lu · Giant Gate → Hua Quan · Moon → Hua Ke · Greedy Wolf → Hua Ji
Reading with Four Pillars
Suggested order: celestial time → Four Pillars Day Master and month command → Ziwei Life/Body and bureau → major stars in Life, Spouse, Career, Wealth → natal four transformations → only then compare palaces with another person.
Where names overlap, keep the layer straight. Seven Killings as a ten-god is a stem relative to Day Master. Seven Killings as a Ziwei star is a palace occupant. Canopy in Shen Sha and Canopy on the plate share an English name and a solitude/aesthetic theme, but they are computed from different rules.
Do not treat a busy peach Life palace as a relationship forecast, a Career palace Emperor as a promotion, or Hua Ji as a curse. The free cultural reading’s Ziwei palaces dimension and the paid report’s Ziwei chapter use this same vocabulary.