Zi Wei Dou Shu · 紫微斗數
Zi Wei Dou Shu (紫微斗數), also known as Purple Star Astrology, is one of the two foundational systems of classical Chinese metaphysics — the other being BaZi. Where BaZi reads the Four Pillars of birth time, ZWDS organises every chart around 14 Main Stars distributed across 12 Palaces, with the Four Transformations (四化) as the system’s predictive mechanism. The system was consolidated by Chen Xiyi (陳希夷, c. 871–989) and remains one of the most analytically rigorous traditions of Chinese astrology in continuous practice today.
This page is the entry point to Master Sean Chan’s complete ZWDS reference library — free, practitioner-grade, with classical sourcing throughout.
Foundation references
The 14 Main Stars (十四主星)
Zi Wei, Tian Fu, Tai Yang, Tai Yin, and 10 more — full reference for each
The 12 Palaces (十二宮)
Self, Wealth, Career, Spouse, and 8 more — what each palace governs
Zi Wei (紫微) — The Emperor Star
The polar star that anchors the entire system
The Self Palace (命宮)
The chart’s narrative spine — start here when reading a new chart