Basics of the chart
Settle what Zi Wei Dou Shu is and which inputs a chart needs. If the hour is missing, stop here. Do not continue into a personal palace.
Editorial review: 2026-09-22 · Reviewed by fateshow · Editorial method
Explore concepts
What it is
What is Zi Wei Dou Shu?
Zi Wei Dou Shu is a Chinese natal-chart method that turns a birth moment into twelve palaces and a field of stars. fateshow uses it to calculate a chart you can inspect, not to issue a verdict about a whole life.
View definition →
Chart inputs
What a Zi Wei chart needs
The wiki does not contain a hidden calculator. If you want palace positions, enter complete birth data in the chart tool with the settings fateshow publishes beside the result.
View definition →
What this section is for
This section separates “what the system is” from “what the calculation consumes”. Mixed together, people ask Zi Wei a sun-sign question, or keep reading stars when the hour is incomplete.
The two essays below already define the system and the inputs. This page only says how to use them.
What to read first
Read “What is Zi Wei Dou Shu” first and settle that it is not a horoscope column. Then read the chart-input page and settle year, month, day, hour, gender, and the rule that 23:00 is late Zi.
Enter the twelve palaces only after both. A definition without the inputs leaves the palace names without an anchor.
When you have to leave for a chart
If the hour is missing from the inputs that page lists, the chart tool stops, and the wiki does not fill the gap. Gender affects some star placement and cannot be omitted.
A solar date or a declared lunar date can be used, but it has to be the calendar the record actually states. Do not switch calendars to reach a preferred palace.
What this section does not say
The basics do not replace a chart.
Do not ask Zi Wei a sun-sign question.
If the hour is unknown, do not pick the branch that looks flattering.
Common mistakes
- Reading “what it is” as a personality sketch.
- Dropping gender, or mixing solar and lunar dates.
- Matching yourself to the fourteen stars while the inputs are still incomplete.
Use it in fateshow
Zi Wei chart
Cast a Zi Wei chart and read the palaces, stars, and transformations it prints.
Open tool →Frequently asked questions
Which pages can I read with a birthday and no hour?
The definition, the palace names, and the star tendencies. You cannot call any palace yours.
Does the minute matter?
Zi Wei uses a two-hour branch. The minute matters only when true solar time pushes you into the next branch, and that is settled by the settings on the chart.
How do these two essays relate to the overview?
The overview is the map of the whole tree. This section is the first stop on that map: definition and inputs.
Sources and editorial basis
- 1. iztro Zi Wei Dou Shu engine
Supports only what the current fateshow configuration actually calculates: palace placement, major-star arrangements, and the recorded year-boundary, leap-month, and transformation settings. It does not prove that any traditional school is uniquely correct.
- 2. Ziwei Doushu Quanshu (received editions)
Used to cross-check palace names, star lists, and traditional wording. A received text can record a tradition; it cannot prove scientific validity or guarantee an event.
- 3. fateshow chart rule snapshot
Each generated report stores the engine settings that produced it. Compare those settings before treating two charts as the same calculation.