Long Chi: the Rat year starts at Dragon
Content version · · Sources & references
Long Chi follows the birth-year branch: Rat year on the Dragon palace, one step forward each year. A twelve-year table, a two-step conversion, the two new-year rules in February 1996 and three sample charts.
The short version7 min read
Long Chi is a minor star placed from the birth-year branch: the Rat year falls on the Dragon palace, then it steps forward one palace a year and completes a lap in twelve years.
- The verse reads "Rat, forward, Dragon": start at the Dragon palace for a Rat year and move forward along the branches, one palace per year branch.
- Converting takes two steps: turn the year into a branch number, then add 4, the number of Dragon. The same branch comes back every twelve years.
- The year boundary can move the star: on 10 February 1996, counting the year from lunar new year puts Long Chi on Rabbit, while counting from the Start of Spring puts it on Dragon.
Read first
What do Zi Wei's supporting, malefic and minor stars actually do? ↗
Three characters, "Rat forward Dragon": a step a year, a lap in twelve
Long Chi (龙池) asks only which year you were born in. Once the year branch is known, the landing point is a counting exercise from the Dragon palace, one step a year.
Comparison sketch: Long Chi follows the verse in the second juan of the Quan Shu and this site's engine output; the sample years only show the order of the branches.
The book, the Zi Wei Dou Shu Quan Shu (紫微斗数全书), files this verse in its second juan, under a heading that says "by the birth-year branch". The part about Long Chi is five characters long:
Long Chi: Rat, forward, Dragon.
Each word has a job: "Rat" is the year branch where the count starts, "forward" is the direction, and "Dragon" is the palace the Rat year lands on. Each row of the picture is one year branch, with the sample years 1996 to 2007. Arrange the twelve palaces in a circle and it is clear why this is a lap:
Enlarge diagram · scroll sideways to read
The Rat year is on Dragon, the Ox year on Snake, the Tiger year on Horse, and so on until the Pig year on Rabbit; one more year is a Rat year again and the star is back on Dragon. The Dragon branch is the dragon among the twelve animals, and "Long" in the star's name also means dragon, so the starting point echoes the name. The book does not say whether the two are related, and this page only records the coincidence.
Two steps: year, branch, landing point
To place Long Chi, first turn the birth year into a year branch. This site changes the year at the lunar new year (the rule is the subject of the next section). For a date after that day, subtract 4 from the year and divide by 12; the remainder is the branch number, 0 for Rat, 1 for Ox, up to 11 for Pig. The number of the landing palace is the branch number plus 4, the number of Dragon, modulo 12, where 0 is the Rat palace, 1 the Ox palace, and so on.
Enlarge diagram · scroll sideways to read
The same branch comes back every twelve years: 1972, 1984, 1996 and 2008 are all Rat years, and Long Chi is on the Dragon palace every time.
The new-year rule: three days in February 1996
Which day the year starts on changes where Long Chi goes. This site counts from the lunar new year by default, and the school note on the chart page says so; the engine also has an option that counts from the Start of Spring (立春). Take three days and run both rules through the same engine. In 1996 the Start of Spring fell on 4 February and the lunar new year on 19 February:
Enlarge diagram · scroll sideways to read
For someone born on 10 February, the rule for Long Chi has not changed; what changed is which year it is. Counted from the lunar new year it is still the Yi-Hai year, counted from the Start of Spring it is already the Bing-Zi year. So when you check the year branch, first see whether the birth date falls between the Start of Spring and the lunar new year. Outside that window the two rules agree.
One branch, but the palace name needs the Life palace
The branch of Long Chi comes from the year branch alone, so everyone born in the same year has it on the same branch. What you read on a chart is the palace it falls in, and that depends on where the Life palace is, so the birth month and hour come back in. Three sample charts with three different year branches:
Enlarge diagram · scroll sideways to read
Take the first row: Life is on Tiger and Long Chi on Pig. Counting forward from Tiger to Pig is 9 steps, and the palace name at that count is Children. The order of palace names is in what the twelve palaces discuss. Change the birth month or hour and the Life palace moves; the branch of Long Chi stays put and the palace name follows.
First, the year branch
Check that the birth date falls after the lunar new year, then turn the year into a branch; for dates before it, use the previous year.
Then the landing point
The Rat year is on Dragon and each later year is one step on; "branch number + 4" gives a quick check.
Finally the palace name
Count forward from the Life palace to the branch holding Long Chi and read off the palace by its position in the order.
Two birth dates
Born on 20 May 2008: where is Long Chi?
May is after the lunar new year, so it is a Wu-Zi year. The branch number is 0, plus 4 gives 4, and Long Chi is on the Dragon palace.
Born on 20 January 1995: where is Long Chi?
That day is in the twelfth lunar month of the Jia-Xu year. The branch is Dog, number 10, plus 4 gives 14, remainder 2, so Long Chi is on the Tiger palace.
The other star on the same verse is Feng Ge, which counts the opposite way; the full account of year boundaries is in leap months, hours and the day boundary.
Questions readers ask next
Does the birth hour change where Long Chi sits?
Not its branch: the year branch alone decides it, so everyone born in the same year has it on the same branch. What changes is the palace name, because the Life palace moves with the birth month and hour and the palace holding Long Chi is renamed with it.
I was born in January. Which year branch applies?
It depends on whether that day falls before the lunar new year of the calendar year. For example 20 January 1995 is still in the lunar Jia-Xu year, so use Dog and Long Chi sits on Tiger, not on the branch of the Yi-Hai year. Under the Start of Spring rule, the early part of the year needs converting first as well.
Are Long Chi and Feng Ge one verse?
The book writes both stars on one line, with the year branch as input for each, one counting forward and one counting backward. Each landing point is computed on its own, and for people born in the same year the two positions are tied by a fixed relation, which has its own article.
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Feng Gao (封诰): An Hour-Only Star That Shows Only Six Palace Names a Month ↗
Feng Ge (凤阁): Rat Year on Dog, One Step Back a Year, and Why It Mirrors Long Chi ↗