Flying Transformations and Self-Transformations in Khâm Thiên Tử Vi: Reading the Direction of Hóa Lộc and Hóa Kỵ Correctly

What is phi hóa (flying transformation) in Tử Vi and how is the flight path created?

Phi hóa is the practice of taking the heavenly stem of one palace and using it to transform a star into Lộc, Quyền, Khoa or Kỵ, and whichever palace the transformed star sits in, the originating palace is said to fly into that palace. Each of the twelve palaces has its own heavenly stem, placed according to Ngũ Hổ Độn (the Five Tiger Escape), and each stem transforms four fixed stars according to the Tứ Hóa table. This way of understanding follows the book Tử Vi Đẩu Số: Mệnh vận phân tích by Từ Tăng Sinh (pp. 220 and 223).

According to Từ Tăng Sinh, each time a palace flies a transformation into another palace, a relationship is created between the two palaces, in which the palace that initiates the flight is the active side, while the receiving palace is the passive side that takes it in. Twelve palaces multiplied by four transformations gives forty-eight flight paths. Besides the layer of phi hóa by palace stem, there is also the layer of Tứ Hóa by birth year stem, called sinh niên Tứ Hóa (birth-year Four Transformations), which serves as a separate foundation for the whole chart.

The stems of the twelve palaces are placed according to Ngũ Hổ Độn; Tử Vi Đẩu Số Toàn Thư records it as the rule for starting from the Dần palace (in a Giáp or Kỷ year, starting with Bính Dần...), counting forward from the Dần palace, while Tý and Sửu repeat the stems of Dần and Mão:

How does the Tứ Hóa table by stem currently used on the site differ between schools?

The Tứ Hóa table that the site's chart tool and palace-connection thread currently use is as follows:

The Tứ Hóa table is not a single version. The clearest point of difference is the stem Canh: the site's table gives Thiên Đồng hóa Khoa and Thái Âm hóa Kỵ; the verse for placing Tứ Hóa in Tử Vi Đẩu Số Toàn Thư, the book Đẩu số tinh thành volume 1 (p. 28, pp. 36 to 37) and Từ Tăng Sinh's examples record Thái Âm hóa Khoa and Thiên Đồng hóa Kỵ; Vương Đình Chi states that the Trung Châu school also gives Thiên Đồng hóa Kỵ, while the Mân school does not. For the stem Canh, Lộc is Thái Dương and Quyền is Vũ Khúc in all versions alike; only Khoa and Kỵ swap places. The stem Nhâm also has a variant: Toàn Thư records Thiên Phủ hóa Khoa in place of Tả Phụ.

Because the Tứ Hóa table has variants, the same chart can have different flight paths for Khoa and Kỵ depending on which table is used. The interpreter needs to state clearly which table they are following.

How do hóa nhập, hóa xuất and self-transformation differ?

According to the book Tử Vi Đẩu Số: Mệnh vận phân tích by Từ Tăng Sinh (pp. 305 to 306), hóa nhập is the state of arriving, of gaining; hóa xuất is the state of losing without being reconciled to it. Self-transformation is the case where the stem of a palace itself causes a star sitting right in that palace to transform. The book takes the example of the Phu Thê (Spouse) palace in Sửu carrying the stem Tân; the stem Tân makes Văn Xương hóa Kỵ, and Văn Xương happens to sit right at Phu Thê, so it is called Văn Xương self-transforming into Kỵ, and the book reads it as a spouse indifferent to our care.

According to p. 229 of the same book, self-transformation and hóa xuất both belong to the state of dispersal: energy goes out and cannot be gathered back. Also according to pp. 223 and 229, chuyển phi (transferred flight) is when palace A receives a transformation and then the stem of palace A flies onward to palace B; the book calls this the circulation of energy.

Some students of phi hóa further divide self-transformation into two directions: the stem of the home palace transforming a star of the home palace is called Ly Tâm (centrifugal), while the stem of the opposite palace causing a star in the home palace to transform is called Hướng Tâm (centripetal). The site has not yet been able to cross-check this division against the original books. Từ Tăng Sinh's definition of self-transformation counts only the home palace's stem transforming a star of the home palace; the case where the home palace transforms Kỵ into the opposite palace is called by the book hóa xuất Kỵ (p. 235).

How do you read one Kỵ path on the fictional Canh Ngọ chart?

The fictional chart is built with the site's calculation core: male, born 15/8/1990 in the solar calendar, at the Ngọ hour, in the year Canh Ngọ. The palaces and palace stems are as follows:

The birth-year Tứ Hóa of this chart: Thái Dương Hóa Lộc into Tử Tức; Vũ Khúc Hóa Quyền into Tài Bạch; Thiên Đồng Hóa Khoa into Tật Ách; Thái Âm Hóa Kỵ into Điền Trạch.

