What is Xiao Hao?

A subscription you forgot to cancel, takeout five times a week, an hour of scrolling on the commute: each one is small, and then the month-end total gives you a jolt. Xiao Hao (Minor Drain) is about exactly this kind of scattered loss. There are two Xiao Hao on the chart; this article is about the one in the Twelve Year Gods (Sui Qian), which moves with the year. To find which palace this year's Xiao Hao falls in, draw your chart.

What the Year God Xiao Hao is: sixth in the set

Xiao Hao is sixth in the Twelve Year Gods, five palaces on from Sui Jian, after Guan Fu and before Da Hao. In a Zi year Xiao Hao is in Si, in a Chou year in Wu, and so on; in 2027, a Ding Wei year, it's in Zi.

In the Annual Luck, Sui Jian sits in the Annual Life Palace, and five palaces on is the Annual Friends Palace. Get-togethers with friends, social obligations and splitting group purchases are often where Xiao Hao leaks most that year. Xiao Hao also forms one trine with Hui Qi and Tian De.

The Xiao Hao and Da Hao discussed in volume two of the Zi Wei Dou Shu Quan Shu (The Complete Book of Zi Wei Dou Shu) belong to the Bo Shi set; the Quan Shu has no entry on this Year God.

What the Year God Xiao Hao means, in plain words

Small sums and odd bits of time tend to slip away unnoticed; keep accounts and plan your schedule, and you'll see the leaks. It's about losses that are small in size but frequent, not one big loss. The upside is that it's easy to deal with: once you can see it, you can stop it.

Xiao Hao in key palaces

• Life Palace: your energy is easily scattered by small things this year. Each day, pick the one or two most important things and do them first.
• Wealth Palace: small purchases add up most easily. Track your spending in an app for a month, and you'll know where the money goes.
• Career Palace: your time is easily chopped up by meetings and messages. Block out focus time where no one can interrupt.
• Spouse Palace: more small outings and small expenses together. Set a budget together, so you can enjoy it without guilt.
• Friends Palace: lots of get-togethers and small gifts. Do what you can afford; you don't need to show up to every one.
• Health Palace: your energy gets slowly worn down by small things. Scroll less before bed and turn in a little earlier.

Not the same as Xiao Hao in the Twelve Erudite Gods

The fourth of the Twelve Erudite Gods (Bo Shi) is also called Xiao Hao. It is counted from Lu Cun, never moves for life, and says that palace is prone to small drains by nature: time, effort and small sums all count. The Year God Xiao Hao follows Tai Sui and changes position each year; it's that year's reminder. The two mean similar things, and when they meet in the same palace, Xingge gives only the annual line, without repeating it.

Natal and annual, read separately

The natal chart also has a Year God Xiao Hao, placed by your birth-year branch. Xingge treats it as background and doesn't read it separately. The one read is the annual Xiao Hao: on the first day of each lunar year it moves one palace along with Tai Sui, and when you switch the chart to an Annual Luck, it moves over.