How the Major Fortune Cycle and the Annual Fortune Are Arranged: What Really Happens in a Changeover Year
My mother called to say that my cousin was "changing his major fortune cycle this year", and that the family was discussing whether they ought to do something about it.
I asked one question: who calculated it, and from which year does the cycle begin.
There were three seconds of silence on the line, and then she said: "The fortune teller said this year."
That is where the problem lies. A change of cycle is not counted from "this year"; it is counted forward from the moment you were born.
Time in fate calculation comes in three layers
The first layer is the major fortune cycle, one step every ten years. It governs "the underlying colour of these ten years".
The second layer is the annual fortune, which changes with every year — what people usually call "this year's stems and branches". It governs "what happens within this year".
The third layer, in Zi Wei Dou Shu, is called Da Xian, likewise one palace every ten years, a coordinate whose function is close to that of the BaZi major fortune cycle in another system (Source 2).
Only with the three layers stacked together do you get a complete statement. Saying "the cycle changes this year" without giving a specific year and month compresses three layers into a slogan.
Why the timing of a change of cycle differs from person to person
Because it is derived from the moment of birth: which solar term you were born after, and how many days remain until the next one, determine the age at which the cycle begins. Two people born in the same year and month can therefore start their cycles several years apart.
Counting the stem-and-branch year from the Start of Spring is the common practice (some count from the first day of the first lunar month instead, and different tools do not write the rule up in exactly the same way, so check each tool's own statement). In 2026 the Start of Spring falls on 4 February, and the exact moment should be taken from the observatory's publication (Source 3); if you were born before that moment, the stem-and-branch year is still the previous year. Somebody asks this every year: "My birthday is in January — which year does mine count as?" The answer depends on which convention you are using, but it has to be asked clearly, because being one year out shifts the whole fortune-cycle table.
Why a changeover year sounds so frightening
I have come across three kinds of claim: that a change of cycle is bound to bring major events, that investment should be avoided in the changeover year, and that one should "hold back a little" around the change.
What those claims have in common is that they cannot be falsified. In anyone's life there is bound to be some change every ten years: a new job, a move, a marriage, an illness, parents growing old. Attribute any one of them to "the change of cycle" and the story holds together.
What deserves more attention is the order of the narrative. Most people live through the change first and afterwards discover that "that year happened to be a changeover". That is explanation after the fact, not prediction.
My own way of handling this sort of thing is to keep accounts rather than cast charts: write one line for what actually happened each year, and look back after a few years. You will find that the heaviest turning points in your life do not necessarily fall in a changeover year. There is nothing mystical about that conclusion; it only requires records.
So how should you read it
First fix the convention: which tool you are using, whether the boundary is the Start of Spring or the first day of the month, and what age its own algorithm gives for the start of the cycle.
Then look at the layers: first the underlying colour of the ten years (the major fortune cycle), then the specific stems and branches of this year (the annual fortune), and only then the concrete matter. Skip the first two layers and ask "will this year be good?" and nobody can answer.
Finally look for the landing point: every statement has to land on something concrete — work, a relationship, or the body. A judgment that cannot land on anything concrete is no judgment at all.
If you already have a chart, it will give the year in which the cycle begins and the month in which it changes. That number is far more reliable than the four words "changing this year".
Tools on this site (for entertainment)
This site offers an entertainment-oriented process: describe your situation clearly → get a method suggestion → read the chart and the interpretation → export the result if you want to keep it. The content is for entertainment and self-reflection only; it promises no prediction and is not decision advice.
This article was last checked on 19 September 2026. Traditional divination has many schools and a long history, and their formulas and versions do not fully agree; the text relies on publicly verifiable sources, and for dates and calendars please refer to the latest official publication.
Disclaimer: This article covers traditional culture and folk custom. It is for entertainment and self-reflection only, and does not constitute medical, psychological, investment, legal or marital decision advice. Please do not submit sensitive personal information such as ID numbers or detailed addresses. If you experience persistent insomnia, anxiety or physical discomfort, please consult a doctor or a qualified professional.
Sources
- "BaZi" (《八字》) — Wikipedia: https://zh.wikipedia.org/zh-cn/八字 (accessed 19 September 2026)
- "Zi Wei Dou Shu" (《紫微斗数》) — Wikipedia: https://zh.wikipedia.org/zh-cn/紫微斗数 (accessed 19 September 2026)
- Hong Kong Observatory, "Comparison Table of the Gregorian and Lunar Calendars for 2026" (《2026 年公历与农历对照表》), which includes the dates of the twenty-four solar terms: https://www.hko.gov.hk/tc/gts/time/calendar/text/files/T2026c.txt (accessed 19 September 2026)
- Method page on this site: BaZi & Zi Wei Joint Reading: https://zhanbumizhi.top/en/methods/bazi-ziwei (accessed 19 September 2026)