A sample Kỵ path: the Thiên Di palace carries the stem Quý; the stem Quý makes Tham Lang hóa Kỵ, and Tham Lang is currently sitting at Quan Lộc, so Thiên Di flies Tham Lang hóa Kỵ into Quan Lộc. Read according to the meaning of the four transformations and the meaning of the twelve palaces: Thiên Di is the palace of going outward and social contact, while Quan Lộc is the palace of career and reputation. Kỵ entering Quan Lộc from Thiên Di suggests that matters outside, social relationships or travel may create bonds and attachment for one's work; this describes the direction in which the energy tends to move, not a fixed conclusion about the native's career.

A sample self-transformation: the Huynh Đệ palace carries the stem Mậu; the stem Mậu makes Thiên Cơ hóa Kỵ, and Thiên Cơ sits right at Huynh Đệ, so Huynh Đệ self-transforms into Kỵ at Thiên Cơ. Read according to the meaning of the four transformations and the meaning of the twelve palaces: Huynh Đệ is the palace of siblings and peers; self-transforming into Kỵ here suggests that energy is emitted and then spent right at the palace, so relationships with siblings or peers are likely to have places that are not yet smooth, and other flight paths need to be examined before a full reading can be made.

To see all forty-eight flight paths of your own chart, readers can use the palace-connection tool at /tien-ich/tu-vi-mach-noi.

Why does the flight path change with the Tứ Hóa table for the same Canh-stem palace?

The Điền Trạch palace of the fictional chart above carries the stem Canh, so this is where the Tứ Hóa variant most clearly changes the flight path. According to the table the site's tool currently uses, the stem Canh gives Thiên Đồng hóa Khoa and Thái Âm hóa Kỵ, so Điền Trạch flies Thiên Đồng hóa Khoa into Tật Ách, and at the same time Thái Âm sits right at Điền Trạch, so Điền Trạch self-transforms into Kỵ.

According to the table that records Thái Âm hóa Khoa and Thiên Đồng hóa Kỵ (the book Đẩu số tinh thành volume 1, p. 28 and p. 37; Từ Tăng Sinh), these two paths swap stars with each other: Điền Trạch self-transforms into Khoa and flies Kỵ into Tật Ách.

The tool /tien-ich/tu-vi-mach-noi uses the first approach, that is Thiên Đồng hóa Khoa and Thái Âm hóa Kỵ for the stem Canh.

Which palaces self-transform on the fictional chart?

The two self-transforming palaces on the fictional chart are Huynh Đệ self-transforming into Kỵ at Thiên Cơ and Điền Trạch self-transforming into Kỵ at Thái Âm. Both are cases where the home palace's stem transforms a star sitting right in the home palace, exactly according to Từ Tăng Sinh's definition of self-transformation.

The twelve Kỵ paths of the fictional chart are as follows:

What should be kept in mind when interpreting phi hóa?

Phi hóa and self-transformation describe the direction in which energy tends to move between palaces, not a fixed verdict on a person's finances, health or marriage. A single flight path is not enough to draw a conclusion; it needs to be placed in the overall context of the chart together with the interaction between Bản Mệnh (the natal chart), Đại Hạn (the ten-year period) and Lưu Niên (the yearly period).

When interpreting, one needs to state clearly which Tứ Hóa table is being followed, because the Tứ Hóa table has variants between schools, most clearly at the stem Canh, and the stem Nhâm also has a variant. State clearly which definition of self-transformation is being used, that is, counting only the home palace's stem transforming a star of the home palace according to Từ Tăng Sinh, or also counting the stem of the opposite palace according to the division of some students of phi hóa, in order to avoid mixing schools together and then concluding as if there were only one way of reading.

Phi hóa by palace stem and self-transformation are methods of the Tứ Hóa schools that took shape in Taiwan in the twentieth century, among them the lineage called Khâm Thiên; Tử Vi Đẩu Số Toàn Thư (the four-volume text on Wikisource) has the verse for placing Tứ Hóa by the birth-year stem but not the terms phi hóa (飛化) or tự hóa (自化). The account above follows Từ Tăng Sinh's book, that is the approach to interpreting Tứ Hóa in general, not any one school in particular; Từ Tăng Sinh records that Tử Vi schools such as the Phi Tinh school, the Tứ Hóa school and the Tam Hợp school have interpretive rules that are not entirely the same.