CULTURE · KNOWLEDGE LIBRARY · Contents & guide
Contents & Reading Guide
5 min read · 5 sections
A dual-system library: Eastern destiny arts (01–07) and Western tarot (08) — kept deliberately separate, never blended.
一What this library is
This is not a fortune-telling manual but a popular encyclopaedia of Chinese destiny arts as culture.
Chinese destiny arts — also called shushu, “the arts of calculation”, or luming, “the study of fate” — are a body of knowledge built up over more than two thousand years. Their core is not “predicting the future”. It is an attempt by earlier generations to use one self-consistent set of symbols — Yin-Yang, the Five Elements, the Heavenly Stems, the Earthly Branches, trigrams and hexagram lines — to describe time, the relationship between people and nature, and the structure of character and circumstance.
The right way to approach it is to treat it as:
a history of ancient astronomy and calendrics (the Calendars chapter)
a symbolic logic and taxonomy (the Bazi and LiuYao chapters)
a body of phenological wisdom from an agricultural civilisation (the Solar Terms chapter)
a vocabulary for talking about human relationships (the Synastry chapter)
a folk reflection of Chinese philosophy (the I Ching and Culture chapters)
a mirror that shows you the present through images (the Tarot chapter, a Western system)
This is a dual-system library:
| System | Chapters | View of time | Core mechanism | Strengths |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Eastern destiny arts | 01–07 | Cyclical (the 60 Jia-Zi cycle) | Analogical inference (time as structure) | Structure, cycles, pattern |
| Western tarot | 08 | The present moment (the state you are in) | Projection (association with images) | The present, choices, awareness |
The two systems stand on their own and are never blended together — for the reasoning, see Chapter 08, §8.5.4.
二How it is structured
| No. | Chapter | Contents |
|---|---|---|
| 00 | Contents and reading guide | Index, reading paths, content principles and disclaimer |
| 01 | Calendars: the lunisolar year | Calendar history, the tropical year and the synodic month, 19 years with 7 leap months, the Stem-Branch system, Melodic Element, True Solar Time |
| 02 | Bazi: the Four Pillars | From three pillars to four; the Ten Gods, the Twelve Stages, patterns and the Useful God, Major Luck and Annual Fortune, and the seven-step method of casting a chart |
| 03 | The 24 Solar Terms | Origins, fixing terms by solar longitude, the full table of terms, the three pentads, and sectional versus median terms |
| 04 | LiuYao and the I Ching | The three Yi traditions, trigram correspondences, the 64 hexagrams, Jing Fang's Najia method, setting up and reading a hexagram, and the philosophy |
| 05 | Synastry and affinity | From the six marriage rites to zodiac and Bazi synastry, plus a modern view |
| 06 | Culture and rational reading | Philosophical foundations, a scientific audit, and the boundaries of use |
| 07 | Appendix: glossary and references | Full glossary of terms, chronology of figures, bibliography |
| 08 | Western tarot | Tarot's origins (correcting the Egyptian myth), the 78-card structure, all 22 Major Arcana, spreads and the five-layer reading method, and an East–West comparison of the two systems |
How the two systems are arranged: Chapters 01–07 make up the Eastern destiny arts (calendars, Bazi, solar terms, LiuYao, synastry), while Chapter 08 is an independent Western system (tarot). The two stand as separate chapters and are never blended (for why, see Chapter 08, §8.5.4).
三Reading paths
Path A · Complete beginner (popular science)
00 Contents → 03 Solar Terms → 01 Calendars → 02 Bazi (only “Origins” and “Core concepts”) → 04 LiuYao (only “Trigram correspondences”) → 06 Culture and Rational Reading
This path starts from the solar terms closest to daily life, moves gradually into the symbol systems, and finishes on the rational view.
Path B · How your own chart is cast (hands-on)
01 Calendars (Stem-Branch, True Solar Time) → 03 Solar Terms (where the month changes) → 02 Bazi (the seven-step method)
Read together, these three chapters answer the question in full: “How exactly were my four pillars cast?”
Path C · Culture and philosophy (humanities)
04 LiuYao and the I Ching (the philosophy) → 06 Culture and Rational Reading → 02 Bazi (the biographies)
Path D · Just wondering whether it fits (social)
05 Synastry and Affinity → 06 Culture and Rational Reading (the boundaries of use)
Path E · Curious about the Western system (cross-system)
08 Tarot → 06 Culture and Rational Reading → 04 LiuYao and the I Ching (read as a comparison)
The tarot chapter carries its own full history and cast of figures, so it stands alone. Read it against Chapter 04 and the contrast between the two symbol systems becomes vivid.
Path F · Just what tarot actually is
08 Tarot §8.0 (the origin myth corrected) → §8.1 (what tarot is) → §8.2 (the eight stages of its history)
Three sections are enough to correct most of the misinformation about tarot that circulates online.
四Content principles and disclaimer
This library follows the principles and disclaimers below:
Important notice
The material here is cultural education about traditional China; its purpose is to introduce the history, theoretical framework and cultural background of these arts.
These teachings belong to ancient philosophy and folklore, not to modern science; their conclusions have no empirical scientific basis.
This library offers no fate predictions, no judgements of good or bad fortune, no advice on dates or partners, and nothing to guide investment, medical or marital decisions.
Please do not use anything here in a way that could affect a major life decision, your own or anyone else's.
For serious personal matters, consult a qualified professional in the relevant field — a doctor, lawyer, counsellor or financial adviser.
五Quick term index
The full version is Appendix 07, Glossary and References; what follows is a quick entry point for the most frequent terms.
Calendars
Lunisolar calendar · tropical year · synodic month · true new moon · mean new moon · 19 years with 7 leap months · leap month without a median term · accumulated years since the epoch · fixing the opening month (the three first-months)
Stems and branches
The ten Heavenly Stems · the twelve Earthly Branches · the 60 Jia-Zi cycle · hidden stems within a branch · Melodic Element · the void of a decade (Emptiness) · dating years, months, days and hours by stem-branch · True Solar Time
Bazi
Four Pillars · Day Master (the day stem) · the month command · Ten Gods · Twelve Stages · the five states of an element (prosperous, strong, resting, confined, dead) · Pattern · Useful God · Major Luck · Annual Fortune · Shen Sha (Stars & Spirits) · the prenatal palace · the life palace · the body palace
Solar terms
The 24 Solar Terms · the twelve sectional terms · the twelve median terms · solar longitude · the fixed-term method · the mean-term method · the three pentads · the 72 pentads
I Ching and LiuYao
Taiji · the two modes · the four images · the eight trigrams · the Earlier Heaven arrangement · the Later Heaven arrangement · the 64 hexagrams · line positions · the self and response lines · the six relations · the six spirits · the Najia method · the moving line · the changed hexagram · the relevant line · the timing of an answer
Synastry
The six marriage rites · asking the name · announcing the auspicious result · Three Harmony · Six Combination · the six Clashes · the six Harms · the three Punishments · the Break · the East and West Four Life-Groups · the spouse palace
Western tarot
Major Arcana · Minor Arcana · Wands · Cups · Swords · Pentacles · the court cards · Page · Knight · Queen · King
Upright · reversed · spread · the Celtic Cross · the Fool's Journey · The Fool · The World · synchronicity · projection · archetype
Tarot de Marseille · RWS (the Rider–Waite–Smith deck) · the Thoth deck · the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn · the Tree of Life · the 22 Hebrew letters