Birthday horoscopes, or eight characters, are actually another way of saying the four pillars in the Zhouyi terminology. The four pillars refer to the time of birth, namely year, month, day and hour. Humans use a word for each of the heavenly stems and earthly branches to represent the year, month, day, and time, such as Jiazi year, Bingshen month, Xinchou day, Renyin time, etc., which contain the basic information of the movement of the celestial bodies when a person is born. state. Each column has two characters, and four columns have eight characters, so fortune telling is also called "testing eight characters". According to the relationship between the heavenly stems, earthly branches, yin and yang and the five elements' attributes, we can speculate on the faults, misfortunes and blessings of the human body.
Generally speaking
To get the correct time of birth, it is most accurate to measure with a sundial during the day. Clock time is artificial mean time and regional standard time. The "true solar time difference" must be calculated based on the solar terms (solar longitude) and the "local longitude time difference" based on the place of birth to obtain the true astronomical time of birth.
Among the horoscopes, the stems and branches of the year are continuous with the stems and branches of the day, which is real; the stems and branches of the month and time are calculated based on the stems and branches of the year and day, which can be said to be imaginary.
The birth date can only reflect the time of birth of a person, so it is not an exaggeration to use it to record time. Some people use birth dates to tell fortunes, which is very unreliable. Because a person's destiny is affected by a variety of conditions. In addition to the time of birth, there are also restrictions on the region and group of people where he grew up. In addition to differences in opportunities, how much influence does the time of birth account for?
The four pillars are arranged in eight characters
The four pillars refer to the year, month, day and time of a person's birth. The arrangement of the four pillars refers to finding out a person's birth date and horoscope. It is mainly carried out in four steps.
Year Pillar
Nian Pillar, that is, the year a person is born is represented by the stems and branches. Note that the dividing line between the previous year and the next year is drawn by the intersection of the Beginning of Spring and not by the first day of the first lunar month. For example, a person was born at 22:17 on February 4, 2000 in the Gregorian calendar. Since the beginning of spring in the year 2000 in the lunar calendar is 20:32 in the Gregorian calendar, February 4, 2000, the person's year column is Gengchen in 2000, not Ji Mao in 1999.
The general algorithm of the year column: the numbers from Jia to Gui of the heavenly stem correspond to 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 0, 1, 2, 3 respectively, while the numbers from the earthly branches to hai correspond to 4 respectively. ,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,0,1,2,3. The calculation of the year's stems and branches uses the last digit as the heavenly stem, and the earthly branch is the remainder after dividing the year's number by 12. Take 1978 as an example. The last digit of 1978 is 8, and the heavenly stem is Wu. The remainder after dividing 1978 by 12 is 10, and the corresponding earthly branch is Wu, so 1978 is the year of Wu and Wu.
Simple algorithm for the year column: The premise of this method is to know which zodiac year the year is, and is generally used for quick calculations in recent years. Take 2009 as an example. Everyone knows that 2009 is the Year of the Ox. Since it is the Ox, the earthly branch is of course Chou. The last number 9 in 2009 corresponds to the Heavenly Stem Ji, so 2009 is the Year of the Chou.
The Moon Pillar
The Moon Pillar uses the stems and branches to represent the season of the year and month in which a person was born. Note that the dividing line between the lunar stems and branches is not based on the first day of each month in the lunar calendar, but based on the festival. Before the festival, it is the festival of the previous month, and after the festival, it is the festival of the next month.
January (Yin month) is from Beginning of Spring to Jingzhe, February (Mao month) is from Jingzhe to Qingming, March (Chen month) is from Qingming to Beginning of Summer, April (Si month) is from Beginning of Summer to Mangzhong, May (noon month) is from Mangzhong to Xiaoshu, June (late month) is from Xiaoshu to Beginning of Autumn, July (Shen month) is from Beginning of Autumn to Bailu, August (You month) is from Bailu to cold dew, September (Xu month) From cold dew to the beginning of winter, October (Hai month) from the beginning of winter to heavy snow, November (Zi month) from heavy snow to light cold, December (Chou month) from light cold to the beginning of spring. Refer to the first picture of the lunar chart from the top of the year. If the year stem is A or Ji, the stem and branch of the first month of that year is Bing Yin; if the year stem is Yi or Geng, the stem and branch of the first month of that year is Wu Yin; if the year stem is B or Xin, the stem and branch of the first month of that year is Geng Yin; If the stem is Ding or Ren, the stem and branch of the first month of that year is Renyin; if the stem of the year is Wu or Gui, the stem and branch of the first month of that year is Jiayin.
