What is Tử Vi Đẩu Số?
Tử Vi Đẩu Số is a traditional Vietnamese-Chinese astrological system that uses birth time, day, month and year to cast a twelve-palace chart and interpret personality and fortune through its stars.
Also called: tu vi astrology · natal chart · Tử Vi (Purple Star Astrology)
What is Tử Vi Đẩu Số?
Tử Vi Đẩu Số (Vietnamese astrology) is a traditional fortune-telling system practised in Vietnam and in countries influenced by Han culture. The hour, day, month and year of birth (according to the lunar calendar) are used to draw up a chart of twelve palaces, and stars are then placed into each palace in order to interpret character, life tendencies and fortunes over time. One thing should be said plainly from the outset: this is traditional knowledge of a reference nature, it has not been verified by science, and it should not be used in place of medical, legal or financial decisions.
How is a chart drawn up?
A chart is a square diagram divided into twelve cells, each cell being a palace such as Mệnh (Destiny), Phụ Mẫu (Parents), Phu Thê (Spouse), Tử Tức (Children), Tài Bạch (Wealth), Thiên Di (Travel), Tật Ách (Health), and so on. From the lunar year of birth (heavenly stem and earthly branch), the month, the day and the hour of birth, the person drawing the chart determines the positions of the Mệnh palace and the Thân palace, then places the fourteen principal stars (Tử Vi, Thiên Cơ, Thái Dương, Vũ Khúc, Thiên Đồng, Liêm Trinh, Thiên Phủ, Thái Âm, Tham Lang, Cự Môn, Thiên Tướng, Thiên Lương, Thất Sát, Phá Quân) together with the supporting stars and the annual stars. Each star has its own Five Elements phase, its yin or yang quality, and a different level of strength, whether miếu (temple), vượng (prosperous) or hãm (fallen), depending on the earthly branch cell in which it sits.
Which palaces matter in a Tử Vi chart?
The Mệnh palace reflects a person's essential nature; the Thân palace expresses action and later-life fortune. The Phu Thê palace speaks of one's partner and marriage; the Thiên Di palace reflects the social environment and the way we interact with the outside world; the Tài Bạch palace relates to money; the Tật Ách palace relates to health. Articles already published on the site stress that interpreting one palace cannot be separated from the remaining palaces and from the stars that illuminate it.
Distinguishing it from Bát Tự and other systems
Tử Vi Đẩu Số draws its chart from twelve palaces and a system of stars, whereas Bát Tự (BaZi, the Four Pillars) relies on the four pillars of heavenly stems and earthly branches for the year, month, day and hour of birth and interprets them through the Five Elements and the Ten Gods. Korean Saju shares its roots with Chinese Bát Tự but has its own character. Physiognomy, by contrast, observes outer appearance such as eyebrows and facial features. For this reason, "reading Tử Vi" and "reading the Four Pillars" are two different methods and should not be confused.
What should be kept in mind when using Tử Vi Đẩu Số?
A single chart can be interpreted in many ways, and the result depends on the skill and the viewpoint of the interpreter. A student should treat it as a reference tool for self-reflection, should not treat it as absolute, and certainly should not use it to put pressure on others or to hold prejudices against them.
How do the schools differ in their understanding?
- The Southern school (Trung Châu): Emphasises the spirit of the stars and the way palaces illuminate one another, paying attention to the three directions and four cardinal positions and to the relationship between the Mệnh palace and the other palaces rather than reading each star in isolation.
- The Northern school (Tam Hợp): Focuses on the system of principal stars and configurations, combining the Trường Sinh cycle, the Thái Tuế cycle and the annual stars to interpret fortune year by year.
- The Tứ Hoá school: Emphasises the four transformations Lộc, Quyền, Khoa and Kỵ of the stars, treating them as the key to interpreting movement and events within the chart.
Related articles
- The Phu Thê palace in Tử Vi Đẩu Số: meaning and how to interpret it
- What is Tử Vi? An overview of how to read it and its foundational concepts
- The Thiên Di palace in Tử Vi Đẩu Số: meaning and how to interpret it
- What is the Đại Khê Thủy nạp âm in the Sixty Jiazi cycle, and the meaning of its Five Elements
- What is the Hải Trung Kim nạp âm in the Sixty Jiazi cycle? The meaning of its Five Elements
- Saju (사주): Korean Four Pillars, its origins, how it is calculated and its use in Korean life
- The Thái Dương star in Tử Vi Đẩu Số: meaning and how to interpret it
- The Tam Hợp of Thân, Tý and Thìn (Water bureau): meaning, nature and application in Tử Vi
- Chính Ấn among the Ten Gods of Bát Tự: meaning and application in fortune interpretation
- Reading character from the eyebrows according to physiognomy
- The Thiên Hình and Thiên Diêu stars in Tử Vi Đẩu Số: origins and detailed meaning
- The Bệnh star in the Trường Sinh cycle: the meaning of each stage on the chart
What are the components that make up a Tử Vi chart?
| Component | Number | Role |
|---|---|---|
| The twelve palaces | 12 | The framework of the board; the first palace is Mệnh, the palace opposite it is Thiên Di |
| Principal stars | 14 | The stars that determine the framework of the chart |
| The Tràng Sinh cycle | 12 | The cycle of growth, beginning at Tràng Sinh |
| The Four Transformations | 4 | Lộc, Quyền, Khoa, Kỵ, assigned additionally to the principal stars according to the heavenly stem |
| The bureau | 5 | Water Two, Wood Three, Metal Four, Earth Five, Fire Six, determining the starting point of the Tràng Sinh cycle |
Drawing up a chart means laying each of these layers in turn onto the board of twelve palaces, in this order: placing the palaces, determining the bureau, placing the principal stars, placing the star cycles, and then assigning the Four Transformations.
The figures in the table match the results of the lookup tools on Nhật Nguyệt.
