Abundant Heaven

Chinese astrology is a mathematically-derived system of calculations originally based on the movements of stars, seasonal patterns, and biological cycles. It's core principles and philosophy are uniquely indigenous to Central Asia and synthesize various Chinese numerological and divination methods including the Zhouyi, the 28 Lunar mansions, and the Heavenly Stems and Earthly Branches (紫微斗数_, n.d.). Similar to modern calendar systems used in the Western world, it is a simplified mathematical system based on the mathematical consistency of the celestial patterns.  Foremost expert on Chinese Astrology, Derek Walters provides further explanation of this form of 'calculation', clarifying (emphasis mine):

​

"Suàn mìng (算命) could be accurately translated as 'fortune-telling' in the old sense of the word 'tell' - meaning to reckon or calculate (as in 'bank teller').  However, the expression has such a specific meaning that it is now translated by the term 'Fate Calculation'.  This is a method of looking into future events by means of a complex system of numerology which is particularly Chinese, having no parallel in any other culture.  A by-product of astrology, its calculations are based directly on the calendar rather than the astronomical events on which the calendar is based.  The reasons for its creation stem from the fact that Grand Astrology was reserved for the Imperial Court, and there was a demand for a Lesser Astrology which could be used to determine the destinies of the common people.  Although the use of tables of planetary positions was forbidden on pain of death, it seemed to some astrologers that so regular and ordered were the motions of the Heavens that it was no longer necessary to observe them. In this, of course, the Fate Calculators differed from the Heaven Watchers, who discovered and recorded such events as comets, novae - and the mysterious Ch'i. In fact, the criteria of Fate Calculation were entirely numerical. The Stem and Branch of the year is a notional figure, independent of the calendar, and the same is true of the Stem and Branch of the day. But the Branch of the hour is tenuously related to an astronomical event - the length of the day, itself determined by the position of the Earth relative to the Sun.  Similarly, the Branch for the month is determined by the progress of the Earth round the Sun, the Branch changing at (nearly) every New Moon.  Cheng Hsuan AD 127-200, in his commentaries to the Shih Ching (Book of Poetry) speaks of lucky and unlucky years, seasons, months, days, stars, and lunar phases.  Thus, the foundation for the discipline were known in Han (Dynasty) times, but it was not until the T'ang (Dynasty) that it became the exact system which it has remained to this day." (The Complete Guide to Chinese Astrology, p.273, © 1987 Derek Walters)
 

The classical Chinese astrological viewpoint looks at and reveals meaning from the data derived from the calculations (for more information on classical Chinese astronomy, see The International Dunhuang Project's 'Chinese Sky' resources).  Polestar astrology, and specifically Ziwei Doushu looks at the interplay of an individual's relative fate and freedom - the dance of a person's character (tendencies/capacities) and the cycles of freedom-fate (opportunities / restrictions).  It recognizes that we are born into a mixture of predetermined and undetermined circumstances and that these can be read by a system of calculations and then utilized as a road map into the future.

 

We can generally explain this by saying:  in some areas of life (house/palace), there may be a 'heavy' fate, which can be 'good', i.e. supportive influences that help a person achieve freedom, e.g. a person has strong predetermined relationships with particular people that help them. Or this 'heavy' fate can be 'bad', e.g. a person may have a lot to 'unravel' (e.g. a difficult childhood, uncaring parents, learning disability, compulsivity, self-absorption, indecision, self-doubt and so forth).  Other times an individual has an area of life (house/palace) that has what is considered a 'light' fate and is free from predetermined likelihoods of a 'story' - there is no 'karmic obstruction'; they are less restricted, allowing relative openness, gracefulness, and opportunity in those areas or periods of time in life.  Ziwei Doushu illuminates a person's life as a dance of obligation and easiness, success and failure, insight or delusion, self-realization or self-destruction, and this is why understanding these patterns in your own life can be so valuable.

​

From a purely scientific view, this whole ritual and exercise is a useful reflective tool with a historical and cultural flavor to it.  Statistical analysis and research has been done using large data-sets out of China to determine if there is any validity to this patterned view of a year's influence on an individual or a group's life.  Perhaps surprisingly, the research has shown that there is some observable pattern of success associated with signs/years that are presumed to be more successful.  This research may reveal cultural biases that generates society-wide behavioral changes which generate self-fulfilling beliefs, but it does tell us that there are complex and valuable insights to be gained from looking at various multi-dimensional impacts of one's context in the time, place, and societal context within which we find ourselves.