Ziwei Doushu’s 12 Sectors

In Chinese astrology, long before the existence of Ziwei Doushu, there were already 12 recognized sectors of life. These 12 sectors are also called the 12 palaces (十二宫) which are used to predict whether the conditions of the 12 sectors of human life are good or bad. Long before the Ziwei Doushu, other astrological systems such as Qi Zheng Si Yu (七政四余) also had 12 sectors. And because this astrological system is close to Taoism, Taoist books such as Bei Dou Jing (北斗经) also mention the 12 palaces. In the knowledge of Physiognomy such as Face Reading (面相), these 12 sectors represent a person’s fortune based on the appearance, shape, color, size, etc. of each facial spot. For example, the distance between the eyes represents the Self palace, the nose represents the Wealth palace, the area around the forehead represents the Career palace and so on. From there, it is known whether the conditions faced by that person in their life journey are good or bad.

What about Ziwei Doushu? Based on this knowledge, from the 12 earthly branches (which we are more familiar with the 12 Chinese zodiacs) each sector will be occupied by 12 sectors or 12 palaces which are as follows in clockwise order:

1. The Self sector 命宫 : from this sector we can read one’s character, personality, talents, physical appearance, intelligence, general health condition, and overall luck.
2. The Parents Sector 父母宫 : from this sector we can read the condition of one’s parents, the quality of the relationship with their parents, or it can even be used to see their financial condition in terms of Debt Collections.
3. The Mental Sector 福德宫 : from this sector we can read one’s mental state, subconscious mind, whether this person is happy with their life? Can they enjoy life or are they facing problems? This sector can also be used in seeing the Feng Shui conditions of one’s ancestor’s grave.
4. The Property Sector 田宅宫 : from this sector we can read the condition of one’s home, how much asset quality does one have, what is the condition of one’s neighborhood? What is the Feng Shui condition of their house? Is there any 3rd party relationship in their marriage?
5. The Career Sector 官禄宫 : from this sector we can read the condition of one’s career, their characteristic in handling work, and what type of work they can do. This sector also represents the health condition of their child.
6. The Friends Sector 奴仆宫 : from this sector we can read one’s social condition, their condition with their subordinates, who do they hang out with? This sector also represents the health condition of their partner (husband or wife).
7. The Abroad Sector 迁移宫 : from this sector we can read one’s traveling conditions, whether they are a respected figure when they are outside? Is there a chance of immigration? Including will there be a potential for accidents?
8. The Health Sector 疾厄宫 : from this sector we can read one’s general health condition, will there be any hereditary diseases or chronic diseases in the course of one’s life? It represents the general physical condition of a person. From this sector we can also know the condition of one’s workplace.
9. The Wealth Sector 财帛宫 : from this sector we can read one’s financial condition, current account, is they a rich person? Or their financial condition is bad? From this sector, we can also know the condition of their relationship with their partner.
10. The Children Sector 子女宫 : from this sector we can read the relationship conditions between a person and their children. Is there a problem with their fertility (to have children)? This sector is also used to analyze when someone is doing a joint venture.
11. The Spouse Sector 夫妻宫 : from this sector we can read the quality of the relationship between a person and their spouse. Will there be potential problems in their marriage? Will they marry quickly or later? This sector can also be used in reading export & import business. It can also be used to see if there will be any surgeries in the course of one’s life.
12. The Siblings Sector 兄弟宫 : from this sector we can read the condition of the relationship between the person concerned and their siblings. Are there any problems with them? This sector can also be used to see the quality of one’s savings.

The 12 sectors/palaces above are also divided into 2 kinds:

• The Original Destiny (本命) is STATIC so we can only read whether each sector is lucky or unlucky in a general outline of one’s life from beginning to end.
• The Luck Condition (行运) is based on Decade Cycle (大限) or Yearly Cycle (流年) which is DYNAMIC in nature. Here we can read one’s life in an outline of decade (10 years) whether there are certain problems either good or bad in each sector of life, then detailed to what year the favorable or unfavorable things will happen.

From here we can understand that Ziwei Doushu is a useful knowledge to see all kinds of potential from ourselves whether it is STRENGTHS or WEAKNESS then from there we can also see all OPPORTUNITIES or THREATS, and how we must behave WISELY in maximizing all our potential, improve weaknesses in order to seize good opportunities in the future and prepare all careful planning to face challenges in the future.