Zi Wei Dou Shu – San He v.s. Si Hua
There are two systems of Zi Wei Dou Shu and many Pai’s (schools) within them.
The more popular one is known as the San He (or Three Combination) system while it’s less popular brother is known as the Si Hua (or Four Enhancer) system.
In the San He system, the characteristic of any court (e.g. career, wealth, health etc) are determined by studying the stars in the court in conjunction with the stars in the courts that form a triangle. Often the stars in the court that is directly opposite are also considered in the analysis.
In the Si Hua system, the four enhancers namely Lu, Quan, Ke and Ji are ‘flown’ from the courts using a pre-defined flight path based on the heavenly stem of the court. Then depending on which courts the enhancers fly into and the stars that are involved, a story is told or an event can be predicted.
Why are there two systems?
Rumor (and it remain unproven) has it that one volume (San He) of Zi Wei Dou Shu book was stolen from the palace. Unknown to the thief there exist another volume on Si Hua. When the emperor found out, he commissioned his royal astrologer to come out with a fake version and release it to the people.
This may be the reason why the popular San He system is based on two ancient books called, “The Complete Book of Zi Wei Dou Shu” and “The Complete Collection of Zi Wei Dou Shu”. If you compare the two books which are widely published in the Chinese language, you will see plenty of similarity and some significant differences! Maybe one is real and the other is not!
The Si Hua system on the other hand remained in the palace until close to the fall of the Qing dynastic when it became available to the public.
How are they different?
In my opinion a practitioner can combined some aspect of the San He systems with the Si Hua system to give a more comprehensive reading. The base charts for both systems are the same. There is little contradiction unlike for example between Feng Shui systems such as the Eight Mansions and the Flying Stars system!
The San He system uses more stars and again, in my opinion, allows a practitioner to tell a very comprehensive story. The Si Hua system on the other hand can predict past and present events with deadly accuracy.
Therefore when combined it can reveal a comprehensive picture a person’s destiny and luck cycle. Perhaps this was how it was used in the first place.
Related Articles
- Ba Zi or the Four Pillars of Destiny
- Zi Wei Dou Shu or Emperor Astrology
- Emperor's Poem of the Four Seasons
