Twelve Palaces十二宮命理

The 14 Palaces

Your palace and degree are derived by summing the scores for your Chinese zodiac year, lunar month, lunar day, and birth hour. Each palace has up to 5 degree sub-entries (0°, 2°, 4°, 6°, 8°) — the degree refines the reading within the palace.

Palaces 1–3 are not used in this system · Palace 14 has only the base degree (0°) · Higher palaces indicate more auspicious destiny

Overview

十二宮命理 (Twelve Palaces Destiny) is a classical Chinese lunar birth fortune system that derives a person’s life palace and degree from four components: the zodiac animal of the birth year, the lunar birth month, the lunar birth day, and the birth hour. Each component contributes a numerical score; the total maps to one of fourteen palaces (1–14) and a degree within that palace (0, 2, 4, 6, or 8 degrees). Each palace carries a classical title, a four-line poem (詩曰), a marriage fortune reading (婚姻), and a wealth fortune reading (財運). The system is used widely in Cantonese and Southeast Asian Chinese communities for life-path assessment, marriage compatibility, and wealth potential.

Origin

十二宮命理 is rooted in the broader tradition of Chinese lunar numerology and is closely related to the Bone Weight (稱骨算命) system attributed to the Tang Dynasty poet Yuan Tiangang. Both systems derive fortune from birth timing using additive scoring tables, but Twelve Palaces uses the zodiac year and birth hour in addition to month and day, producing a finer-grained classification across fourteen palace categories rather than a single weight score.

History

The system has been transmitted through Cantonese fortune-telling lineages for centuries and remains popular in Hong Kong, Macau, Guangdong, and among overseas Chinese communities in Southeast Asia. Practitioners traditionally consult printed almanac tables to look up each component score, then sum them to find the palace and degree. The fortune texts associated with each palace-degree combination are drawn from classical verse and commentary, often attributed to Tang and Song dynasty scholars.

How It Works

Four lookup tables are applied in sequence: (1) Zodiac year (生肖) — each of the twelve animals contributes a base score in palace-degree units; (2) Lunar month (農曆月) — each month from 1 to 12 adds a further score; (3) Lunar day (農曆日) — each day from 1 to 30 adds a score; (4) Birth hour (時辰) — each two-hour Chinese time division (子時, 丑時, etc.) adds a final score. The four scores are summed to a total, which is then divided into palace (integer part) and degree (fractional part × 10). The resulting palace-degree combination selects the classical fortune text.

Good For

Use Cases

Famous Examples

Key Terms

API Integration

{
  "palace": 9,
  "degree": 4,
  "palaceLabel": "九宮四度",
  "fortuneTitle": "富貴之命",
  "poem": "詩曰：此命生來福壽長，榮華富貴自然昌，兒孫滿堂皆孝順，到老榮華福壽康。",
  "marriage": "男命得賢妻相助，家庭和睦，子女孝順。女命嫁得良人，夫妻恩愛，晚年尤佳。",
  "wealth": "財源廣進，正財偏財皆有，中年以後財運更旺，宜從事商業或投資，積累豐厚。",
  "input": {
    "zodiac": "Dragon",
    "zodiacChinese": "龍",
    "lunarMonth": 3,
    "lunarDay": 15,
    "birthHour": 10,
    "birthHourBranch": "巳時 (09:00–11:00)"
  },
  "components": {
    "zodiacScore": 22,
    "monthScore": 14,
    "dayScore": 7,
    "hourScore": 3,
    "total": 46
  },
  "fortuneScore": 80,
  "synthesis": "Your birth falls in the Ninth Palace, Fourth Degree — 富貴之命 (Palace of Wealth and Honour). Born in the Year of the Dragon, Third Lunar Month, Fifteenth Day, Si Hour (09:00–11:00), your four components sum to a total of 46, placing you in the Ninth Palace at the Fourth Degree. This palace is associated with prosperity, longevity, and harmonious family life. Your marriage fortune indicates a supportive and loving partnership, while your wealth fortune points to steady accumulation through commerce or investment, with a particularly strong financial period in middle age and beyond.",
  "creditsUsed": 5,
  "responseTimeMs": 187
}

* Sample response shown for illustration. Live responses may vary based on input parameters and real-time calculations.

All Palace-Degree Fortune Titles

Every palace has up to 5 degree sub-entries (0°, 2°, 4°, 6°, 8°). The table below lists all 61 combinations with their classical fortune titles. Your result will match exactly one row.

Tier: 最吉 = top (palaces 12–14) · 大吉 = high (10–11) · 中吉 = mid (7–9) · 小吉 = modest (1–3, 6) · 凶 = challenging (4–5)

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