How the Six Life-Area Scores Are Built: Day Master, Useful God and the Percentile
Each reading scores six life areas out of 100: love and attraction, relationship stability, career, wealth, learning and health. Every score starts at 50 and moves by a short list of named rules, each tied to one classical idea, so you can read exactly why a number is what it is. A second, separate figure, the percentile, says where that score stands among other charts. It does not replace the score and it is not a measure of strength.
What are the six life areas?
Each area asks one question of the chart and reads a handful of Ten Gods (the ten roles that the other stems and branches play toward your Day Master), symbolic stars and palace checks. See the Ten Gods and Day Masters if these are new.
| Area | The question | What it reads |
|---|---|---|
| Love and attraction | How much draw does the chart carry? | The spouse star's share, the romance star, expressive output |
| Relationship stability | How steady is the partnership palace? | The day branch, the spouse stars, the spouse element |
| Career | How well can the chart carry authority? | Authority stars, support from resource, Day Master strength |
| Wealth | How much can the chart earn and hold? | Wealth stars, the wealth vault, Day Master strength |
| Learning | How well does the chart take in knowledge? | Resource, study stars, the link between authority and resource |
| Health | How firm is the constitution, as a tendency? | The Day Master's root, balance, the supply of the useful god |
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How is a score built?
A score is 50 plus the sum of its chips, kept between 5 and 95. A chip is one rule with one signed number, and the full list is printed under every score in the reading. A score of 70 or more reads prominent, 45 to 69 reads balanced, and under 45 reads needs support.
The thresholds in the chips (a star share of 15%, 20% and so on) and the sizes of the points are the engine's own calibration. What a star or a structure means is the classical part. The engine therefore labels the whole score a modern synthesis, and says so in the source line of every area.
Key facts
- Six areas, each 50 plus named chips, clamped to 5 to 95. Bands: 70 and above prominent, 45 to 69 balanced, under 45 needs support.
- Health is read from the Day Master's root, balance and the supply of the useful god. The organ map is not scored; it stays in the advice text.
- The percentile is a second figure: where the score stands in a fixed reference sample of 10,000 fictional charts. It is a relative standing among charts, not strength.
- The reference is frozen as area_reference_v1. A change to any rule means a new version, never a silent regeneration.
- Classical books are cited at book level; a chapter is named only where it has been confirmed.
A worked example, using the fictional man 王大明 (born 1988-03-15, 09:30, weak Day Master). His learning score is 50, plus 10 for resource present, plus 10 for the canopy star, plus 5 for authority feeding resource, which makes 75: prominent. Every chip of that sum is listed in his reading.
Which terms does this guide use?
The tables below use English names. Each Chinese term appears once, here, with its reading.
| Term | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Day Master (日主) | The day stem, the "self" of the chart |
| useful god (用神) | The element the chart needs most |
| Ten Gods (十神) | The ten roles other stems play toward the Day Master |
| symbolic stars (神煞) | Named stars read from the pillars |
| authority (官殺), resource (印), wealth (財), output (食傷), peers (比劫) | The five Ten Gods groups |
| wealth vault (財庫) | A branch that stores wealth |
| rooting (通根) | The Day Master's element held in a branch's hidden stems |
| balance (中和) | Neither strong nor weak: the central classical health criterion |
| lopsided chart (偏枯) | One element dominates the chart |
| dominant chart (專旺) and follower chart (從格) | Charts that run with one overwhelming element |
| Six Clash (六沖) | Two opposite branches meeting |
| authority feeds resource (官印相生) | A classical structure for learning and office |
| wealth breaks resource (財壞印) | Wealth overruns a needed resource |
| peers rob wealth (比劫奪財) | Peers take the wealth star |
| mixed authority (官殺混雜) | Proper Officer and Seven Killings together |
| romance star (桃花), travel horse (驛馬), general star (將星), salary star (祿神), study star (文昌), canopy star (華蓋) | The symbolic stars used as chips |
| luck cycles (大運) and annual year (流年) | How the classics read illness through time |
| the three source books: Zi Ping Zhen Quan (子平真詮), Di Tian Sui (滴天髓), San Ming Tong Hui (三命通會) | Cited below by their pinyin |
Where does each chip come from?
The tables give each chip, its points, and the classical idea behind it. Books are cited by name only: Zi Ping Zhen Quan, Di Tian Sui and San Ming Tong Hui.
