Knowledge / Eastern
Eastern
Tử Vi Đẩu Số, the Book of Changes, feng shui, the Four Pillars and face reading: where each system comes from, how it is read, and where the schools disagree.
Classical allusion
“Việc nhân nghĩa cốt ở yên dân, quân điếu phạt trước lo trừ bạo.”
Translation: The work of benevolence lies in keeping the people at peace; an army of chastisement must first rid them of tyranny.
Nguyễn Trãi · The Great Proclamation upon the Pacification of the Wu
Eastern articles
Điều Hậu in Bát Tự: How Does Cùng Thông Bảo Giám Read Winter and Summer Births?
Điều Hậu balances hot and cold in a Bát Tự chart. Cùng Thông Bảo Giám's readings of winter and summer charts, with concrete examples.
How to Read Your Child's Chart Responsibly: Bát Tự and Tử Vi for Young Children Should Be Used to Accompany, Not to Label or Predict the Future
A child's Bát Tự or Tử Vi chart should only suggest temperament and how to accompany them, never a fixed verdict or scientific forecast of their future.
If You Do Not Know Your Birth Hour, What Can a Chart Still Tell You? Bát Tự Three Pillars, How Much Tử Vi Depends on the Hour, and How Reliable Birth-Hour Estimation Methods Are
Without the birth hour, Bát Tự still builds three pillars of year, month and day; Tử Vi needs the hour to place Mệnh and Thân. What stays usable.
How the Đinh Mùi 2027 Year Enters a Bát Tự Chart: Can Đinh and Chi Mùi Meeting the Ten Day Masters
Đinh Mùi 2027 in Bát Tự: the year pillar starts at Start of Spring on 4 Feb 2027, Ten Gods of the stem Đinh for ten Day Masters, and Mùi's branch relations.
What to Offer at the Rằm of the Twelfth Lunar Month and How It Differs from an Ordinary Rằm
Rằm tháng Chạp, the year's last full moon, brings simple offerings to Thổ công and ancestors for thanks and peace, in a tất niên spirit.
How did the Nguyễn dynasty's Khâm Thiên Giám make calendars and record heavenly signs?
Nguyễn dynasty Khâm Thiên Giám compiled and issued calendars and logged heavenly signs; Đại Nam thực lục records its ranks.
What are the main contents of 20th-century Vietnamese Tử Vi books, and how do they differ?
How do Hoàng Thường and Hàm Chương's Tử Vi khảo luận, Vân Đằng Thái Thứ Lang's Tử Vi đẩu số tân biên and Nguyễn Phát Lộc's Tử Vi tổng hợp differ?
What does Tưởng Đại Hồng's Địa lý biện chính contain, and why does the Huyền Không school treat it as a foundational text?
Địa lý biện chính của Tưởng Đại Hồng chú giải năm kinh cổ, đính chính bản sai lưu truyền và đặt nền lý khí Tam Nguyên cho phái Huyền Không.
Han dynasty Yijing studies: how do Jing Fang's image-number methods differ from Wang Bi's meaning-principle approach?
Han Yijing studies by Meng Xi, Jiao Yanshou and Jing Fang used image-number; how does this differ from Wang Bi's meaning-principle reading.
What Systems Make Up Eastern Philosophy and How Did They Enter Vietnamese Culture?
Yin yang, the Five Elements, the I Ching, Confucianism, Buddhism and Daoism: their origins, differences and how these systems blended into Vietnamese culture.
What Are the Tam Hợp and Lục Hợp of Parents and Children? The Folk Method for Reading a Family's Ages and Where the Books Differ
Tam Hợp and Lục Hợp are relations among the 12 Địa Chi. It explains the folk method for reading a family's ages, with examples and where books differ.
Auspicious Plants by Destiny: Which Plants Should Each Element Grow According to the Five Elements?
Five Elements feng shui assigns each plant its own element, not always Wood. See how to determine a plant's element and pick one that suits your destiny.
What Are the Nine Methods for Deriving the Three Transmissions in Lục Nhâm?
Lục Nhâm picks the Three Transmissions with nine methods in priority order: tặc khắc, tỷ dụng, thiệp hại, dao khắc, mão tinh, biệt trách and more.
Can You Celebrate the Full Moon of the First Lunar Month on the 13th or 14th, and Where Does the Early Offering Custom Come From?
Is offering the First Full Moon on the 13th or 14th lunar day acceptable, where does the early custom come from, and what should the tray include?
How does Bát Trạch assess desk direction by age?
Bát Trạch derives a personal trigram from birth year and gender, then matches it to eight directions to choose a desk orientation, with measuring tips.
What Are Lục Nhâm Khóa Thể and How Is a Lục Nhâm Hexagram Named?
Lục Nhâm lesson types (khóa thể) name each chart, set by the four lessons, three transmissions and stem-branch ties; a chart is named by combining several.
Lục Nhâm Khóa Thể: What Are Nguyên Thủ, Trùng Thẩm, Tri Nhất and Thiệp Hại?
Per Lục Nhâm đại toàn: Nguyên Thủ has one khóa with upper overcoming lower, Trùng Thẩm one with lower overcoming upper; Tri Nhất and Thiệp Hại have several.
What Do Moles on the Neck, Shoulders, Back, and Belly Mean in Classical Physiognomy Books?
Classical physiognomy reads moles by place and colour: hidden ones are mostly lucky, the navel means a noble son, the nape authority, mid-waist a bad sign.
How is the Tướng Quân star in the Bác Sĩ ring placed according to the year stem?
The Tướng Quân star of the Lộc Tồn ring is placed by birth year stem and gender. This covers the counting method and a table for all ten stems.
Which parents' birth years are compatible with a 2030 Canh Tuất child by can chi and Thoa Xuyến Kim nạp âm?
A 2030 Canh Tuất child has Thoa Xuyến Kim nạp âm. See which parent years can chi and nạp âm call compatible, and why this is folk custom, not science.
Which month is good for having a child? Why does Bát Tự change months by solar terms while Tử Vi uses lunar months?
No birth month is best for everyone: Bát Tự reads the month by solar terms, Tử Vi by lunar months, and folk sayings on good birth months lack a firm basis.
Born Before or After Tết: Which Age Counts? The Difference Between the Tử Vi Lunar Year and the Bát Tự Lập Xuân Marker
Tử Vi dates the birth year from the first day of Tết, Bát Tự from the Lập Xuân solar term. How each fixes age and why some births shift stem-branch year.
How Is the Wealth Position in a House Determined According to Bát Trạch and Huyền Không?
The wealth position at home: Bát Trạch finds Sinh Khí by life trigram, Huyền Không by the ruling star, the popular way by the door's diagonal.
Child's zodiac sign clashing with parents' according to tứ hành xung and lục hại: how should it be understood?
Tứ hành xung and lục hại in the 12 zodiac animals are folk conventions, not science, for judging a child's zodiac against parents.