Major Luck Cycles and Annual Years

The BaZi chart is the innate structure; Major Luck Cycles and Annual Years are the time activations — the "time" dimension of fate calculation lies entirely here.

How Major Luck Cycles Are Arranged

• Starting from the Month Pillar: Yang males and Yin females arrange forward, Yin males and Yang females arrange backward (same origin as the direction rule for Zi Wei Dou Shu Decade Limits)
• Each Major Luck Cycle governs ten years, with the Heavenly Stem and Earthly Branch each governing five years (the Heavenly Stem governs the first five years, emphasizing the overall structure; the Earthly Branch governs the latter five years, emphasizing the foundation)
• The starting age is calculated from birth to the nearest solar term

Annual Year

The effect of each year's Heavenly Stem and Earthly Branch on the natal chart is "activation":

• When the Annual Year forms combinations, clashes, punishments, or harms with the natal chart's stems and branches → personnel and events in the corresponding palace change that year
• When the Annual Year activates the Favorable Element → smooth sailing; when it activates the Unfavorable Element → obstacles
• The Major Luck Cycle sets the ten-year tone, while the Annual Year determines the specific timing — a bad Annual Year within a good Major Luck Cycle is a bumpy ride, while a good Annual Year within a bad Major Luck Cycle is a breather

Three-Layer Layered Analysis

Natal chart (pattern quality) × Major Luck Cycle (ten-year trend) × Annual Year (that year's activation)

Only by considering all three together can specific events be judged: looking only at the Annual Year without the Major Luck Cycle will exaggerate the good or bad of a single year; looking only at the Major Luck Cycle without the natal chart will misjudge the foundation of the pattern. The Annual Year panel on this site unfolds year by year according to this approach.