What Are Annual Palaces and Annual Stars in Vietnamese Astrology, and in What Order Do You Read a Specific Year on a Chart?

How do annual cycles and annual stars differ?

Annual cycles and annual stars are two concepts that are very often confused. An annual cycle refers to a palace position: whichever palace on the chart carries the exact earthly branch of the year being examined is the annual cycle palace. Annual stars, also called moving stars or activated stars, are stars that are not fixed in the original chart but are placed additionally according to the stem and branch of the year being examined; they exist within the scope of one year and are then replaced by the layer of stars of the following year.

According to the common presentation, annual stars are stars with a fluctuating nature, moving by year or by major cycle, temporarily affecting fortunes within a certain period. They are placed into the chart each year based on the age or major cycle of the native, helping to picture the events, opportunities and challenges that may emerge in that year.

In other words, the original chart is the base map, and the annual stars are a layer of ink drawn over that map for each year. With the same original chart, the layer of ink is different each year.

How is the annual cycle palace determined?

The annual cycle palace is the palace carrying the branch of the year being examined. In a Tý year, the Tý palace is the annual cycle; in a Thân year, the Thân palace is the annual cycle, and so on through the twelve earthly branches. For example, in a Giáp Tý year the Tý palace is taken as the position of Thái Tuế, in a Bính Thân year the Thân palace is taken as the position of Thái Tuế, and when judging fortune and misfortune people usually take the three directions and four cardinal points of that year's Thái Tuế position to determine.

The point to remember is that annual stars start from the stem of the year being examined, not the stem of the palace. This is where many beginners get confused, because the original chart also has a stem written on each palace.

Is Lưu Thái Tuế the same as the annual cycle palace?

In position, Lưu Thái Tuế coincides with the annual cycle palace, but in role they are not entirely identical. Lưu Thái Tuế is the presiding star of the annual star layer, playing the role of marking and activating the palace it occupies. Lưu Thái Tuế is determined based on the earthly branch of the year being examined, has an important effect on the palace it occupies, and is usually used as the presiding star when interpreting the annual cycle.

This star has a two-sided nature. According to the common understanding in traditional Tử Vi (Vietnamese astrology), Lưu Thái Tuế governs change by year; it can highlight events, increase the attention society pays to the native, and open opportunities for self-expression, but it also easily brings gossip, debate, pressure or responsibility. When meeting auspicious stars it leans toward opportunity and reputation; when meeting malefic stars it leans toward conflict, disagreement or trouble.

It should be said clearly: this is a description of tendencies, not a verdict. The same Lưu Thái Tuế, placed in a palace with a good foundation or a bad foundation, will give very different results.

What stars does the common annual star set include?

There is no unified number of annual stars among books. According to the Trung Châu Tử Vi Đẩu Số school, the stars in the major cycle, annual cycle, monthly cycle, daily cycle and hourly cycle include Lưu Thái Tuế, Lưu Lộc Tồn, Lưu Thiên Mã, Lưu Kình Dương, Lưu Đà La, Lưu Văn Xương, Lưu Văn Khúc, Lưu Thiên Khôi, Lưu Thiên Việt, Lưu Tứ Hóa, plus thirty-six stars belonging to the three groups Tướng tiền chư tinh, Tuế tiền chư tinh and Bác sĩ tiền chư tinh.

Another, more concise, way of putting it appears on a lý số forum: nine annual stars affecting fortunes include Thái Tuế, Tang Môn, Bạch Hổ, Thiên Hư, Thiên Khốc, Lộc Tồn, Kình Dương, Thiên Mã and Đà La. The same page notes that Việt Viêm Tử places annual stars by year and adds in the whole Thái Tuế, Thiên Không and Quán Sách rings, the Lộc Tồn ring, the Tràng Sinh ring, and Khôi Việt.

This difference is not a matter of right or wrong, but of level of detail. Books that use fewer stars interpret loosely; books that use more stars interpret thoroughly but also easily become tangled.

