紫微斗數 (Zi Wei Dou Shu) chart caster. Birth date + hour + gender → a 12-palace 命盤 with the 14 main stars, aux/malefic stars, 生年四化 (祿權科忌), 命宮 + 身宮 and 五行局. Cultural reference.
Zi Wei Dou Shu Chart (Purple Star Astrology)
How to use
Enter Gregorian birth date
Pick a Gregorian (solar) birth date; the tool converts it to the lunar calendar and recovers the year 干支. Leap-month births are folded onto the corresponding base month automatically. Supported range 1900-2100.
Pick birth hour (時辰)
Enter as HH:MM. 紫微斗數 uses 2-hour blocks (子時 23:00-00:59, 丑時 01:00-02:59, …). Don't know your hour? Choose 12:00 (午時) for an approximation — 命宮, 身宮, and every star position depend on the hour.
Pick gender
Gender is recorded and, in traditional charting, sets the direction of the 大限 (major luck cycles) for yin/yang men and women. This tool renders the natal 12 palaces + star placements; gender is mainly for the record and future extension.
Read the 命盤
Click "Cast Chart" for a classic 12-palace plate. Each palace shows its earthly branch, palace name, and stars (main stars bold, aux stars muted), with 四化 marked 祿/權/科/忌 beside the matching star. 命宮 carries an accent border, 身宮 a "身" badge; the centre summarises gender, birth, 五行局 and the 命宮/身宮 branches.
Zi Wei Dou Shu (紫微斗數): Casting the Purple-Star Chart
紫微斗數 (Zi Wei Dou Shu, "Purple Star Astrology") is one of the two mainstream systems of Chinese metaphysics, standing alongside bazi (子平 Four Pillars). It converts a person's birth year, month, day, and hour to the lunar calendar, then follows a set of star-placement formulae to seat the fourteen main stars — led by 紫微 (the Purple/Emperor star) — together with the six auspicious stars (左輔/右弼, 文昌/文曲, 天魁/天鉞), the six malefic stars (擎羊/陀羅, 火星/鈴星), and miscellaneous stars such as 祿存, into the twelve palaces formed by the twelve earthly branches. Starting at 命宮 (Life), the palaces run 兄弟 (Siblings), 夫妻 (Spouse), 子女 (Children), 財帛 (Wealth), 疾厄 (Health), 遷移 (Travel), 僕役 (Friends), 官祿 (Career), 田宅 (Property), 福德 (Fortune), and 父母 (Parents) — a full 命盤 (chart) mapping the facets of a life.
How the chart is cast
The first step is locating 命宮 (Life palace) and 身宮 (Body palace). The classical rule "寅起正月" counts the birth month forward from the 寅 palace, then counts the birth hour backward from 子, landing on 命宮; 身宮 counts both the month and the hour forward. Next, the nayin Five-Element of the 命宮's stem-branch fixes the "Five-Element Bureau" (五行局: Water-2, Wood-3, Metal-4, Earth-5, Fire-6). The bureau number and the lunar birth day together decide where 紫微 sits — the "紫微定局" step. Once 紫微 is fixed, its series (天機, 太陽, 武曲, 天同, 廉貞) is placed by fixed backward offsets; 天府 mirrors 紫微 across the 寅–申 axis, and its series (太陰, 貪狼, 巨門, 天相, 天梁, 七殺, 破軍) follows forward. This tool uses the common 三合派 / 中州派 placement rules and computes the entire layout deterministically — never random.
The 四化 and reading the chart
One soul of the chart is the 生年四化 (birth-year four transformations): based on the birth year's heavenly stem, the forces 祿 (prosperity), 權 (power), 科 (reputation), and 忌 (obstruction) are attached to four specific stars. 化祿 marks wealth and opportunity, 化權 capability and authority, 化科 fame and benefactors, 化忌 friction and fixation. The 四化 turn a static star map into a flowing thread of fortune — and they are where schools disagree most, especially the 庚 and 壬 stem rows. This tool marks each transformed star with a small 祿/權/科/忌 badge for easy cross-reference.
"紫微斗數 turns on structure (格局) and the four transformations — shift one star, and the whole chart shifts." — common charting maxim
Disclaimer + school variation. 紫微斗數 has many competing schools. The 三合派 (San-He / Chung-Chou) tradition emphasises star qualities and structures (格局); the 飛星派 (欽天四化, Flying-Star) tradition emphasises the flying four-transformations — and the two differ on the 四化 table, on 火/鈴 placement, and even on some aux-star positions. The same birth time can yield differing chart details across schools and even across textbooks, so two reputable casters can hand you charts that disagree in the fine print while still sharing the same backbone. This tool implements only the broadly-agreed core placements (命宮 / 五行局 / 紫微定位 / 天府定位 / the 14 main stars) plus a common 四化 table; it shows the raw plate so you can compare it against any teacher, book, or app you already trust. It is for cultural entertainment and introductory reference only, and constitutes no professional advice, nor can it replace a practitioner's holistic reading of 格局, 三方四正, the brightness of each star (廟旺利陷), and the 大限/流年 cycles. ASEAN Chinese communities (especially Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia) and Taiwan retain strong cultural interest in chart-casting; treat this as a starting point for comparison and learning, and ground any major decision in practical reality and professional consultation. All computation runs locally in your browser — no birth data is uploaded or stored, and nothing ever leaves your device.
