Glossary entry
Da xian and liu nian: the decade and the year
A Zi Wei Dou Shu chart is not only a picture of a person. It is divided into ten-year spans (大限), each governed by one palace, and inside them the years (流年) turn. That is the time axis of the chart.
The decade
Each decade is ruled by one palace, and which palace that is depends on the birth data; the starting age comes out of the chart itself. Read as: what this stretch of life is about, and where the weight sits.
The year, and what it does not say
The year is the current turn of the twelve-year cycle, read against the decade carrying it: which palace it lands in and what it presses on. It is read as ground, not as a calendar — this site does not date events.
Questions
Can I see my decade without paying?
Yes — the free chart shows the age range of each decade and the palace it falls in. What is paid for is the writing that interprets it.
Why is the year read with the decade?
The same year reads differently depending on which decade it falls inside. The decade gives the year its context; the yearly layer on its own is thin.
Zi Wei Dou Shu chart, free See a completed reading first The full glossary