Lưu Tang Môn and Lưu Bạch Hổ

Lưu Tang Môn follows Lưu Thái Tuế, offset two palaces in the clockwise direction. Lưu Bạch Hổ sits in the palace directly opposite Lưu Tang Môn. The lý số forum describes that when Lưu Tang Môn and Lưu Bạch Hổ meet many destructive and malefic stars, the period tends toward mourning, illness or decline.

This sentence needs to be read correctly. The Tang Hổ pair is a sign to pay attention to, not a sign that mourning is bound to occur. Placed next to good stars and a solid palace foundation, its meaning is greatly reduced.

Lưu Thiên Khốc and Lưu Thiên Hư

These two stars are placed by a separate counting method. Starting from the Ngọ palace corresponding to a Tý year, count counter-clockwise to the palace bearing the name of the year being examined and place Lưu Thiên Khốc there; count clockwise to the palace bearing the name of the year being examined and place Lưu Thiên Hư there. The lý số forum groups them among malefic and destructive stars, governing illness and sorrow, and notes that if Lưu Thiên Khốc meets a fixed Thiên Khốc in the same palace, or Lưu Thiên Hư meets a fixed Thiên Hư, the severity is greater.

Lưu Lộc Tồn, Lưu Kình Dương and Lưu Đà La are placed by the stem of the year being examined

This is the part that can most clearly be made into a lookup table, because all three stars follow the stem of the year being examined. Lộc Tồn in the original chart is already placed by the birth year stem, so Lưu Lộc Tồn is placed by the stem of the year being examined, and Lưu Kình Dương and Lưu Đà La are the two stars flanking Lưu Lộc Tồn on either side, following exactly the rule that Lộc Tồn always lies between Kình Dương and Đà La.

The rule for the position of Lộc Tồn by heavenly stem is basic knowledge of this subject: Giáp at Dần, Ất at Mão, Bính at Tỵ, Đinh at Ngọ, Mậu at Tỵ, Kỷ at Ngọ, Canh at Thân, Tân at Dậu, Nhâm at Hợi, Quý at Tý. From this, Kình Dương and Đà La are derived.

This table was built by the calculation core according to the rules for placing Lộc Tồn, Kình Dương and Đà La, not typed by hand cell by cell.

In terms of meaning, Lưu Lộc Tồn is the wealth star of the year, while Lưu Kình Dương and Lưu Đà La are two stars with an obstructive, clashing nature. The book Tử Vi kinh nghiệm quyển hạ has a passage discussing Lộc, Mã, Kình, Đà, Thái Tuế and Khốc Hư when interpreting periods, and emphasizes that meeting many stars of the same kind within one period noticeably raises the level of attention warranted.

Lưu Thiên Mã

Lưu Thiên Mã is the star governing movement, travel, and changes of residence or work during the year. The position of Thiên Mã follows the branch of the year being examined, and the way it is placed also follows the principle of the three harmonies with the year branch. Thiên Mã is usually read together with Lộc Tồn or Hóa Lộc, forming the Lộc Mã configuration, meaning money tied to movement.

The book Tử Vi chọn lọc số 1 discusses Thiên Lương meeting Thiên Mã, holding that when these two stars combine and there are additional wealth stars such as Lộc Tồn or Hóa Lộc, the person may succeed in fields requiring movement, trade, or work abroad; but if Thiên Mã meets Thiên Lương in a fallen position or travels with Kình Dương, Đà La, Hỏa Tinh, Linh Tinh, Không Kiếp, the fine image can turn into wandering and drifting. This is an example showing that the same star, placed in two different combinations, gives two opposite sides of meaning.

Lưu Tứ Hóa by the stem of the year being examined

Lưu Tứ Hóa is the second transformation layer, placed by the stem of the year being examined, overlaid on the birth-year Tứ Hóa layer already present on the original chart. The Tứ Hóa table by heavenly stem is basic knowledge, and the site's chart tool (/tien-ich/tu-vi) as well as the palace-connecting thread (/tien-ich/tu-vi-mach-noi) place Lưu Tứ Hóa according to exactly the table below.

This table was also built by the calculation core according to the Tứ Hóa table, not typed by hand.

