What Is a Decade Cycle in Ziwei Doushu?
A Decade Cycle is a ten-year period in which one palace of your chart takes the lead. That palace is the decade Life Palace, and the decade's themes are read from it. Fortune Cloud's reports call it the Major Cycle.
Enter your birth time in the free Ziwei Doushu calculator, and each cell shows an age range such as 12-21. That range is when your cycle reaches that palace. The ages are nominal ages: you count as one at birth and add a year at each Lunar New Year.
BaZi also has ten-year cycles, but they are worked out differently. See BaZi Major Cycles.
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Generate your natal chart to discover which stars shape your destiny and how they interact across your twelve palaces.
At What Age Does Your First Decade Cycle Start?
Your first decade starts between nominal ages 2 and 6, depending on your Five Element Bureau (Wu Xing Ju). The bureau comes from the stem and branch of your Life Palace, and the chart prints it in the center. The first decade sits in the Life Palace, and the cycle moves one palace every ten years.
| Bureau | First decade | Second | Third |
|---|---|---|---|
| Water-2 | 2–11 | 12–21 | 22–31 |
| Wood-3 | 3–12 | 13–22 | 23–32 |
| Metal-4 | 4–13 | 14–23 | 24–33 |
| Earth-5 | 5–14 | 15–24 | 25–34 |
| Fire-6 | 6–15 | 16–25 | 26–35 |
Forward or Reverse: Which Way Does It Move?
It moves forward for a man born in a yang year or a woman born in a yin year, and in reverse for the other two. Years ending in an even digit are yang, and years ending in an odd digit are yin. Ziwei Doushu starts the year at Lunar New Year, so if you were born before it, use the previous year.
| Direction | First decade | Second | Third |
|---|---|---|---|
| Forward | Life | Parents | Fortune |
| Reverse | Life | Siblings | Spouse |
Decade Transformations: Four Stars from One Stem
Each decade has its own set of Four Transformations, set by the stem of the decade Life Palace. Four stars take Hua Lu (wealth), Hua Quan (power), Hua Ke (fame) and Hua Ji (obstacle) for those ten years. In each cell of the chart, two characters written top to bottom in the corner are its stem and branch, and the first is the stem.
Say the decade Life Palace has the stem Jia. For that decade, Lianzhen takes Hua Lu, Pojun Hua Quan, Wuqu Hua Ke and Taiyang Hua Ji. This set does not replace your birth-year set; you read both together. When both land in the same palace, that area is more likely to see ups and downs during the decade.
How to Read Your Decade Life Palace in Three Steps
Find the palace leading your decade, look at its major stars, then see where the decade's transformations land.
- Find the cell whose age range includes your nominal age this year. That palace leads your current decade.
- Look at the major stars in that cell and its Three Directions and Four Squares. These are the palace itself, the one opposite it, and the two that form a triangle with it. An empty palace, with no major star, borrows the major stars of the palace opposite.
- See which palaces the decade's transformations fall in. Those areas are more likely to be stirred up during the decade.
Once that palace is set, the other eleven palaces shift with it. The decade Wealth Palace, for example, covers your money for those ten years.
How Decade, Year and Month Stack Up
Four layers stack from large to small: natal, decade, year and month. Each layer has its own set of transformations.
| Layer | Span | Stem source |
|---|---|---|
| Natal | A lifetime | Birth year |
| Decade | Ten years | Decade Life Palace |
| Year | One year | Current year |
| Month | One lunar month | Current month |
Read them from large to small, starting with the decade to set the direction for those ten years. For a single year, see Annual Fortune. To pick a month, see Monthly Fortune.
