Seven Regulators & Four Shadows
Eastern Classical Astrology — real bodies, real degrees.
Every step of the reasoning can be checked against the sky.
What this tradition is
Seven Regulators & Four Shadows (七政四餘) is the classical Chinese tradition of natal astrology. A chart is cast for the moment and place of birth and read from eleven bodies: the seven regulators — Sun, Moon, Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn — and the Four Shadows, four calculated sensitive points derived from the Moon's orbit.
Two things set it apart from the Chinese systems better known abroad. First, the positions are astronomical: every body in the chart is where it actually stood in the sky, verifiable against any modern ephemeris. Second, it reads a dual coordinate system — the 28 Lunar Mansions for the stellar matrices, and the tropical ecliptic for planetary configurations — which is why a mansion, not a sign alone, can decide how a chart resolves.
Its documented lineage begins with the Five Planet Divination (五星占), excavated from the Mawangdui Silk Texts and dated to about 168 BCE — three hundred and eighteen years before Ptolemy's Tetrabiblos. Read the full origin story →
Start here
Free Chart Calculator
Cast your natal chart from real planetary positions — tropical zodiac, whole sign houses, true solar time.
Glossary
Forty-five terms of the tradition, defined in English with the Chinese original beside each.
The 28 Lunar Mansions
The stellar matrices this system reads — the coordinate layer Western astrology does not have.
FAQ
Co-charts, twins, birth-time accuracy, and what a reading can and cannot tell you.
Which regulator governs your chart?
Every chart has a Stellar Regent (命元星) — the one body that governs the reading and decides whether any other body helps or harms within that chart. It is the reason two people born a day apart, whose charts look nearly identical, can live opposite lives. Cast your chart first, then read the portrait of your own regent.
- The Sun Person — The Destined Hero
- The Moon Person — Gentle and Soft
- The Mars Person — Fulfilling the Self
- The Mercury Person — A Flash of Brilliance
- The Jupiter Person — Looking Toward the Future
- The Venus Person — Living in the Present
- The Saturn Person — Integrity Above All
If you already practise astrology
- Seven Regulators & Four Shadows vs. Western Astrology
- Seven Regulators & Four Shadows vs. Vedic Astrology
- Same Chart, Different Fates: How Seven Regulators Solves the Co-Chart Problem
- Why Learn Seven Regulators & Four Shadows?
Work with me
I am Yubo — seven years in practice, with close to a thousand natal charts verified against real lives. Readings and courses are taught in Mandarin; written material is published in both English and Traditional Chinese.