For the Canh stem specifically, the site's chart gives Thiên Đồng hóa Khoa and Thái Âm hóa Kỵ. This is a point where there are variant versions among books, and it will be stated clearly in the section below.

There is one important technical point: a star carrying an annual transformation is sometimes not present on the original chart. If the original chart has no Văn Xương, then in a Tân year there is still Lưu Hóa Kỵ as Văn Xương, and it is still interpreted. That is, the Lưu Tứ Hóa layer does not depend on whether that star appears on the original chart.

How does the placement of Tứ Hóa for the Canh stem differ among books?

The short answer: the Canh stem has at least three versions of Tứ Hóa in circulation, differing in two places, namely which star transforms into Khoa and which star transforms into Kỵ; while Hóa Lộc (Thái Dương) and Hóa Quyền (Vũ Khúc) are the same in every version. Therefore, with the same chart, depending on which version you follow, the palace bearing the Lưu Hóa Kỵ of a Canh year can differ.

Those three versions are:

• The first version, the one the site's chart tool is using: Thái Dương hóa Lộc, Vũ Khúc hóa Quyền, Thiên Đồng hóa Khoa, Thái Âm hóa Kỵ. This is the widely transmitted version. Vương Đình Chi calls this the transmitted version, with the mnemonic "Dương Vũ Đồng Âm".
• The second version, according to Đẩu số tinh thành tập 1 (the Tứ Hóa placement table on p. 28, the mnemonic "Canh Dương Vũ Âm Đồng" on p. 37) and according to Từ Tăng Sinh in the book Mệnh vận phân tích: Thái Dương hóa Lộc, Vũ Khúc hóa Quyền, Thái Âm hóa Khoa, Thiên Đồng hóa Kỵ. That is, these two books swap Khoa and Kỵ compared with the first version.
• The third version, according to Vương Đình Chi, founder of the Trung Châu school, used according to his own transmission: Thái Dương hóa Lộc, Vũ Khúc hóa Quyền, Thiên Phủ hóa Khoa, Thiên Đồng hóa Kỵ. He cites a line in the Toàn Thư that Thiên Đồng at Hợi, for a person born in a Canh year, has Thiên Đồng hóa Kỵ, hence a lower configuration, in order to keep Thiên Đồng hóa Kỵ. Thus Vương Đình Chi's version differs from the second version in that Hóa Khoa is Thiên Phủ rather than Thái Âm.

Please note the naming correctly: the table the site is using is NOT the "Trung Châu way". Vương Đình Chi's Trung Châu school keeps Thiên Đồng hóa Kỵ, while the site's table gives Thiên Đồng hóa Khoa and Thái Âm hóa Kỵ, so the two differ at the Kỵ position. Calling the site's table the Trung Châu way is a mistake.

As for the decision on which table to use, the site coordinator settled on 26/09/2026 that the chart tool's table stays as in the table above. So when you look it up on the site, the figures and positions of Lưu Tứ Hóa for the Canh stem will follow the first version.

The Tân and Nhâm stems also have variant versions among books, but this round there is no source specifying which star changes to which star, so it is left open for now, and will be added later when there is a source.

Example: the nearest Canh year is Canh Tuất 2030

The nearest Canh year from now is Canh Tuất 2030. According to the site's table, that year's Lưu Hóa Kỵ falls on Thái Âm, so whichever palace on the chart has Thái Âm will be the palace bearing the Lưu Kỵ. According to the version of Đẩu số tinh thành tập 1, of Từ Tăng Sinh and of Vương Đình Chi, that year's Lưu Hóa Kỵ falls on Thiên Đồng, so the palace bearing the Lưu Kỵ is the palace with Thiên Đồng. With the same chart, the two versions give two different palaces bearing the Lưu Kỵ. This is why, when reading an annual cycle interpretation, you should ask the author which Tứ Hóa version they are following, rather than mixing the two versions together.

In what order do you read a specific year on a chart?

The common order in Vietnamese books is to go from the large to the small: major cycle first, annual cycle after, then the minor cycle, and only then spread the annual stars over it to fine-tune.

Step one, determine the major cycle currently in progress. The major cycle is a ten-year frame, indicating the broad context of the period.