Arranging the Sun Pillar
From the 2nd day of February in the third year of Lu Yingong (722 BC) to the present day, our country’s zodiac signs have never been interrupted. This is the only longest diary system known to human society so far.
The day pillar represents the day a person was born using the lunar branches. The daily stems and branches record cycle every sixty days. Due to the different sizes of months and leap years, the daily stems and branches need to be searched in the perpetual calendar (an online perpetual calendar website: site.baidu.com/list/wannianli.htm).
In addition, the dividing line between days is divided by sub-hour, that is, before eleven o'clock is the Hai hour of the previous day, and after eleven o'clock, it is the sub-hour of the next day. Don't think that Twelve o'clock at midnight is the dividing point of the day.
Arrange the hour column
The hour column uses the stems and branches to represent the time when a person was born. One hour spans two hours, so there are twelve hours in a day.
Zi hour: 23 o'clock - 1 am Chou hour: 1 o'clock - 3 am
Yin hour: 3 o'clock - 5 am Mao hour: 5 o'clock - 7 am Point
Chen hour: 7 o'clock - 9 a.m. Si hour: 9 o'clock - 11 a.m.
Click to view the table of hour stems and branches based on the daily and sky stems.
Noon time: 11 o'clock - 13 o'clock in the afternoon Noon time: 13 o'clock - 15 o'clock in the afternoon
Shen time: 15 o'clock - 17 o'clock in the afternoon You time: 17 o'clock - 19 o'clock in the afternoon
Xu hour: 19 o'clock - 21 o'clock in the evening Hai hour: 21 o'clock - 23 o'clock in the evening
According to the sun and sky stems and the hour stems and branches, please refer to the second picture of the sun rising time table. If the day stem is A or Ji, the stem and branch of the day is Jia Zi; if the day stem is B or Geng, the stem and branch of the day is C Zi; if the day stem is C or Xin, the stem and branch of the day is Wu Zi; If the day stem is Ding or Ren, the branch of the day is Gengzi; if the day stem is Wu or Gui, the branch of the day is Ren. The twenty-eight constellations were created by the ancient Chaldeans. This is the constellation. . Ancient my country also created its own star division system. In order to understand the stars and observe celestial phenomena, people grouped several stars in the sky and gave each group a name. Such star combinations are called star officials. The number of stars contained in each star official varies from one to dozens, and the areas of the sky they occupy vary. According to preliminary statistics, there are about 38 star officials recorded in pre-Qin classics. There are 91 records in "Historical Records·Tianguan Shu". "Hanshu Astronomical Chronicles" records: "There are 118 Chinese and foreign officials who always stay in the stars, with a total of 780 three stars." Zhang Heng's "Lingxian" says: "There are always 118 Chinese and foreign officials. There are twenty-four famous ones, three hundred and twenty famous ones, and two thousand and five hundred stars, but Hairenzhizhi has not survived. "During the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, Gande, Shishen, Wuxian, etc. established their own establishments. Own star official system. By the time of the Three Kingdoms, Wu State's Taishi Ling Chen Zhuo, together with the star officials of Gan, Shi and Wu, compiled a star catalog of 1,464 stars in 283 officials and drew them into a star map (the star catalog and star map have long been lost). The Jin, Sui, and Tang Dynasties inherited and developed the system of star divisions in our country, which became mature and has been used by successive dynasties for thousands of years. The most important star officials are Sanyuan and Twenty-eight Stars. Three Yuans Three Yuans are Ziwei Yuan, Taiwei Yuan and Tianshi Yuan. Each wall is a relatively large sky area, containing a number of (small) star officials (or constellations). According to the "Qing Huidian", the divisions of the Gan family, Shi family and Wu family are different from each other. Each wall has the stars of the two vassals of the east and west, surrounding it on the left and right. It is shaped like a wall, so it is called "wall". Ziweiyuan is the middle wall of the Three Yuans, located in the center of the north sky, so it is also called Zhonggong or Ziwei Palace. Ziwei Palace means imperial palace, and most of the stars are named after officials. It has the North Pole as its center and the eastern and western vassals have fifteen stars. The two bows join together and form a wall. According to the observation records of the Emperor Huangyou of the Song Dynasty, the entire Ziweiyuan contains 37 constellations, 2 satellite constellations, 163 positive stars and 181 additional stars. Its sky area is roughly equivalent to the current internationally accepted constellations of the Little Bear, the Big Bear, the Dragon, the Hound, the Shepherd, the Wuxian, the Fairy King, the Fairy Queen, the Fairy, and the Deer and the Leopard. Taiwei Yuan is the upper wall of the Three Yuans, located in the northeast under Ziwei Yuan and south of Beidou. It occupies about 63 degrees of the sky, with the Five