SIDE BY SIDE
Compare mantic systems
Read systems against shared questions to identify common language, procedural differences and distinct limits.
| Dimension | 四柱子平命理 ↗ | 卦气、纳甲与八宫 ↗ |
|---|---|---|
| Family | Fate calculation and astral nativities | Divination and correlative foundations |
| Inputs | Record precision, place, time standard and year/month conventions | Hexagram sequence, seasonal mapping and stem-branch assignments |
| Procedural structure | Eight characters form four pillars with the day stem as reference. The month command supplies season; visible and hidden stems become ten relations. Schools then emphasize pattern, strength, climatic adjustment, spirits or resonance and arrange major and annual cycles. | Najia inserts temporal signs into hexagram lines; the Eight Palaces arrange the sixty-four hexagrams through transformations and assign host-response positions; hexagram qi maps sequences onto annual and seasonal time. |
| Formation | Tang fate calculation as predecessor; Four-Pillar system matured after the Five Dynasties and early Song | Key formation in the Han with continued later development |
| Evidence labels | Textually documented · Traditional attribution · Contested lineage or date | Textually documented · Contested lineage or date |
| Texts | Li Xuzhong Mingshu / Wuxing Jingji / Yuanhai Ziping / Sanming Tonghui / Ditian Sui and Ziping Zhenquan | Jing Lineage Commentary on the Changes / Han-Wei Yijing commentaries and apocrypha / Huozhulin divination manuals |
| Limits | The received Li Xuzhong text is not an intact Tang original, and sole invention by Xu Ziping oversimplifies long development. Birth-time conversion should state timezone, local solar-time policy and calendar source. | The full later algorithm should not be attributed point by point to the historical Jing Fang, and Najia does not mean exactly the same thing in every source. |
| Research question | Which pillars change near a solar-term boundary? | What role does the same hexagram play in different tables? |