Step two, find the annual cycle palace, that is, the palace carrying the branch of the year being examined. This is the focal point of the year.

Step three, compare with the minor cycle. The minor cycle is a system calculated by age, following its own rules, and does not always coincide with the annual cycle palace. When the two coincide, the effect resonates more clearly.

Step four, spread the annual stars and Lưu Tứ Hóa over it, reading them in relation to the main stars and auxiliary stars already present in that palace.

An illustrative example with a fictional chart for the year 2027

Suppose a fictional chart, where the native has the Mệnh palace at Sửu, and is in a major cycle at the Tỵ palace. The year 2027 is a Đinh Mùi year.

The annual cycle palace for 2027 is the Mùi palace, because Mùi is the branch of the year. Lưu Thái Tuế sits at Mùi. Lưu Tang Môn goes two palaces behind in the clockwise direction, that is, at Dậu. Lưu Bạch Hổ is in the palace directly opposite Dậu, that is, at Mão.

With the Đinh year stem, Lưu Lộc Tồn is at Ngọ, Lưu Kình Dương at Mùi, Lưu Đà La at Tỵ. Notably, Lưu Kình Dương falls exactly on the annual cycle palace, and Lưu Đà La falls on the major cycle palace currently in progress.

Lưu Tứ Hóa for the Đinh year: Hóa Lộc is Thái Âm, Hóa Quyền is Thiên Đồng, Hóa Khoa is Thiên Cơ, Hóa Kỵ is Cự Môn. If the Mùi palace has Cự Môn, then that year the annual cycle palace has Lưu Thái Tuế, Lưu Kình Dương and Lưu Hóa Kỵ all at once. This is a combination worth noting, but one must read further to see whether Cự Môn is in a prosperous or fallen position, whether there is Tuần Triệt, and whether there is any good star countering it.

This example is only to illustrate how to assemble the star layers, not to say what will happen in 2027 for that fictional chart.

On which points do the schools disagree?

There are at least four notable points of difference among schools and books.

First, the way of reading a year. Popular Vietnamese books usually read the year by combining the minor cycle with the annual stars. The Tứ Hóa school instead sets up a whole annual cycle chart, rearranging the twelve palaces according to the year being examined, then flying the transformations on that chart. The book Khâm Thiên Tứ Hóa chọn lọc số 2 discusses determining the annual cycle palace and using the Tứ Hóa of the annual cycle palace's stem as the main driver of events in the year, while also checking whether the stems of the palaces create Ly Tâm Lộc or Hướng Tâm Lộc. This book also discusses a phenomenon called Lộc entering a bottomless pit, warning about the instability of wealth and opportunity, and advising caution in spending and investment.

Second, the number of annual stars used in each book varies, as noted above.

Third, some stars carrying annual transformations are not present on the original chart. How this is handled also differs among schools.

Fourth, the book Khâm Thiên Tứ Hóa chọn lọc số 1 discusses the Phi Phục mechanism, that is, flying the transformations Lộc, Quyền, Khoa, Kỵ from a higher time layer down to a lower time layer: from the innate down to the major cycle, from the major cycle down to the annual cycle, then the monthly cycle, daily cycle and hourly cycle. This way of interpreting is not common in the mainstream of Vietnamese books, so readers need to know which system they are following to avoid mixing the two approaches.

Why should annual stars not be read as a verdict for the whole year?

Annual stars are an adjusting layer, not a deciding layer. They only add or subtract within the scope of one year, and their value depends on the base palace, on the main stars already present, on the major cycle in progress and on the whole original chart.

The same Lưu Thái Tuế entering the Mệnh palace, according to the common interpretation, means a year with many changes, likely to encounter gossip and arguments, and health and other matters that may be troublesome, but it is also stated clearly that this describes tendencies rather than a fixed conclusion, and that with a good base chart the result is different. The book Tử Vi kinh nghiệm quyển hạ, when interpreting a period with many overlapping stars, also only says it is a period worth noting, and emphasizes the role of a person's virtue and conduct.

In short: annual stars tell you what may rise to prominence in that year, not what is certain to happen in that year.