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Doushu Astrology Palace Types

🏰 Doushu Astrology Life Chart

In Doushu Astrology, a person’s birth chart is called a Life Chart. It consists of 12 small boxes arranged in a circular layout within a large square. Each small box is called a Terra or Palace. Stars are placed in the 12 Palaces according to a person’s birth details. Traditionally, the names of the 12 Palaces are derived from the  12 Earthly Branches.

The Name and number sequence of the 12 Earthly Branches:

1. Zi (子) → 2. Chou (丑) → 3. Yin (寅) → 4. Mao (卯) → 5. Chen (辰) → 6. Si (巳) → 7. Wu (午) → 8. Wei (未) → 9. Shen (申) → 10. You (酉) → 11. Xu (戌) → 12. Hai (亥)

Alternate Naming Convention

On this website, the letter “e” (for Earthly Branch) is used as a prefix to number each branch sequentially. e1 to e12 correspond to the 12 Earthly Branches.
Example: e1 = Zi, e2 = Chou, … e12 = Hai.
The position of each Earthly Branch is fixed and arranged clockwise on the Life Chart. This arrangement is the same for everyone.
Example:

• e6 is always in the upper left corner of the Life Chart.
• e9 is always in the upper right corner.
• e12 is always in the lower right corner.
• e3 is always in the lower left corner.

Year Animals with Corresponding Earthly Branches

Each Earthly Branch corresponds to one of the 12 Year Animals. For ease of reference, this website uses the names of the Year Animals to indicate specific locations on the chart:

🐁 e1 – Rat → 🐂 e2 – Ox → 🐅 e3 – Tiger → 🐇 e4 – Rabbit → 🐉 e5 – Dragon → 🐍 e6 – Snake → 🐎 e7 – Horse → 🐐 e8 – Goat → 🐒 e9 – Monkey → 🐓 e10 – Rooster → 🐕 e11 – Dog → 🐖 e12 – Pig.

🏰 The 12 Palaces

In Doushu Astrology, a person’s life has 12 aspects. Each Palace on the Life Chart represents a particular aspect of life:

• 🧬1. Life Palace → 👨🏻‍👩🏻‍👦🏻‍👦🏻2. Sibling Palace → 🤵🏻👰🏻3. Spouse Palace → 🧸4. Child Palace → 💰5. Wealth Palace → 👩🏻‍⚕️6. Health Palace → 🚗7. Journey Palace → 🍻8. Friend Palace → 🎓9. Career Palace → 🏡10. Home Palace → ❤️11. Fortune Palace → 👨🏻12. Parent Palace.

The 12 Palaces follow a fixed sequence for everyone. However, the location of the Life Palace (the first Palace) may vary from person to person.

🏰 The 12 Terras

Traditionally, the term Palace refers to both specific locations on the chart and the 12 aspects of life. To avoid confusion, this website uses the term Terra to refer to fixed locations on the chart.

• Example: “The Sun Star is in the Snake Terra” or “The Sun Star is on e6”.

When referring to the 12 aspects of life, the term Palace is used.

• Example: “The Thinker Star is in the Wealth Palace”, or “The Wealth Palace is in the Rabbit Terra.”
  On this site, the terms Palace and Terra may sometimes be used interchangeably.

🏰 Inner Palace (本宮)

The Inner Palace can also be referred to as the Target Palace or the Self Palace. It represents the subject of interest (the palace of interest). For example, if you want to learn about a person’s wealth, locate the Wealth Palace on the chart; it then becomes the Inner Palace. If you want to understand a person’s interests and hobbies, the Fortune Palace becomes the Inner Palace. When examining a person’s life as a whole, the Inner Palace is the Life Palace.

🏰 Outer Palace (對宮)

When interpreting an Inner Palace—or any palace—its corresponding Outer Palace must also be considered. The Inner Palace symbolizes the inner self, while the Outer Palace symbolizes the outer self.

