Ziwei Notes › Four Changes
The Four Transformations
The four pulls that set the stars in motion
The stars are static character; the Four Transformations are dynamic events.
The ancients gave the energy of the gan-zhi to the stars, so that one star "changes" into four leanings depending on the year of birth:
Lu, Quan, Ke and Ji. Only once these are understood does reading a chart really begin.
1. The four changes
| Change | Key words | Image | In human terms |
|---|
| 化禄 Lu | Beginning · increase |
Ease, abundance, goodwill, opportunity; "one portion more" and "easily obtained". |
Income, chances, affection, smooth starts; also wanting too much and not knowing when to stop. |
| 化权 Quan | Command · expansion |
Control, competition, leadership, responsibility; "I decide" and "raise the stakes". |
Promotion, the upper hand, forceful advance; also obstinacy, disputes and pressure. |
| 化科 Ke | Reputation · resolution |
Refinement, order, name and easing; "making it clear" and "getting by". |
Examinations, documents, honour, help from patrons; also surface work and glossing over. |
| 化忌 Ji | Obsession · contraction |
Caring, blockage, concentration, ending; "cannot let go" and "gathered into one place". |
Attachment, being stuck, loss, focus; also deep cultivation and expertise. |
None of the four is simply good or bad: much Lu scatters, much Quan isolates, much Ke hollows, much Ji stagnates.
Ji in particular is misunderstood — it is first of all "caring", and a person works hardest where he cares.
2. Table by heavenly stem
The table gives the common reading. The Geng stem has a variant tradition, noted alongside.
| Year stem | Lu | Quan | Ke | Ji |
|---|
| Jia | Lian Zhen | Po Jun | Wu Qu | Tai Yang |
| Yi | Tian Ji | Tian Liang | Zi Wei | Tai Yin |
| Bing | Tian Tong | Tian Ji | Wen Chang | Lian Zhen |
| Ding | Tai Yin | Tian Tong | Tian Ji | Ju Men |
| Wu | Tan Lang | Tai Yin | You Bi | Tian Ji |
| Ji | Wu Qu | Tan Lang | Tian Liang | Wen Qu |
| Geng | Tai Yang | Wu Qu | Tai Yin (var. Tian Tong) | Tian Tong (var. Tan Lang) |
| Xin | Ju Men | Tai Yang | Wen Qu | Wen Chang |
| Ren | Tian Liang | Zi Wei | Zuo Fu | Wu Qu |
| Gui | Po Jun | Ju Men | Tai Yin | Tan Lang |
This table is a standing tool. The heavenly stem of the birth year determines the year transformations:
like a ground colour, they mark which face of a star is most easily triggered in this person's life.
3. Self-change and flying
Transformations are not raised by the year stem alone. Every palace also carries its own stem (derived from the year branch),
which can raise a second set — the palace transformations, also called flying:
- Self-change: a palace's own stem transforms the star sitting in that same palace — the palace's own attitude. Self-Lu gives willingly; self-Ji draws inward.
- Flying: a palace's stem transforms a star in another palace — a pull from here to there. Lu from A into B means A feeds B and opens a connection; Ji from A into B means A is attached to B, or drains it.
Reading flying transformations comes down to two questions: who gave what to whom, and who cannot let go of whom?
Once those lines are drawn, the chart stops being a static table and becomes a network of relations.
4. Where the schools differ
| School | How it uses the four | Emphasis |
|---|
| San He (Trine) | Mainly the year transformations: which palace they land in and which stars they share it with |
Star combinations and brightness first; the transformations act as modifiers. |
| Si Hua (Flying Star) | Mainly palace flying: tracking where Lu and Ji come from and go to |
Causal chains and timing — "where Ji strikes, where Lu repairs". |
| Zhong Zhou | Year and flying transformations together, with transmitted formulas |
Distinguishing a star's substance and function, and which face it takes in a given palace. |
Beginners often ask which school to study. A practical route is:
San He first for pattern and character, then Si Hua for change and causation.
The two languages do not conflict; they simply look to different depths.
5. How to read them
- Fix the year transformations: look up the year stem and see which four stars and which four palaces receive Lu, Quan, Ke and Ji. This is the skeleton of the chart.
- Locate Ji: where Ji sits is the life's homework and attachment — and often where results are most likely.
- Set Lu against Ji: which palace Lu enters, which palace Ji strikes; between the coming and the going lies the beginning and end of a matter.
- Then add the cycles: the decade stem raises its own transformations and so does the year stem; layer upon layer is what "timing" means.
The transformations are a tool, not a verdict. The same set can show up as entirely different life choices in different people.