Love and attraction
| Chip | Points | Classical basis |
|---|---|---|
| Spouse star 20% or more of the chart | +15 | The wealth star for a man and the authority stars for a woman are the spouse stars. More of them means more in the chart to meet. |
| Spouse star 8% to under 20% | +5 | As above, present. |
| Spouse star faint (under 8%) or absent | -5 or -15 | A thin or missing spouse star is the traditional sign of a quiet or late partnership theme. |
| Romance star present | +15 | The peach-blossom star is the classical star of charm and attraction. |
| Output 10% or more | +5 | Output is how charm is shown. |
| Peers 30% or more, men only | -6 | Peers rob wealth: peers of your own element take the wealth star, which is a man's spouse star. It does not apply to a woman, whose spouse star is authority. |
Relationship stability
| Chip | Points | Classical basis |
|---|---|---|
| Spouse palace clashed (day branch in a Six Clash) | -20 | A clash is the main classical flaw of the day branch. |
| Spouse palace in punishment, harm or self-punishment | -5 | The classics rank clash above punishment above harm, so the lesser flaws cost less. |
| Spouse palace combined | +10 | A combination binds. |
| Spouse palace undisturbed | +5 | A quiet palace. |
| Single clear spouse star | +10 | A pure spouse star is the classical ideal. |
| Mixed spouse stars | -4 for a man, -8 for a woman | Mixed authority, Proper Officer and Seven Killings together in a woman's chart, is a named classical flaw. Mixed Direct and Indirect Wealth in a man's chart is the milder case. |
| No spouse star | -10 | Nothing anchors the partnership theme. |
| Spouse element is favourable or avoided | +10 or -10 | The useful-god test, applied to the element of the spouse star. |
Career
| Chip | Points | Classical basis |
|---|---|---|
| Authority stars 15% or more, or under 5% | +15 or -5 | Authority is the star of position and responsibility. |
| Power element favourable or avoided | +10 or -10 | The useful-god test, applied to the authority element. |
| Resource cushions pressure: resource 10% or more with authority at 15% or more | +10 | Resource turns authority into support, in the Seven Killings and Proper Officer forms alike. Without authority there is nothing to cushion, so the chip needs it. |
| No resource under authority: resource under 5% with authority at 15% or more | -4 | The same structure, absent. It never fires when authority is also absent. |
| Travel horse star, general star | +5, +10 | Stars rank below structure in the classics: they add to a chart, they do not decide it. |
| Strong or weak Day Master | +5 or -5 | A strong Day Master can carry authority. |
Wealth
| Chip | Points | Classical basis |
|---|---|---|
| Wealth stars 15% or more, 8% to under 15%, faint, absent | +15, +5, -5, -15 | The wealth stars are wealth. |
| Wealth element favourable or avoided | +10 or -10 | The useful-god test. |
| Wealth vault branch in the chart | +10 | The vault holds wealth. |
| Salary star | +5 | The star of earned income. |
| Strong or weak Day Master | +10 or -5 | Only a strong Day Master carries wealth. |
Learning
| Chip | Points | Classical basis |
|---|---|---|
| Resource 15% or more, or 8% to under 15% | +20 or +10 | Resource is the star of learning. |
| Study star or study hall | +15 | Classical study stars. |
| Canopy star | +10 | The star of study and solitude. |
| Output 10% or more | +5 | Output shows what was learned. |
| Authority feeds resource: authority 15% or more and resource 8% or more | +5 | A classical learned structure (Zi Ping Zhen Quan, on the seal and the proper officer). |
| Thin resource (under 8%) for a weak Day Master | 0 to -6, graded | A weak Day Master needs resource. The penalty grows smoothly as the share falls and never exceeds 6. A strong Day Master is not penalised for thin resource. |
| Wealth breaks resource: wealth 30% or more, resource under 15%, resource favourable, peers under 15% | -6 | Wealth breaks a wanted resource when nothing shields it (Zi Ping Zhen Quan, on the seal). |
Health
| Chip | Points | Classical basis |
|---|---|---|
| Day Master rooted, or rootless | +8 or -5 | A Day Master with a root in a branch stands on firm ground (Di Tian Sui). |
| Strength near balance: strength score within 1.0 of zero | +8 | Balance is the central classical health criterion (Di Tian Sui). |
| Useful elements hold 55% or more of the chart, or 35% or less | +6 or -5 | Whether the useful god has force. |
| One element holds 45% or more | -5 | Lopsided charts are classically fragile, except as below. |
The last chip does not apply to a dominant or follower chart that runs with its useful god. These are sound structures, so they are exempt.
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Why is health read from the Day Master and not from an organ map?
