# Zi Wei Dou Shu twelve palaces: how to read them

![A round wooden tray split into twelve empty compartments, with a single bead in one](https://multifate.com/images/guides/ziwei/ziwei-twelve-palaces/cover-v1-1536x864.webp)

> The Zi Wei Dou Shu twelve palaces are the labeled areas of a chart. Learn the twelve names, find your Life palace, and tell palaces from stars.

Canonical page: https://multifate.com/guides/ziwei/ziwei-twelve-palaces
Language: English. Content reviewed: 2026-09-23.
Also available in: [中文](https://multifate.com/zh/guides/ziwei/ziwei-twelve-palaces/index.md), [日本語](https://multifate.com/ja/guides/ziwei/ziwei-twelve-palaces/index.md), [한국어](https://multifate.com/ko/guides/ziwei/ziwei-twelve-palaces/index.md)

The Zi Wei Dou Shu twelve palaces are twelve labeled areas of a chart, such as Life, Wealth, Career and Parents, and reading a chart starts with their names, then the stars and markers inside them. A palace is a category in a traditional framework, not a prediction.

**Key points**

- The twelve palaces are named areas of a chart; a palace is a category, not a prediction.
- Find the Life palace by its label, not by a fixed corner.
- The Body palace sits on one of the twelve; it is not a thirteenth.
- Palace, star and transformation marker are three different fields.
- A palace with no major star is not an empty area of life.

## What are the Zi Wei Dou Shu twelve palaces?

Zi Wei Dou Shu, sometimes called purple star astrology, lays out a birth chart in twelve palaces. Each one names an area of the framework, from siblings to career to the home. The English names are a vocabulary aid; translations vary between books and apps. The twelve cells are marked with the twelve earthly branches, the traditional twelve-sign cycle (Zi, Chou, Yin and so on).

![The Zi Wei Dou Shu twelve palaces on a square board, numbered 1 to 12 from the Life palace](https://multifate.com/images/guides/ziwei/figures/ziwei-twelve-palaces-en-v1-1200x608.webp)

Twelve fixed cells, each marked with an earthly branch, surround a key in the center\. The numbers give the order of the names from the Life palace \(1\), here on 丑 \(Chǒu\)\. In another chart the names start from a different cell\.

*The twelve palaces in order from the Life palace*

| Order | Palace | Chinese | Area it names |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | Life | 命宫 | Overall self and life orientation |
| 2 | Siblings | 兄弟 | Siblings and peer relationships |
| 3 | Spouse (also Relationship) | 夫妻 | Partnership and intimate relationships |
| 4 | Children | 子女 | Children and younger generations |
| 5 | Wealth | 财帛 | Money and the use of resources |
| 6 | Health (also Illness) | 疾厄 | The body and health |
| 7 | Travel (also Migration) | 迁移 | Outside environments and travel |
| 8 | Friends (also Associates) | 交友, also written 仆役 | Friends and social circles |
| 9 | Career | 官禄 | Work and social roles |
| 10 | Property (also Home) | 田宅 | Home and living space |
| 11 | Fortune (also Well-being) | 福德 | Inner satisfaction and mental life |
| 12 | Parents | 父母 | Parents and older generations |

> **Where the reading stops** Read the table as vocabulary, not a list of promised outcomes. A Health palace is not a medical test, and a Wealth palace is not an investment signal.

## How to find your Life palace

Your Life palace need not sit in the same cell as someone else's. The cells belong to the twelve earthly branches and never move; the chart lays the palace names onto them from your birth data. Read the name on a cell before the stars inside it.

The Life palace is placed from the lunar birth month and the birth hour: count the first month from the Yin cell forwards to the birth month, then from that cell count backwards, starting at the Zi hour, to the birth hour; the cell you land on is the Life palace. The free calculator does this for you and labels it.

- The Life palace label (命宫), the usual first place to read.
- The Body palace marker (身宫). It marks one of the twelve palaces and can share the Life palace.
- The legend for any colored marker; without it, a marker tells you nothing yet.
- Whether you are looking at the birth arrangement or a period layer, such as the ten-year or yearly one. Keep them apart.

From the Life palace, the other eleven names always run in the order of the table above. In the square layout they go counterclockwise, which is how the numbers in the figure wind around the chart.

## Palaces, stars and transformations: what is the difference?

Three kinds of label can share one cell, and they are not interchangeable.

- **Palace** (宫): A named area of the framework, such as Career or Parents. It says what a cell is about, not what will happen.
- **Major star** (主星): One of the fourteen main stars, led by Zi Wei (紫微), placed in the palaces by fixed rules.
- **Four transformations** (四化; Si Hua): Markers on selected stars: Hua Lu (often glossed 'emolument'), Hua Quan ('authority'), Hua Ke ('renown') and Hua Ji ('obstruction'). The tool uses those of the birth year.

A first note should describe the chart before it explains anything:

> **A first description**
>
> This palace is labeled Career.
> These stars are shown here: …
> This marker belongs to: …
> My question: …

“Therefore this career will succeed” would be an extra claim, not something the labels establish.

