A Forward-Derivation Method for Annual Period Cycles

Recently I examined a formula and found it quite puzzling. Its method begins the Upper Yuan from One White, the Middle Yuan from Four Green, and the Lower Yuan from Seven Red. The usual method lays out the Purple-White stars counting in reverse, yet this formula instead lays them out forward for yang and reverse for yin — a principle that seems quite inconsistent, as if violating the logic of mutual generation within a single qi. According to its method, this being the Lower Yuan one should start from Seven Red. For the Xin-Hai year, Xin has number eight and Hai has number twelve, giving forty-eight — that is, shifted two positions. Counting from Seven Red gives number two, falling in the Li palace, so Lianzhen is used as the beginning star.

The rough calculation is as follows:

153
297
648

Nine Purple is in the center, obtaining the period: this year the culture and electronics industries must develop; also meeting the Life Gate, one gains profit — though both Open and Life are spent, so the populace will surely face the peril of unemployment.

If we follow last year:

168
924
573

Two Black lost the period yet still occupies the center, so the economy does not prosper; however the southwest receives Eight White, so growth is rapid. North and south obtain the period, but the wealth star’s qi is in the southeast, so it prospers; Po Jun (Breaker) is in the north, so those who start businesses mostly succeed.