Seven Regulators & Four Shadows

Seven Regulators & Four Shadows (七政四餘) is the complete system name for the tradition of Eastern Classical Astrology documented in China since at least the Mawangdui Silk Texts (c. 168 BCE).

Seven Regulators (七政) refers to the Sun, Moon, Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn — the seven visible celestial bodies that govern different domains of human life and cosmic regulation. The term "Regulator" reflects their role as active forces that order natural and human affairs.

Four Shadows (四餘) refers to four calculated astronomical sensitive points — orbital nodes and apogee points — that represent non-mainstream, hidden forces operating alongside the Regulators. Each Shadow functions as a Shadow Regent: the non-orthodox counterpart to one of the planetary Regulators.

The system uses a dual coordinate framework: the 28 Lunar Mansions (equatorial coordinates, precession-corrected) for stellar matrices, and the Tropical Ecliptic for planetary positions and calculated sensitive points.