Nine Star Ki
Jiu Xing Qi Xue 九星氣學Nine stars take turns at the center of the magic square: one for each year, one for each month, one for each day. The three a person is born under are their chart: calculate yours.
Stars of the Day
The Magic Square
Luo Shu 洛書The nine stars move through a magic square of nine cells, the Lo Shu. In the master magic square, 5 is at the center, and every row, column, and diagonal adds up to 15. Its numbers trace a path through the cells: from the center to the bottom right, the right, the bottom left, the top, the bottom, the top right, the left, and the top left. When another star takes the center, every star steps along the path by the same count, so there are nine squares, one for each star at the center. The square is drawn as Chinese maps are, with south at the top.
The Nine Stars
Each star has a number, a color, and an element, and all but the number 5 have a trigram and a compass direction as well.
| Star | Element | Trigram | Direction |
|---|
How the Stars Are Counted
The year The year star counts down one a year: 2026 is 1, 2025 was 2, and 2027 will be 9. The year turns at Start of Spring, around 4 February, not at 1 January and not at the Lunar New Year.
The month The month star counts down with the twelve solar months, each of which begins at a solar term: Start of Spring, Awakening of Insects, Pure Brightness, Start of Summer, Grain in Ear, Minor Heat, Start of Autumn, White Dew, Cold Dew, Start of Winter, Major Snow, and Minor Cold. In a year whose star is 1, 4, or 7, the February month is 8. In a 3, 6, or 9 year it is 5, and in a 2, 5, or 8 year it is 2.
The day The day star rises a star a day through half the year and falls through the other half, anchored to the cycle of sixty. The rise begins with 1 on the Wood Rat day nearest the winter solstice, and the fall begins with 9 on the Wood Rat day nearest the summer solstice. When the two Wood Rat days are not 180 days apart, a star is doubled or skipped at the turn.
A person A man’s year number and month number are the stars of the year and the month he was born in. A woman’s are their mirror: 15 less the man’s number, and 9 less again when that is more than 9. The third number comes from the square. With the month number at the center and the other eight cells shifted with it, find the cell where the year number sits, and read what the master magic square holds there.
A boundary day The terms fall at an hour of their day, in Beijing time. A birth on that day before the hour belongs to the month before, and at Start of Spring to the year before. The calculator asks for the hour and the place when it matters.
Calculate a chart
Find the three numbers of any birth date, the principal star, the character star, and the third number, with the years ahead and the directions to avoid in each.
Try it out