Life Palace and Body Palace: Who You Were Born As, and Who You Choose to Become
The Life Palace describes the character you were born with; the Body Palace describes where you end up putting your energy. In youth the Life Palace shows more clearly, and from midlife the Body Palace carries more and more weight. When both sit in the same palace, a person stays consistent throughout; when they differ, life often includes one real shift of focus.
The Body Palace can only fall in six palaces
The Life Palace is found by counting forward by the birth month and back by the hour; the Body Palace counts forward by the month and forward by the hour as well. The two differ by twice the hour count, always an even number of boxes, so the Body Palace can only fall in the six palaces an even distance from the Life Palace: Life, Spouse, Wealth, Travel, Career and Mind. In our sample each takes about a sixth:
| Body Palace in | Share | Where your focus moves |
|---|---|---|
| Life Palace (Body and Life together) | 17.0% | Born in the Zi or Wu hour. Consistent and distinctive, less changed by circumstances, and also more stubborn |
| Spouse Palace | 17.0% | Born in the Si or Hai hour. Love and your partner shape your life strongly; your focus changes noticeably after marriage |
| Wealth Palace | 16.2% | Born in the Chen or Xu hour. You value real income and resources, and put more and more energy into earning and managing money |
| Travel Palace | 16.4% | Born in the Mao or You hour. You do well by going out into the world; you often move and travel, and your stage is outside |
| Career Palace | 16.9% | Born in the Yin or Shen hour. Career-minded; achievement at work is at the core of who you are |
| Mind Palace | 16.4% | Born in the Chou or Wei hour. You value your inner life and interests, and care more and more about whether you are actually happy |
The hours in the table are fixed: where the Body Palace falls depends only on the birth hour, not the date. Our example chart (born 10 July 1990 at noon, the Wu hour) has Body and Life together, with the Life Palace in Chou.
An empty Life Palace: borrowing the opposite palace
Fourteen major stars spread over twelve palaces, with some palaces holding two, so some palaces must be empty. In our sample about 16.4% of people have no major star in the Life Palace. Tradition reads the Life Palace through the major stars of the opposite (Travel) palace, but borrowed stars carry less force, so people with an empty Life Palace:
- tend to be flexible and adjust to their surroundings and the people around them;
- show the minor stars, Sha stars and transformations in the Life Palace more strongly; with Wen Chang and Wen Qu in an empty Life Palace, for instance, the literary streak stands out;
- need to pay attention to the Travel Palace, because part of their character is “borrowed” from outside.
An empty palace does not mean no opinions, and it certainly does not mean a poor destiny. In our example chart the Wealth and Travel palaces are both empty, so to read his money you borrow Tian Ji and Ju Men from the opposite Mind Palace and pay special attention to Zuo Fu, Qing Yang and Ling Xing inside the Wealth Palace.
The Life ruler and the Body ruler
The Life ruler (ming zhu) is set by the branch of the Life Palace and the Body ruler (shen zhu) by the branch of the birth year. Each is the name of a star, used by the classics to add a note on temperament: the Life ruler is closer to your inborn nature, the Body ruler to how you express yourself later. In the example chart the Life Palace is in Chou, so the Life ruler is Ju Men; the birth-year branch is Wu, so the Body ruler is Huo Xing. In practice the two rulers weigh less than the major stars of the Life Palace; our chart lists them in the centre as a reference.
| Life Palace branch | Life ruler |
|---|---|
| Zi | Tan Lang |
| Chou, Hai | Ju Men |
| Yin, Xu | Lu Cun |
| Mao, You | Wen Qu |
| Chen, Shen | Lian Zhen |
| Si, Wei | Wu Qu |
| Wu | Po Jun |
Myth: a Body Palace in the Spouse Palace means marrying early or depending on your partner.
It means love and your partner have a big influence on your life. That can be deep devotion, or being changed a great deal by your relationships; it says nothing about when you marry.
Myth: people with an empty Life Palace have no personality.
They adjust themselves more readily, and their character is coloured more by the minor stars and the opposite palace; that is not the same as having none.
Myth: Body and Life in the same palace is better.
It means you stay consistent. The upside is a clear direction, the downside is stubbornness and difficulty changing course; neither is better or worse.
Keep reading
A straight word: a chart is a map, not a verdict
Zi Wei Dou Shu turns the moment of birth into twelve palaces and more than a hundred stars, which gives you a vocabulary for talking about your temperament, your relationships and the stages of your life. It can show tendencies and help you sort your thoughts, but it cannot make decisions for you, and it should never be used to frighten yourself. Everything on this site is for reference and entertainment; for health, investment or legal questions, please see a qualified professional.
Cast your own Zi Wei chart
Enter your date and time of birth and get the twelve palaces, fourteen major stars, birth-year transformations, decades and years in one go. Add a birthplace to convert to true solar time. Everything is calculated in your browser.
Life Palace and Body Palace: FAQ
Which palaces can the Body Palace fall in?
Only Life, Spouse, Wealth, Travel, Career and Mind, and it depends only on the birth hour: Zi and Wu hours put it with the Life Palace, Chou and Wei in the Mind Palace, Yin and Shen in the Career Palace, Mao and You in the Travel Palace, Chen and Xu in the Wealth Palace, Si and Hai in the Spouse Palace.
Which matters more, the Life Palace or the Body Palace?
The Life Palace is the main thread of the chart and the Body Palace your later focus. Generally the Life Palace fits better when you are young and the Body Palace grows in weight from midlife; read them together.
What does an empty Life Palace mean?
There is no major star in the Life Palace, which is true for about 16.4% of people. You borrow the major stars of the opposite (Travel) palace and pay special attention to the minor stars, Sha stars and transformations in the Life Palace.
How are the Life ruler and Body ruler used?
The Life ruler comes from the branch of the Life Palace and the Body ruler from the birth-year branch. The classics use them as supplementary notes on temperament; they weigh less than the major stars of the Life Palace.