Emperors constellation as the center, and contains 20 constellations, 78 positive stars and 100 additional stars. It contains parts of the signs of Virgo, Cognac, Leo, and others. Taiwei means government, and star names are often named after official names. For example, the law enforcement on the left is Tingwei, the law enforcement on the right is Yushi Dafu, etc. Tianshiyuan is the lower wall of Sanyuan. It is located in the southeast direction below Ziweiyuan. It occupies about 57 degrees of the sky. It is roughly equivalent to part of the international constellations such as Wuxian, Giant Snake, and Ophiuchus. It contains 19 stars. Official (seat), with 87 positive stars and 173 additional stars. It takes the emperor's throne as its center and forms the shape of a screen. Tianshi is a trade market. "Book of Jin·Tianwen Zhi" says: "The emperor led the princes to enjoy the city." Therefore, the names of stars are mostly named after goods and star tools, and the business content of the market is named, for example, "Jin Shu·Tianwen Zhi" It says: The throne of the emperor "stands to serve the yin and yang", Dendrobium and Dou "stand up to measure", Dendrobium is used to measure solids, and Dou is used to measure liquids, Li Si "stands for the goods of gems", it is a market specializing in gems, and Che Si "is the area where many goods are sold", which is the commodity market, and the market house is "the city government, which is responsible for market prices, regulations, money, pearls and jade", etc. There is no definite conclusion about the founding age of Sanyuan. Judging from the classics, Ziweiyuan and Tianshiyuan, as star officials, were first seen in the book "Kaiyuan Divination" which compiled "Shishi's Star Classic" written by Shi Shen. , and the name of Taiweiyuan first appeared in "Celestial Poetry" in the early Tang Dynasty. However, the "Historical Records Tianguan Shu" already contains the name of a star official equivalent to Miyuan. The stars of the two vassals in the east and west of Tianshiyuan are named after the names of countries in the Warring States Period, which is also evidence of the founding era of Sanyuan. The Twenty-Eight Constellations The Twenty-eight Constellations are the main components of the star division system created by ancient China. The ancients divided the stars along the ecliptic and near the equator into twenty-eight parts of varying sizes. Each part is called a constellation, collectively known as the Twenty-Eight Constellations, also known as the Twenty-eight Constellations. Twenty-eight homes or twenty-eight stars. Originally, the ancients selected twenty-eight star officials to compare the movements of the sun, moon, metal, wood, water, fire, and earth as markers for observation. The meaning of "su" is similar to the "palace" of the zodiac, indicating the location of the sun, moon and five stars.
In the Tang Dynasty, the Twenty-Eight Constellations became the main body of the twenty-eight heavenly regions. These heavenly regions were still named after the Twenty-eight Constellations. Unlike the situation in Sanyuan, as a heavenly region, the Twenty-Eight Constellations were mainly for the purpose of dividing the star officials. The twenty-eight constellations start from Spica, arranged from west to east, in the same direction as the sun and moon: the seven constellations in the east: Jiao, Kang, Di, Fang, Xin, Wei, and Qi; the seven constellations in the north: Dou, Niu (morning bull) , female (bearded female), empty, dangerous, room (barracks), wall (east wall); Western seven constellations: Kui, Lou, stomach, Pleiades, Bi, Xi, and Shen; Southern seven constellations: well (east well) , ghost (Yugui), Liu, Xing (seven stars), Zhang, Yi, Zhen. In addition, there are some star officials who are close to these star officials and have a close relationship with them, such as Tomb, Li Gong, Fu Er, Fa, Yue, Ji Shi, You Ju, Zuo Ju, Changsha, Shengong, etc., which are attached to Fang, Wei and Shi respectively. , Bi, Shen, Jing, Gui, Zhen, Wei and other places are called auxiliary officials or auxiliary seats. In the Tang Dynasty, there were a total of 183 stars in the Twenty-Eight Constellations, including the auxiliary officials or auxiliary constellations. In practice, the ancients realized that the changes in seasons are related to the position of the sun. The changes in the morning and evening of the stars in the four seasons reflect the movement of the sun in the sky. However, it is difficult to directly measure the position of the sun, so the ancients He came up with an indirect method, which is to calculate the position of the sun from the astrological position of the moon. The moon takes more than 27 days to orbit the earth (a sidereal month), and it passes exactly one night in one day. It can be seen that the creation of the Twenty-Eight Constellations is a great progress in the history of ancient astronomy. Dr. Joseph Needham of the United Kingdom commented in "History of Chinese Science and Technology": "It has now been undoubtedly confirmed that although ancient Chinese astronomy is by no means inferior to Egyptian, Greek and later European