• 🌻 When describing a person: the Inner Palace represents the inner landscape of the person’s mind, while the Outer Palace represents how the person expresses and presents themselves.
• 🌻 When describing an activity or event: the Inner Palace represents the underlying story, while the Outer Palace represents how others perceive the activity or event.

The Outer Palace is located six palaces away from the Inner Palace, counted either clockwise or counterclockwise

Examples:

• 🌻 If the Inner Palace is the Wealth Palace, the Outer Palace is the Fortune Palace.
• 🌻 If the Inner Palace is the Career Palace, the Outer Palace is the Spouse Palace.

🏰 Trio Palaces (三方)

Each palace has two companion palaces. The palace itself, plus its two companion palaces, are called the Trio Palaces.

• 🔺The first Trio Palace is the Target Palace (the palace of interest).
• 🔺The second Trio Palace is four palaces clockwise from the Target Palace.
• 🔺The third Trio Palace is four palaces counterclockwise from the Target Palace.

🏰 Quartet Palaces (四正)

The Quartet Palaces consist of the Trio Palaces plus the Outer Palace of the Target Palace. When interpreting a palace, all members of the Quartet Palaces should be considered together.

Examples:

• ⏹️When interpreting the Life Palace, the Journey, Wealth, and Career Palaces should be considered together.
• ⏹️When interpreting the Wealth Palace, the Fortune, Life, and Career Palaces should be considered together.

🏰 Adjacent and Central Palaces

🌷Adjacent Palaces are the two palaces located on either side of the Target Palace. The Target Palace is therefore sandwiched between the two adjacent palaces.

🌷Central Palace (Enclosed Palace / Sandwiched Palace)
The palace that is enclosed by the two Adjacent Palaces is called the Central Palace (also known as the Enclosed Palace or Sandwiched Palace.

 

 

🌷 Six Relationship Palaces and 🌱 Six Personal Palaces

In Doushu Astrology, the 12 Palaces are divided into two groups:

🏰The Six Relationship Palaces:

The Six Relationship Palaces describe you, the people in your life, and your relationships with them.

• 🧬 The Life Palace represents the self. It represents you.
• 👨🏻 The Parent Palace represents your father.
• 👩🏻 The Sibling Palace represents your mother and your eldest brother.
• 👩🏻‍❤️‍👨🏻 The Spouse Palace represents your partner.
• 🍼 The Child Palace generally represents your children, specifically your eldest son.
• 🍻 The Friend Palace represents your friends and everyone else.

🏰 Six Personal Palaces:

🌷The Six Personal Palaces describe matters of personal concern.

• 🚗 The Journey Palace represents how you express yourself, as well as your personality and experiences when you are away from home.
• 🏃‍♂️‍➡️ The Health Palace represents your body and the health issues you may encounter.
• 💰 The Wealth Palace represents how you make money and the types of occupations that are suitable for you.
• 💖 The Fortune Palace represents how you enjoy life, including your interests, hobbies, and spending habits.
• 🍼 The Home Palace represents your living environment, including whether you own or rent your home.
• 🍻 The Career Palace represents your activities and how well you perform in school or at work.

🏰Six Self Palaces and Six Other Palaces

Some branches of Doushu Astrology divide the 12 Palaces differently.

🏰Six Self Palaces

The Six Inner Palaces describe personal matters related to you (the self):

• 🧬 Life Palace: Represents the self; it represents you.
• 💖 Fortune Palace: Represents how you enjoy life, including your interests, hobbies, and spending habits.
• 🏡 Home Palace: Represents your living environment, including whether you own or rent your home.
• 📈 Career Palace: Represents your activities and how well you perform in school or at work.
• 🏃‍♂️ Health Palace: Represents your body and any health issues you may encounter.
• 💰 Wealth Palace: Represents how you make money and the types of occupations that are suitable for you.

In some texts, the Journey Palace is classified as one of the Self Palaces. The Journey Palace represents a person’s behavior, activities, and encounters when they are away from home. If you live abroad, work abroad, or work far (70 km, 44 mi) from your home, you should consider the Journey Palace as one of your Self Palaces.

