What is Tử Vi? How to read a Purple Star chart
What kind of astrology is Tử Vi?
Tử Vi Đẩu Số (Purple Star Astrology) builds a chart of twelve palaces from your birth year, month, day and hour, then places stars in it to read your character and the course of your life. It is said to have taken shape in Song-dynasty China, and in Vietnam it is the first method people think of when they talk about reading someone's destiny.
Where the Four Pillars look at the balance of elements in eight characters, Tử Vi looks at which palace the stars gather in, so it is easy to read life area by area: work, money, partner, health and so on.
How a chart is built
- Convert the solar birth date to the lunar calendar and place the birth time in one of the twelve two-hour periods.
- Use the birth month and hour to locate the Life palace, which stands for you.
- From the Life palace, lay out the twelve palaces in order: Siblings, Spouse, Children, Wealth, Health and so on.
- Use the stem and branch of the Life palace to fix the element bureau (Water 2 to Fire 6), then find the Zi Wei star from the lunar day and that number.
- From Zi Wei, place the 14 main stars and the supporting stars, then attach the four transformations (Lu, Quan, Ke, Ji) according to the birth-year stem.
What the 12 palaces mean
| Palace | Area of life |
|---|---|
| Life | yourself |
| Siblings | siblings and colleagues |
| Spouse | spouse and partners |
| Children | children and juniors |
| Wealth | money |
| Health | health |
| Travel | life outside and travel |
| Friends | friends and subordinates |
| Career | work and career |
| Property | home and property |
| Wellbeing | peace of mind |
| Parents | parents and seniors |
The 14 main stars
Main stars are the big stars at the core of the chart. The main stars in the Life palace show your basic nature. If the Life palace has no main star, it is read through the stars of the opposite Travel palace.
| Main star | Keyword | Character |
|---|---|---|
| Zi Wei | leadership | The Emperor star: natural leadership, strong pride, big-picture thinking. |
| Tian Ji | planning | The Strategist: a quick mind and a good planner. |
| Sun | initiative | The Sun: bright, proactive and generous to others. |
| Wu Qu | decisiveness | The Wealth star: decisive and good with money. |
| Tian Tong | ease | The Blessing star: gentle, optimistic and easy-going. |
| Lian Zhen | drive | Principle and passion: competitive and driven. |
| Tian Fu | steadiness | The Treasury: stable, good at managing and keeping. |
| Moon | sensitivity | The Moon: sensitive, refined and calm. |
| Tan Lang | sociability | The Charmer: sociable, with many talents. |
| Ju Men | analysis | The Voice: sharp analysis and speech. |
| Tian Xiang | integrity | The Seal: honest, fair and helpful. |
| Tian Liang | responsibility | The Guardian: responsible and protective. |
| Qi Sha | courage | The General: a brave, independent pioneer. |
| Po Jun | change | The Breaker: tears down the old and starts fresh. |
The four transformations
- Hua Lu: money and chances flow in; things go smoothly in this area.
- Hua Quan: you gain control and a voice here.
- Hua Ke: reputation and help follow here.
- Hua Ji: blockages and worries arise easily here, so it needs care.
The reading order
Start with the main stars of the Life palace for your basic nature, then look at the four key palaces (Life, Wealth, Career, Travel) for the big picture. Next, check which palaces carry the four transformations, and finally look at the 10-year period your current age falls in.
About our calculations
We build charts on the Vietnamese lunar calendar (UTC+7) and take each country's time zone, daylight saving and mean solar time at the capital's longitude into account. Results were checked against a public open-source calculator across thousands of random cases. We do not cover star brightness or dozens of minor stars, so treat the results as a guide to the broad lines.