astronomy in terms of logic and practicality, it is based on "Based on very different ideological systems." He added: "Once the boundaries of the twenty-eight constellations are drawn, the Chinese can know the exact position of the constellations no matter how far they are from the equator, even when they are below the horizon. , as long as you observe the circumpolar stars that are connected to them, you can know it." After the establishment of the Erbasu, its role has continued to expand with the development of astronomy. It not only plays a role in observing time and formulating calendars. Before the formation of modern astrometry, it played an irreplaceable role in calculating and determining the positions of the sun, moon, five planets, meteors, comets, novae, and even stars in the sky. Its calculation method is that the ancients selected a star in each constellation as the calibration star, and the ancients called it the "distance star". The right ascension difference between the distance of a certain star and the distance of the neighboring star is called the equatorial distance of a certain star (referred to as the distance). The two quantities used to express the position of celestial bodies in ancient China are called extreme and octagonal degrees. "Depolarization" refers to the angular distance between the measured star and the North Celestial Pole; "octagonal degree" refers to the right ascension difference between the celestial body and its adjacent star to the west. This measurement system was established by Chinese astronomers Equatorial coordinate system. From the above, it can be seen that selecting distance stars and measuring distances is an extremely important task, so astronomers of all ages have paid attention to actual measurements. It should be pointed out that due to the precession, the distance between the constellations changes slowly. Although astronomers did not know this important reason for the change in distance before the precession was discovered, the data measured in the past have provided modern people with It provides rare historical data for people to study the precession of equinox. Four Symbols The ancients divided the twenty-eight stars in the sky into four parts according to the four directions of east, north, west, south, and each part contained seven stars. According to the shapes composed of the seven stars in each part, they were divided into four parts. The animals that resemble them are named after these four parts, called Sixiang or Silu, and the corresponding relationships are as follows: The Eastern Qisu resembles a giant dragon flying in the night sky in spring and early summer, so it is called Dongguan Canglong; The Northern Qisu resembles the late summer The snakes and turtles in the night sky at the beginning of autumn are called Beiguan Xuanwu; the seven constellations in the west are like fierce tigers that appear in late autumn and early winter, so they are called Xiguan white tigers; the seven constellations in the south are like redbirds that appear in the sky in cold winter and early spring, so they are called Nanguan Zhuque. Canglong, Xuanwu, White Tiger, and Suzaku are collectively called the "Four Symbols". Many Chinese classics have narrations on the four images, such as "Kaogong Ji", "Yu Longzi", Zhang Heng's "Lingxian", Kong Yingda's "Shangshu", etc. Among them, the narrative in "Lingxian" is the most vivid , Zhang Heng wrote: "The blue dragon is curled up on the left, the white tiger is fiercely occupying the right, Zhu Zai is flying in front, and the turtle is circling behind." Some Chinese classics call the "four images" "four dimensions", such as "Historical Records· "Book of Heavenly Officials", "Book of Shi's Stars", "Bo Ya" written by Wei Zhang Yi, "Shang Shu Tong Kao" written by Yuanhuang Zhencheng, etc. These accounts are different from each other. According to "Shi's Star Classic", they are not the four The elephant is divided into several small elephants, and there is no complete image in the west or north. The book writes: "Kui is a white tiger, and the three sons are Lou, Wei, Ang, and Hu. Bixianghu, Xiang, Shenjialin." It is also said: "The cow is like a snake, and the female is like a turtle." The records in "Historical Records Tianguan Shu" are basically the same as those contained in "Lingxian", that is: Canglong, Suzaku, White Tiger, and Xuanwu respectively represent the four seasons. The Chinese astronomer Gao Lu designed a wonderful diagram of the relationship between the twenty-eight constellations and the four phenomena based on the "Historical Records: Tianguan Shu". In terms of the modern and internationally accepted 88 astrology, the Eastern Canglong is probably the zodiac sign of Virgo, Hydra, Centaur, Shepherd, Libra, Scorpio, Jackal, Ophiuchus, etc. Northern Xuanwu roughly occupies the seats of Centaur, Mogai, Aquarius, Pegasus, Swan, Fairy, Two Horns, and Whale. Western white tigers approximately account for the Fairy Queen, Aries, Huangxian, Taurus, Eridanus, Orion, Lepus and so on. Southern Suzaku approximately occupies the Gemini, Charioteer, Cancer, Big Dog, Southern Ship, Lion, and Hydra.