10 Facts about 紫微斗數 (Zi Wei Dou Shu)
紫微斗數 and bazi are the two great systems of Chinese metaphysics. Bazi argues from 五行 strength; 紫微斗數 argues from "which star sits in which palace" — two entirely different lenses on the same birth time.
A chart has twelve palaces circling from 命宮 — covering career (官祿), wealth, spouse, property, health and more. The star combination in each palace is the "theme colour" of that life domain.
The 紫微 star is named after the 紫微垣 enclosure around the celestial north pole, symbolising the emperor — the foremost of the 14 main stars. Where 紫微 falls is often seen as setting the chart's overall tone.
Charting must first convert to the lunar calendar: 紫微 placement uses the lunar birth day and the bureau number, not the solar date. That is why the same solar birthday in different years can produce very different charts.
The 五行局 (Water-2, Wood-3, Metal-4, Earth-5, Fire-6) is set by the nayin element of the 命宮 stem-branch. It both fixes where 紫微 lands and, traditionally, sets the step length of the 大限 (major luck cycles).
The 生年四化 (祿 prosperity, 權 power, 科 fame, 忌 obstruction) is the essence of 紫微斗數: keyed to the birth-year stem, four forces attach to four stars, giving the static map a direction of fortune.
Reading is never about one palace alone — tradition uses 三方四正: a palace is read together with its opposite (遷移) and its two trine palaces. This tool renders the underlying star placements as the starting point.
The same chart can be weighted differently by school. 三合派 emphasises star qualities and structures; 飛星派 (欽天四化) emphasises flying transformations — and the 庚 and 壬 stem rows of the 四化 differ especially between them.
命宮 sets the "essence", 身宮 the "acquired expression". Both depend on the birth month and hour; without an accurate hour the whole chart can shift, making the 時辰 the most sensitive input in charting.
紫微斗數 is part of Chinese cultural heritage — still widely discussed and studied in HK, Taiwan, Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia — but its predictive power is not statistically validated, so treat it as cultural reference and self-reflection.
Frequently Asked Questions
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紫微斗數 is one of the two great systems of Chinese metaphysics (the other being bazi). It converts the birth year/month/day/hour to the lunar calendar, seats the 14 main stars (led by 紫微) plus aux/malefic stars into 12 palaces, and adds the birth-year 四化 — forming a 命盤 that maps the facets of a life. This tool casts the chart deterministically for cultural reference.
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It uses the common 三合派 / 中州派 (王亭之 lineage) placement method: 命宮, 五行局, 紫微/天府 location, and the 14-main-star layout follow the broadly-agreed core rules, with a common 四化 table. 飛星派 (欽天四化) may differ on the 四化 table and 火/鈴 placement, so chart details can vary by school. Introductory + cultural reference only.
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Pick 12:00 (午時) for an approximation — but note that 命宮, 身宮 and nearly every star position depend on the hour, so a different 時辰 can shift the whole chart. 紫微斗數 is more hour-sensitive than bazi; if accuracy matters, check hospital or parental records.
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命宮 represents the "innate essence" and is the chart's core — usually read first to set the tone. 身宮 represents the "acquired expression", often the circumstances and values that surface more in mid-to-later life. Both are derived from the birth month and hour. This tool gives 命宮 an accent border and marks 身宮 with a "身" badge.
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The birth-year 四化, keyed to the birth-year stem, attach four forces to four stars: 化祿 = wealth/opportunity, 化權 = authority/capability, 化科 = fame/benefactors, 化忌 = obstruction/fixation. They give the static map a flow of fortune. This tool marks each transformed star with a small 祿/權/科/忌 badge.
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Because 紫微 placement uses the lunar birth day and bureau number, and 命宮 / the stars are reckoned from the lunar birth month and hour. The tool auto-converts your solar date to lunar; leap-month births are placed on the corresponding base month (placement only takes month index 1–12). This is also why the same solar birthday differs greatly across years.
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No. All chart computation is browser-local with no server calls. Even for sensitive metaphysical inputs, RECATOOLS enforces zero-tracking + zero-storage.
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Not as your only guide. The 命盤 is a tool for cultural reflection and self-observation, not for decisions. Major choices (marriage, career, health, relocation) should rest on practical analysis, professional advice, and personal values. If it brings you cultural connection and insight, that's its value; if it makes you fearful or passive, ignore it.
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Two main reasons: (1) different schools — 三合派 vs 飛星派 differ on the 四化 table, 火/鈴 placement, and some aux-star positions; (2) different boundary settings — early-vs-late 子時 day boundaries, leap-month handling, and 立春 year-switch change the lunar month/day and hence the chart. This tool uses the common early-zi + month-index placement settings.
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No. The tool only performs one school's basic star placement and birth-year 四化 marking; it cannot judge 格局, read 三方四正, model 大限/流年 interactions, or weigh stars' 廟旺利陷 brightness. Use it for introductory understanding and cross-checking; for a formal consultation, see a professional practitioner.
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