At a glance
- Position relation
- Body overlays an existing domain
- Inputs
- Lunar month, hour branch, leap-month rule
Definition and terminology
Life Palace commonly anchors the chart; Body Palace supplements readings of action, experience or later emphasis. Schools define this distinction differently. It is not a standardized psychological scale of nature versus nurture. Identify the positions first, then the particular tradition’s meaning, rather than relying on an oversimplified character slogan.
Structure and rules
A common procedure starts lunar month one at Yin and counts forward to the birth month. Starting Zi hour there, count backward to the birth hour for Life and forward for Body, including the starting point. Specify leap-month handling. Gregorian month numbers and BaZi solar-term months cannot be silently substituted.
Worked reading
For lunar month one and Zi hour, both counts start and end at Yin. Changing only the hour to Chou moves Life one step backward to Chou and Body one step forward to Mao. This checks counting direction and inclusivity, without star placement or personality claims. Real boundary records require calendar conversion first.
Context and limits
The counting procedure is reproducible, but hour records and leap-month conventions affect it. Claims that Body exclusively represents a self after a fixed middle-age threshold are not universal classical definitions. Present such readings with attribution. Neither placement establishes predetermined choices nor turns Body Palace into an anatomical map.
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.