At a glance
- Typical length
- Ten years per period
- Layers
- Natal, decadal, annual
Definition and terminology
A decadal period commonly uses one palace for roughly ten years, with starting ages linked to bureau conventions. Annual overlays may introduce annual Life Palace, year-stem transformations and other signs. Preserve natal, decadal and annual layers separately. A star can acquire different domain references without its provenance disappearing.
Structure and rules
Common direction rules combine birth-year polarity and traditional sex categories, with starting ages set by bureau tables. Annual Life Palace and minor-period methods have additional rules. State nominal versus completed age, year boundary and transitions. A bare ten-year fortune label conceals the procedure and can misleadingly sound like a guarantee.
Worked reading
Suppose a chosen teaching rule sets the first nominal-age period at 2–11 in Life Palace, then advances to the next palace for 12–21. Add one annual layer with its stem and position while retaining the natal base. Two is an assumed starting value, not a universal rule or schedule of guaranteed events.
Context and limits
The received manual discusses ten-year periods and annual signs, while modern overlay techniques and boundaries differ. Ambiguous birth records and age conventions complicate comparison. Explain derivation and distinguish traditional activation language from empirical causation. A period annotation cannot establish an unchangeable life outcome or replace factual information for everyday planning.
References & further reading
Historical sources document ideas and rules of their time, not empirical proof of predictive accuracy. Source notes identify the nature and scope of each reference.
- 《紫微斗数全书》全览Primary / tradition source
Public-domain received text for palaces, stars and cycles; modern school names and some transformation tables require separate checking.