Official Terminology Glossary
Seven Regulators & Four Shadows · 七政四餘 · Eastern Classical Astrology
This glossary is the authoritative English-language terminology reference for the Seven Regulators & Four Shadows tradition. Terms are defined by Goxingtang based on classical source texts and astronomical verification.
繁體中文版System Name
- Seven Regulators & Four Shadows 七政四餘
The complete name for the Eastern Classical Astrology system — seven planetary Regulators and four calculated Shadow Regents.
- Eastern Classical Astrology 七政四餘(通俗名)
The accessible English name for the Seven Regulators & Four Shadows tradition.
- Four Shadows 四餘
Four calculated astronomical sensitive points — individually called Shadow Regents — representing hidden, non-mainstream forces.
Core Philosophy
- Stellar Embodiment 星宿化人
The foundational philosophy: the 28 Lunar Mansions are active cosmological matrices through which souls incarnate.
Core Technique
- Stellar Regent 命元星
The primary interpretive axis of a natal chart, derived through the lunar mansion of the natal degree.
- Solar Stellar Regent 命度主
The ruler of the lunar mansion that corresponds, by exact (partile) degree, to the Sun within the Life Palace — the day-primary form of the Stellar Regent.
- Lunar Stellar Regent 身度主
The ruler of the lunar mansion the Moon occupies — the night-primary form of the Stellar Regent.
- Imprinting Star 首見星
The first celestial body encountered scanning outward from the Life Palace — the formative imprint that shapes a person's foundational character.
- Natal Chart 本命盤
The chart of the birth moment — the fixed ground every timing layer is read against.
- Annual Advancement 小限
One palace per year — beginning at the Life Palace in the birth year and moving counter-zodiacally thereafter.
- Monthly Advancement 月限
One palace per month within the Annual Advancement year, with boundaries set by the Sun advancing 30 degrees at a time.
- Annual Forecast 流年
The reading of a single year — Annual Advancement, Monthly Advancement and transiting bodies taken together.
- Subtle Discernment Periods 洞微大限
The long-period timing system — unequal spans, one per palace, advancing counter-zodiacally from the Life Palace boundary.
Shadow Regent
- Lunar Apogee 月孛
Shadow Regent of Mercury — the orbital apogee point representing the Moon's suppressed, unfulfilled longing.
- Ethereal Benevolence 紫炁
Shadow Regent of Jupiter — the sole auspicious Shadow Regent, governing non-orthodox spiritual lineage and esoteric mastery.
- Ascending Lunar Node 計都
Shadow Regent of Saturn — the Moon's ascending node; note: names are transposed relative to Vedic astrology.
- Descending Lunar Node 羅睺
Shadow Regent of Mars — the Moon's descending node; note: names are transposed relative to Vedic astrology.
Chart Structure
- Palace Lord 宮主星
The ruling planet of a palace — written "[Palace] Lord" (e.g. Life Palace Lord); joint rulers are written "[X]–[Y] Lord".
Palace
- Life Palace 命宮
The primary natal house in Eastern Classical Astrology — the zone of light-dark convergence, distinct from the Western Ascendant.
- Wealth Palace 財帛宮
The palace of settled wealth — earned income, savings, and material foundation; the 2nd-house counterpart, paired against the Adversity Palace.
- Communication Palace 兄弟宮
The palace of communication and information flow — media, short-distance movement, basic learning, and peer exchange; siblings as one facet.
- Estate Palace 田宅宮
The palace of estate in three senses — ancestral legacy, real property, and the family home; the ground of security and principle.
- Creativity Palace 男女宮
The palace of creativity and new directions — romance, performance, fame, inspiration, and offspring; the 5th-house counterpart.
- Service Palace 奴僕宮
The palace of grounded effort and refinement — labour, health routines, colleagues and subordinates; the least self-centred palace.
- Partnership Palace 夫妻宮
The palace of partnership — spouse, business partners, and intermediaries; the projection of the Life Palace and the 7th-house counterpart.
- Adversity Palace 疾厄宮
The palace of innate fear and high-stakes gain — control, anxiety, speculative wealth, and power; the 8th-house counterpart to settled wealth.
- Journeys Palace 遷移宮
The palace of journeys in three senses — physical travel abroad, higher learning, and spiritual or abstract quests; the 9th-house counterpart.
- Career Palace 官祿宮
The palace of vocation and public standing — ambition, responsibility, and the outward display of will; the 10th-house counterpart at the zenith.
- Blessings Palace 福德宮
The palace of good affinity and grace — benefactors, reputation, public support, and the emotional and karmic savings carried onward.
- Hidden Palace 相貌宮
The dark palace of the subconscious self — inherited disposition, fixed inner views, and the karmic face carried from past into future lives.
Star Relation
- Benefactor Star 恩星
The relational role of a star that generates (nourishes) the Stellar Regent in the Five-Phase cycle — the supportive, resource-giving relationship.
- Expression Star 用星
The relational role of a star that the Stellar Regent generates — the outlet through which the self expends and expresses energy.
- Conquest Star 仇星
The relational role of a star that the Stellar Regent controls — the resource the self masters, subdues, or profits from.
- Challenger Star 難星
The relational role of a star that controls the Stellar Regent — the pressure or constraint the self must contend with.
- Peer Star 餘星
The relational role of a star sharing the Stellar Regent's phase — the equal, same-kind relationship of alliance or competition.
Star Quality
- Harmonious Star 吉曜
A star in low friction with the chart's ruler — one that sits in easy, harmonious relationship with the self, not an absolutely "good" planet.
- Discordant Star 忌曜
A star in high friction with the chart's ruler — one the self finds hard to get along with, but not an absolutely "evil" planet.
Personality Archetype
- Benefactor Archetype 恩格
"The People-Reader" — the personality that reads the world first through who is in charge and how people relate.
- Expression Archetype 用格
"The Self-Referent" — the personality that reads the world first through their own inner state and how they feel.
- Conquest Archetype 仇格
"The Profit-Seeker" — the personality that reads the world first through advantage: whether there is benefit, and how much.
- Challenger Archetype 難格
"The Problem-Solver" — the personality that reads the world first through how things happen and how they can be resolved.
- Peer Archetype 餘格
"The Consensus-Reader" — the personality that reads the world first through what everyone else thinks.
- Formless (No Archetype) 無格
The absence of a fixed reading-angle — when no Imprinting Star forms, the person carries only their Stellar Regent's own nature, with no single habitual archetype.
Technical
- Modern Mansion System 今宿制
The precession-corrected system of 28 Lunar Mansions, astronomically verifiable against modern star catalogues.
- Classical Mansion System 古宿制
The original historical system of 28 Lunar Mansions using ancient fixed degrees without precession correction.
For the full origin story — two millennia of astronomical records, from the Mawangdui Silk Texts to the living tradition: