Zi Wei Dou Shu (Purple Star Astrology) is a Chinese birth-chart system cast from your year, month, day and hour of birth. It fixes your Life Palace and Body Palace, divides life into twelve palaces — self, siblings, spouse, children, wealth, health, travel, friends, career, property, fortune and parents — and places the fourteen major stars and the minor stars among them. With the Four Transformations and the decade and annual cycles, each area of life can be read palace by palace. Cast your chart free on this page, and ask the AI reader to interpret it.
✦How to read a Zi Wei chart: start with the twelve palaces
The Life Palace shows your temperament and the overall shape of your life; the Body Palace shows where your effort goes later in life. The Siblings, Spouse, Children and Parents palaces describe family ties, the Wealth Palace how you earn and spend, the Career Palace your working life, the Travel Palace how you fare away from home, the Friends Palace your social circle, the Property Palace home and real estate, the Health Palace your constitution and the Fortune Palace your inner life.
Never read a palace alone: read its “three directions and four facings” — the palace itself, the one opposite and the two in a trine with it. For career, look at the Career Palace together with the Life and Wealth palaces (its trine) and the Spouse Palace opposite.
✦The fourteen major stars
The major stars belong to the Zi Wei group (Zi Wei, Tian Ji, Tai Yang, Wu Qu, Tian Tong, Lian Zhen) and the Tian Fu group (Tian Fu, Tai Yin, Tan Lang, Ju Men, Tian Xiang, Tian Liang, Qi Sha, Po Jun). The star in your Life Palace sets the keynote of the chart — Zi Wei leads, Tian Ji deliberates, Tai Yang gives, Wu Qu decides, Tian Tong eases, Lian Zhen holds the line, Tian Fu conserves, Tai Yin refines, Tan Lang desires, Ju Men debates, Tian Xiang mediates, Tian Liang protects, Qi Sha charges ahead and Po Jun breaks new ground. When the Life Palace has no major star, borrow the stars of the opposite palace.
✦The Four Transformations
Your birth-year stem activates four transformations: Hua Lu (prosperity and affinity), Hua Quan (authority and drive), Hua Ke (reputation and helpers) and Hua Ji (attachment and obstruction). The palaces they fall in are where your life’s energy gathers and where it needs care; decade and annual cycles bring their own transformations, layered over the natal chart.
✦No birth hour? Find it first.
Zi Wei Dou Shu fixes the Life Palace and places every star from the birth hour, so a different hour gives a different chart — the hour is required. Check a birth certificate or ask family for the approximate time; if it falls near the boundary of two Chinese hours, cast both and compare.
✦Zi Wei Dou Shu Chart — FAQ
Is this Zi Wei Dou Shu calculator free?
Yes. Enter your birth date, hour and gender to get a complete free chart — twelve palaces, fourteen major stars, minor stars and the birth-year Four Transformations, with decade and annual cycles — and no signup. For a plain-language interpretation, tap “Ask the Reader”; AI readings include a daily free allowance shown on the page.
What information do I need?
Your Gregorian birth date, birth hour and gender. If you only know your Chinese lunar birthday, save it as a lunar-calendar profile (leap months supported) and it is converted automatically.
What is the difference between the Life Palace and the Body Palace?
The Life Palace, fixed by your birth month and hour, shows your innate temperament and life pattern. The Body Palace, fixed by your birth hour, always falls in one of six palaces — Life, Spouse, Wealth, Travel, Career or Fortune — and shows where your effort concentrates, especially from mid-life on.
Is a Zi Wei chart accurate?
The chart itself is computed exactly from calendrical and star-placement rules; accuracy lives in the interpretation. A chart describes tendencies and the rhythm of good and hard periods — material for reflection and planning, not a fixed script.