What is Opposite palace?

The opposite palace in Zi Wei Dou Shu is the palace directly across the birth chart, six palaces away, and its influence is second only to the palace itself. Whenever you read a palace, read its opposite with it: the palace is how you are in that area, and the opposite palace is the other side always shining in on you. It's also the heaviest supporting player in the San Fang Si Zheng.

The short version:

• Formula: the opposite palace = the palace six steps away, straight across the chart.
• Six fixed pairs: Life–Travel, Siblings–Friends, Spouse–Career, Children–Property, Wealth–Fortune, Health–Parents, the same for everyone.
• Weight: the palace itself most, the opposite next, the trines after that.
• Three uses: read the stars shining in, borrow stars for an Empty Palace, and see where Hua Ji clashes.

The six pairs of opposite palaces

The twelve palaces face each other in six pairs. By branch: Zi and Wu, Chou and Wei, Yin and Shen, Mao and You, Chen and Xu, Si and Hai. By palace name, the pairs are the same for everyone:

The palace-name pairs never change, because the order of the twelve palaces is fixed; the branch pairs never change, because the squares are fixed. The only thing that varies is which branch your Life Palace falls on.

These pairs are handy: when a palace doesn't make sense, turn to the one across from it and you'll often find the other half of the answer. For example, if the Spouse Palace star is all about feelings but the Career Palace star opposite is a hard worker, this person's love-life challenge is often "work eats the time."

How the opposite palace affects a palace

The stars in the opposite palace "shine in." Helpful stars opposite are said to support, giving the palace extra backing; challenging stars opposite are said to clash, adding pressure. The opposite palace is weaker than the palace itself and stronger than the trines, so the reading order is: the palace, the opposite palace, then the two trines.

The trines and the opposite together make the San Fang Si Zheng; the next-door relationship is flanking, a different thing.

Main stars that always face each other

The main stars are placed together, so once certain stars sit in a palace, what sits opposite is fixed too. Across all twelve layouts:

"Alone" means that star is the only main star in the palace. "Any other pair" means these twelve: Tian Ji with Tai Yin, Ju Men or Tian Liang; Tai Yang with Tai Yin, Ju Men or Tian Liang; Tian Tong with Tai Yin, Ju Men or Tian Liang; and Tan Lang with Zi Wei, Wu Qu or Lian Zhen. Opposite each of them is always an Empty Palace.

The two pairs people talk about most:

• Qi Sha opposite Tian Fu: anyone with Qi Sha in the Life Palace always has Tian Fu in the Travel Palace. The one who charges faces the one who guards the treasury.
• Po Jun opposite Tian Xiang: anyone with Po Jun in the Life Palace always has Tian Xiang in the Travel Palace. The one who tears down faces the one who keeps order.

The placement rules fix this, and it explains why Qi Sha and Po Jun people are so often told to "keep a way back before setting out": the answer sits in the palace across.

Reading one chart

Say Zi Wei sits in Wu and the Life Palace falls in Chen, with Qi Sha alone. By the table, the Travel Palace opposite (Xu) must hold Tian Fu; on this chart it's Lian Zhen with Tian Fu.

• Life: Qi Sha: decides fast, charges ahead, dislikes being tied down.
• Travel: Lian Zhen and Tian Fu: once out in the world, measured and careful to hold on to things; plays by the rules with people and keeps resources in reserve.

Together: someone with a lot of drive who, outside, knows when to pull back and plans a way out. From the Life Palace alone you'd think they just charge straight through; the opposite palace shows the other side.

An Empty Palace borrows from its opposite

When a palace has no main star, the classics say to read the main stars opposite. Volume two of the Quan Shu:

If the palace itself has no stars, look only at which stars are in the opposite palace.

The borrowed stars keep their character, but their strength is discounted. Because of how the main stars are laid out, the palace opposite an Empty Palace always has main stars, always a pair, so there's always something to borrow.

Hua Ji clashes with the opposite palace

When Hua Ji (Transformation of Obstruction) sits in a palace, it also faces the palace across from it, which practitioners call "Ji clashing." When reading Hua Ji, look not only at where it sits but at what it clashes with:

The table runs one way, but it works in reverse too: Hua Ji in the Travel Palace clashes with the Life Palace. The palace being clashed is often where the pressure is felt, but it's a heads-up, not a verdict: knowing where pressure will show up lets you leave room for it. This is covered in full in the lesson Hua Ji clashes across the chart.

The flying stars school also has the idea of an "inward self-transformation": a star transformed by the opposite palace's stem that lands in this palace, read as outside forces pushing into it.

Why it's called a clash: the six branch clashes

Among the Earthly Branches, Zi-Wu, Chou-Wei, Yin-Shen, Mao-You, Chen-Xu and Si-Hai clash in pairs, called the six clashes, and they are exactly the six pairs facing each other across the chart. That's why the classics say challenging stars opposite "clash," while helpful stars "shine on" or "support." Same position: a helpful star lights it up, a challenging star bumps into it. The difference is which star sits across.

Time layers have opposites too

Whichever palace a Decade Luck or Annual Luck reaches is read as the Life Palace for that period, and its opposite as that period's Travel Palace. For example, if the Decade Life Palace reaches your natal Spouse Palace, its opposite is your natal Career Palace, and for those ten years how you are out in the world is often tied up with work. When reading luck periods, look at the palace first, then its opposite, just as with the natal chart.

Common misunderstandings

• The opposite palace still describes you. The Travel Palace is how you are out in the world, the Friends Palace how you are in a crowd. The lead is still you, not the people you meet.
• The opposite palace's stars don't replace the palace's own. When the palace has a main star, the opposite only shines in, with less weight; only an Empty Palace borrows the opposite's main stars wholesale.
• Being clashed by Hua Ji doesn't mean something will go wrong. The clashed palace is where pressure tends to show up. It's a heads-up, not a verdict.