Five-Element Bureau — The Chart's Base and Its First Decade

The Five-Element Bureau (五行局) is the chart's overall foundation. There are five — Water Two, Wood Three, Metal Four, Earth Five and Fire Six — determined from the stem and branch of the Life Palace.

One point matters most here: the number in the Bureau's name is the age when its ten-year cycles begin. Wood Three opens its first decade at age 3, Metal Four at 4 and Fire Six at 6. This explains why each timeline begins at that particular age.

A Fire Six chart therefore reaches each turning point three years later than a Wood Three chart. That is neither good nor bad: a later starting point carries each decade later into life, while an earlier one moves into the next phase sooner.

The Bureau's element also colors the character of the chart. It is not used like BaZi's favorable element, where you try to fill what is missing. In Zi Wei Dou Shu, the Five-Element Bureau works more like the scale that divides the cycles of your life.