Note: The classification is unimportant. What matters is understanding how each palace affects you—how to use it to your advantage and how to avoid potential issues.

🏰Six Other Palaces

The Six Other Palaces describe other people in your Life Chart:

• 👨🏻 Parent Palace: Represents your father.
• 👩🏻 Sibling Palace: Represents your mother and your eldest brother.
• 👩🏻‍❤️‍👨🏻 Spouse Palace: Represents your partner.
• 🍼 Child Palace: Generally represents your children, specifically your eldest son.
• 🍻 Friend Palace: Represents your friends and acquaintances.
• 🚗 Journey Palace: Represents encounters that occur while you are away from home, such as when traveling or working abroad.

🏰 Empty Palace

A palace with no Main Stars is called an empty palace. To interpret an empty palace, use (or “borrow”) the Main Stars from its Outer Palace.
Example: Life Palace in Goat Terra with no Main Stars. The Outer Palace of the Life Palace is the Journey

For empty palace star formations, click here.

🏰 Sky Net and Earth Web Terras

🐉Dragon   🐕Dog
The Dragon Terra and the Dog Terra are also referred to as the Sky Net Terra and the Earth Web Terra. Traditional Doushu astrology texts suggest that if a person’s Life Palace, Major Fortune, or Annual Fortune falls in either of these Terras, it may indicate hardship or difficulties. In practice, however, this is not always the case—many successful individuals have their Life Palace in these locations. Some astrologers even argue that there is no clear evidence that the Sky Net or Earth Web Terras have any significant influence.

🏰 The Six Covertly Jointed Terras

Covertly Jointed Terras are only used in special situations, and their validity is difficult to prove. They are primarily used by Four Pillar Divination practitioners, but rarely by Doushu astrologers.
There are six pairs of covertly jointed Terras.

☯Yin Yang Terras

🌿 Yin represents feminine, receptive energy.
🔥 Yang represents masculine, active energy. More…

Terra Elements

Each Terra has an associated element: 🌳Wood   🔥Fire   🌏Earth   🪓Metal   💧Water More …

🏰 Terra Lunar Month Representations

Each Terra is associated with a lunar month. The first lunar month begins at the Tiger Terra, and the last lunar month ends at the Ox Terra.

🏰Terra Time Representations

On the Doushu Astrology life chart, one palace represents two hours. There are a total of 12 palaces, making 24 hours in total. A day begins at the Mouse Terra (12:00 am) and ends at the Mouse Terra (11:59 pm).

🏰 Terra Compass Directions

On a Doushu Astrology life chart, the compass directions differ from the Western compass. The south is at the top and the north is at the bottom, while the east is on the left and the west is on the right.

🏰Day and Night Terras

On a Doushu Astrology chart, the Day Terras extend from the Tiger Terra to the Goat Terra, while the Night Terras extend from the Monkey Terra to the Ox Terra. Day and Night Terras are important when analyzing the Sun Star, Moon Star, and Dark Star, because the brightness of the Sun Star and Moon Star varies across different Terras. In addition, the Sun Star can help reduce the negative influence of the Dark Star.

🏰 The Four Love Terras

🐁Mouse   🐎Horse   🐇Rabbit   🐓Rooster
Love Terras represent increased human interactions. When a person’s Life Palace, Major Fortune, or Annual Fortune is in a Love Terra, they tend to become more socially active and communicative.

🏰 The Four Transport Terras

🐅Tiger   🐒Monkey   🐍Snake   🐖Pig
Transport Terras symbolize mobility. If an individual’s Life Palace, Major Fortune, or Annual Fortune falls in a Transport Terra, it suggests frequent travel—whether for leisure, business, or other purposes.

🏰 The Four Tomb Terras

🐉Dragon   🐕Dog   🐂Ox   🐐Goat
The element of the Four Tomb Terras is Earth. Tomb Terras represent termination, storage, conservatism, inactivity, stability, and loneliness. If a person’s Life Palace, Major Fortune, or Annual Fortune is in a Tomb Terra, it indicates minimal social interactions or a period of stability in their current circumstances.