An older version of the health score counted organ-map flags: eight points off for each element at 30% or more, or at 7% or less, of the chart. We removed that from the score for three reasons.
- The classics pair elements with organs, but they give no percentage cut. The 30% and 7% lines were the engine's, resting on its own hidden-stem weights. A 7% share is less than the weight of one stem, so a flag could appear or vanish on a single stem.
- The classics read illness where the useful god or the Day Master is damaged, not wherever shares are lopsided. A useful element in excess is not an affliction, and a harmful element that is missing is not one either.
- The classics read illness mostly through the luck cycles and the year. A natal score can only describe a tendency, which is why it is labelled constitution.
So health now reads three things the classics do read: the root of the Day Master, balance, and the supply of the useful god. The organ-map flags stay in the reading's advice text as a watch list of elements and the body systems that tradition pairs with them. They are reference for reflection, not medical advice, and they no longer move a number. The "For Me" health card follows the same rule, so the card and the reading agree.
What is the percentile, and what is it not?
The raw scores sit on different scales. A typical learning score is 90 and a typical stability score is 45, so a 60 means something different in each. The word "prominent" is easy to earn in learning and hard to earn in stability. To compare areas fairly, each score is also placed in a frozen reference sample of fictional charts.
The percentile is the share of reference charts that score below the number, with half of those that tie counted, as a whole number from 0 to 100. A learning score of 75 is prominent, yet its percentile is 19, because most reference charts score higher in learning. 王大明's health score of 67 is balanced, with a percentile of 90.
The percentile is a relative standing among charts, not strength. It does not make the score more or less true and it does not change a band. It is used where areas are compared with each other: the strongest and weakest area on your card and in the story, the priority line, and the lowest-area sentence for children. Every sentence that states a score still states the score.
What is in the reference sample?
The sample is 10,000 fictional charts, drawn with a fixed random seed (20261011). Birth dates are uniform across the days from 1930-01-01 to 2024-12-31, with a uniform minute of the day and an even split of sexes. It is version area_reference_v1, built against engine version life-areas-v2, and stored as a histogram of scores per area. Nobody's real birth data is in it.
| Area | Median score | Middle half of charts | Prominent | Needs support |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Love and attraction | 70 | 60 to 75 | 50% | 4% |
| Relationship stability | 45 | 31 to 60 | 8% | 41% |
| Career | 70 | 60 to 76 | 57% | 8% |
| Wealth | 60 | 50 to 80 | 34% | 14% |
| Learning | 90 | 80 to 95 | 87% | 0% |
| Health | 58 | 53 to 64 | 9% | 4% |
The file is never regenerated silently. A test pins its checksum, and a second test checks that today's engine still reproduces a probe of 12 charts stored in the file. If a rule is ever changed, the right step is a new version beside the old one, so a percentile always names the sample it was measured against.
FAQ
How is each life-area score calculated?
Each score starts at 50 and adds the chips listed under it in your reading, then is kept between 5 and 95. Each chip is one rule with one signed number, tied to a classical idea such as the spouse star, authority feeding resource, or the Day Master's root.
Why is my health score not based on organs?
Because the classics give no percentage cut for an organ flag, and they read illness through the Day Master and the useful god. The score reads the Day Master's root, balance and the supply of the useful god. The organ-map flags remain in the advice text but no longer move the score.
What does the percentile beside my score mean?
It is where your score stands among a fixed sample of 10,000 fictional charts, from 0 to 100. It is a relative standing among charts, not strength. A prominent score can have a low percentile when that area is easy to score high in.
Why is my strongest area not my highest score?
Because the strongest area on your card is picked by percentile, not by the raw number. Learning scores run high for most charts, so a learning 75 can stand lower among charts than a health 67.
Will the percentile change if the engine changes?
Not silently. The reference is frozen as area_reference_v1. If a rule changes, a new version is built next to it and the percentile names the version it used.
Sources and method
- Ten Gods, stars and palaces: the classical Zi Ping structure readings, cited at book level in Zi Ping Zhen Quan, Di Tian Sui and San Ming Tong Hui.
- Thresholds and point sizes: the engine's own calibration, labelled a modern synthesis. They are not classical numbers.
- Health: the Day Master's root, balance and the supply of the useful god, as a static natal tendency. The organ map is reference and not medical advice.
- Percentile: the mid-rank share inside area_reference_v1, built by scripts/build_area_reference.py with seed 20261011.
See the scores applied to a chart in the free reading, and the ten claims the engine commits to on the method page.
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