## How to read a Zi Wei Dou Shu chart for the first time

1. **Find the Life palace**: Read what its cell shows: the stars and any markers.
2. **Choose the palace for your question**: For a question about work, that is the Career palace.
3. **Look at its group**: Read it with the palace opposite and the two in trine, four cells away on either side. The group is called san fang si zheng (三方四正). The figure and table below use the Life palace as the example; for a work question, count the same distances from the Career palace.
4. **Note only named connections**: Write down the links the explanation actually names instead of scanning the chart for the most alarming word.
5. **Keep your own facts apart**: Working hours or a changed manager are information you supplied, not something a star discovered.

![The Life palace among the Zi Wei Dou Shu twelve palaces, linked to Travel opposite and to Wealth and Career in trine](https://multifate.com/images/guides/ziwei/figures/ziwei-surrounding-palaces-en-v1-1200x608.webp)

Follow the lines out of the Life palace: Travel sits straight across, six cells away, and Wealth and Career sit four cells away on either side\. Together the four make up its san fang si zheng\. The note on a palace with no major star is explained in the empty palace section below\.

*The Life palace's group in the example chart*

| Palace | Place in the group | Cell in the figure |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Life | The palace itself | 丑 |
| Travel | Opposite | 未 |
| Wealth | Trine | 酉 |
| Career | Trine | 巳 |

So if your question is about a hard work routine, read it against the Career palace and any other palace the explanation brings in. For the system as a whole, start from the [Zi Wei Dou Shu guide](https://multifate.com/guides/ziwei).

## What does an empty palace mean?

Some palaces show no major star. Such a palace keeps its position and its relations, including its opposite and trine palaces. A sparse cell does not mean a person has no relationships, no career or no support.

> **Tip** Some schools read an empty palace through the major stars of the opposite palace, and they explain the rule differently. Multifate's readings take an empty palace as it stands and do not bring in stars from another palace.

When you read another interpretation, ask whether it borrowed stars and which relations it used for that palace, rather than whether one star is simply good or bad. The same birth data reads very differently in another system; [how to read a BaZi chart](https://multifate.com/guides/bazi/how-to-read-your-bazi-chart) shows the BaZi side.

## Which birth details does a Zi Wei chart need?

The entry asks for three things: a Gregorian date, one two-hour birth period and the gender used by the calculation. Check these points before you build the chart:

- A Gregorian date. Convert a lunar record first instead of copying its numbers, and keep any leap month it marks.
- Near midnight, the calendar date the source meant.
- One two-hour birth period, and only one your record supports. “Late at night” may straddle two periods.
- The gender used by the traditional calculation: a calculation input, not a judgment about a person.
- No time zone or birthplace field, and no true solar time correction: the period you choose is used as it is.
- Any estimate, kept apart from the original record.

> **If the birth time is unknown** The Zi Wei entry has no unknown-time mode like the BaZi calculator's three pillars, and an unknown hour can move the palaces. A chart from a guessed period stays provisional. [BaZi without a birth time](https://multifate.com/guides/bazi/birth-time-unknown)

If two charts place a palace or star differently, compare the calendar, date, time period and stated method before the descriptions. An attractive interpretation cannot correct an uncertain birth input, and the input should never change just to get a result you prefer.

With your details ready, the [free Zi Wei Dou Shu calculator](https://multifate.com/tools/ziwei) shows the twelve palaces, the major stars and the four transformations, and states how the chart was built.

## Zi Wei Dou Shu twelve palaces: common questions

### What is the Life palace in Zi Wei Dou Shu?

The palace that stands for the self and your overall life orientation, and the usual first place to read. The lunar birth month and the two-hour birth period decide its cell; the other eleven names follow in a fixed order.

### Is the Body palace a thirteenth palace?

No. The Body palace (身宫) marks one of the twelve as an extra emphasis. When it falls on the Life palace, the same stars count once, not as two confirmations.

### Why is my Life palace in a different place from someone else's?

The twelve cells are fixed; the names are not. The chart assigns them from each person's birth data, so the Life palace can sit in any cell.

### Does an empty palace mean something is missing in my life?

No. A palace without a major star keeps its position and its relations. Some schools borrow the opposite palace's major stars to read it; Multifate's readings do not.

### Can I make a Zi Wei Dou Shu chart without a birth time?

Not in this tool. The entry asks for one two-hour period, and an unknown hour can move every palace, so a guessed period gives a provisional chart only.

## Sources and scope

- [Multifate Zi Wei Dou Shu tool](https://multifate.com/tools/ziwei): The current entry (Gregorian date, two-hour period, gender) and its output: twelve palaces, major stars and the four transformations.
- [iztro: palace system](https://docs.iztro.com/learn/palace): Reference for the palace names, the Body palace and the opposite and trine group; interpretive claims remain traditional.
- [Hong Kong Observatory: Gregorian-lunar calendar conversion](https://www.hko.gov.hk/en/gts/time/conversion.htm): Conversion tables for checking whether a recorded birth date is Gregorian or lunar.

## Continue with Zi Wei Dou Shu

- [Try the Zi Wei Dou Shu tool](https://multifate.com/tools/ziwei)
- [All Zi Wei Dou Shu articles](https://multifate.com/guides/ziwei)
- [Fortune telling guides: BaZi, tarot and more](https://multifate.com/guides/index.md)

These guides describe traditional symbolic frameworks and the current Multifate tools, not verified predictions. The chart tools are free; optional AI questions have separate limits. Check the pricing page for current terms. Interpretations do not replace medical, legal, financial or safety advice.