The Four Transformations: Lu, Quan, Ke and Ji

Read the ten-stem table

Find the birth-year stem, then read across the Lu, Quan, Ke and Ji columns. Locate those four stars in the actual chart and note their palaces. The table above is the same table used by the engine, with English explanations and romanized names.

The year stem here changes at Li Chun. Births between Li Chun and Lunar New Year can therefore receive a different row from a system using lunar New Year.

Use the free natal Zi Wei chart to see the four stars and their palace locations together. No account or interpreted reading purchase is needed to view the calculated chart. For a selected year's transformations, use the separate Annual Influences tool; a birth hour is needed for personal palace locations.

Four roles, not four verdicts

Lu is commonly associated with resources, attraction and opportunities. Quan emphasizes agency, responsibility and control. Ke concerns recognition, learning, presentation or credibility. Ji marks attachment, friction, recurring concerns or the need for extra attention.

These meanings depend on the transformed star and palace. Lu is not guaranteed cash, Quan is not guaranteed promotion, Ke is not guaranteed an award, and Ji is not a curse.

What Ji can mean

Ji often points to an area where someone invests effort or becomes particularly concerned. A reading can use that as a prompt to examine expectations and recurring difficulties. It cannot infer a specific event solely because a palace carries Ji.

The star’s positional condition, companions and the opposite/trine-linked palaces remain relevant. A transformation does not erase the rest of the chart.

Read Lu and Ji through the life area

In Life, the theme is close to self-image and personal decisions. In Wealth, it concerns how resources are obtained, used or worried about. In Career, it concerns work, responsibility and recognition. In Partner, it concerns the interaction and expectations of an intimate relationship.

For example, Ji in Partner is not evidence that a relationship must end. Lu in Wealth is not a return forecast. Translate the palace topic into a useful question before attaching a dramatic story to it.

Where schools differ

Most common tables agree on Jia, Yi, Bing, Ding, Ji, Xin and Gui. Differences are concentrated in Wu, Geng and Ren.

This site assigns Wu’s Ke to You Bi; other tables use Tai Yang. For Geng it uses Tai Yang Lu, Wu Qu Quan, Tai Yin Ke and Tian Tong Ji; alternatives include Tian Fu for Ke or a different Ke/Ji allocation. For Ren it uses Zuo Fu Ke, while other tables use Tian Fu.

We disclose the selected table rather than claiming it is the only legitimate tradition. A discrepancy in those rows can be a school difference, while a mismatch between our displayed table and our own engine would be a defect.

The public example

The fictional chart for 1990-03-15 10:00 in Taipei, with the male setting, uses the Geng row. Follow three steps: confirm that row, locate its four stars, then read each palace's subject. The reference table shows the calculated locations: Lu and Ke share Property, Quan falls in Wellbeing and Ji in Parents.

Property can prompt reflection about home and resources, Wellbeing about interests and agency, and Parents about expectations involving elders or superiors. Those are traditional reading directions. The star locations are calculated; these life themes are interpretations. They do not prove property ownership or a conflict with parents.

To reproduce the example, enter those birth details in the Zi Wei chart tool, then find the natal Four Transformations section. Check the star, palace and branch for each role before applying any meaning. The main stars, their positional conditions and linked palaces still matter.

Which layers the product implements

Natal transformations remain tied to the birth year. Major-period transformations use a period’s palace stem, yearly transformations use the current year stem, and self-transformations/flying-star methods introduce further palace interactions.

MingLiMR’s natal result page displays natal transformations and the major-period palace sequence. The separate Annual Influences tool also provides the yearly Life Palace, yearly Four Transformations in their natal palaces, and the twelve yearly palaces mapped to the natal chart. Major-period transformations, self-transformations and a full flying-star system remain outside these calculated results. The 2027 yearly guide explains how to read the annual layer without treating those further methods as already implemented.