What is Yue Sha?

Yue Sha (Month Sha) is the eleventh of the Twelve General Gods (Jiang Qian). In the palace holding Yue Sha, small frictions come up easily: a remark that rubs you the wrong way, a small thing that doesn't line up, and your mind isn't quite at ease. These frictions are usually minor, and a little understanding gets you past them. It carries very little weight; treat it as a reminder about mood in that palace. To see which palace it falls in for you, draw your chart.

How Yue Sha is placed

Count ten palaces on from Jiang Xing:

• Yin, Wu and Xu years: Chen
• Shen, Zi and Chen years: Xu
• Si, You and Chou years: Wei
• Hai, Mao and Wei years: Chou

So Yue Sha only lands in Chen, Xu, Chou or Wei. In 2026, a Bing Wu year, it is in Chen; in 2027, a Ding Wei year (from February 6, 2027), it is in Chou.

Its name has "month" in it, but it has nothing to do with your birth month or the Monthly Luck; it is placed by the year branch alone. Bazi (Four Pillars) has a separate Yue Sha that goes by month: the San Ming Tong Hui (a Ming-dynasty classic of Bazi) puts it in Chou for Yin, Wu and Xu months, and it is not the same system as this one. For the Monthly Luck, Xingge's detailed chart has its own monthly layer.

What Yue Sha means

Xingge reads it like this: small frictions come easily, and your mind isn't quite at ease; a little understanding gets you through.

The palace directly opposite Yue Sha always holds Hua Gai. In the Hua Gai palace you want to go at your own pace; the Yue Sha palace is often where other people's pace doesn't match yours. Read the two together to see where you need your own space this year and where you need to give a little more. When friction comes, first sort out whether it's about the issue or just the mood of the moment. Often, sleeping on it and talking the next day is enough.

Yue Sha in key palaces

Using the annual set:

• Life Palace: your mood tends to swing this year. Make fewer decisions when you're tired, and let yourself settle first.
• Spouse Palace: more bickering over small things. Stick to the issue at hand and don't drag up the past.
• Siblings Palace: disagreements with siblings or close peers come easily. Leave a little room in what you say.
• Career Palace: more small frictions among colleagues. Be clear about who does what, and there will be fewer misunderstandings.
• Property Palace: household chores can spark arguments. Agree in advance how chores and expenses are split.

Natal and annual, read separately

The natal Yue Sha sits in the same palace for life; the annual set is placed again each year by the year's branch. Xingge's palace readings only use the annual set, in the "this year" part of the reading. If the same palace also holds Hui Qi of the Twelve Year Gods (Sui Qian) this year, both are about feeling low, and can be read together as "look at it from another angle, and the gloom lifts."

The Twelve General Gods as a set are not in the Zi Wei Dou Shu Quan Shu (The Complete Book of Zi Wei Dou Shu), and there is no Quan Shu text on Yue Sha. Xingge follows the standard placement and reading.