At a glance
- Basic diagram
- Center plus eight sectors form nine palaces
Definition and scope
Flying Stars relates spatial sectors to period and annual classifications. Its stars are numbered symbolic categories rather than astronomical bodies moving through rooms. Materials sharing the name can disagree about facing or period assignment. Identify inputs and chart layers before assuming that two diagrams use the same method.
Structure and details
A nine-palace diagram has a center and eight surrounding sectors. Many contemporary versions distinguish period, mountain, facing and annual layers, so several numbers can occupy a sector. Label each layer explicitly. A historical passage on nine-palace star arrangement does not by itself specify every modern school’s complete algorithm.
Example and history
The historical text Zizi Jin records nine-palace arrangement and period terminology. Compare an empty directional grid with a dated numerical layer to distinguish space from time. If a building’s period input is unknown, record that uncertainty. Do not invent a completion date to make the diagram appear definitive.
Contexts and limits
The diagrams document numerical spatial imagination, not reliable predictions of accidents, disease or profit. An illness-associated symbol does not establish a medical hazard in its sector. Actual conditions require investigation of air, moisture, equipment and construction. Where traditions disagree, present their conventions and source limits instead of an appearance of certainty.
References & further reading
Historical sources document ideas and rules of their time, not empirical proof of predictive accuracy. Source notes identify the nature and scope of each reference.
- 字字金：九宮挨星Primary / tradition source
Documents nine-palace star arrangement and period terminology; it should not be equated with every modern Flying Stars school.
- British Museum: geomantic compassesInstitutional / reference source
Museum documentation of circular geomantic compasses in rectangular wooden frames, supporting material history.