Frequently Asked Questions - The Imperial Astrologer

For setting Preferences in The Imperial Astrologer New Year charts would you suggest using Local Civil Time or Local Standard Time or one of the others?

For Calandar do you suggest using Chinese Tradional or Local based on Standard Time Zone or Local based on Local Mean Time?

For setting Preferences in The Imperial Astrologer New Year charts would you suggest using Local Civil Time or Local Standard Time or one of the others?

I always suggest using sundial time (local apparent time). The reason for that is that Chinese astrology evolved as an observational practice. The ancient Chinese did not have clocks and used the Sun and the stars to reckon their time. It seems to prove out in modern practice.

Malvin Artley, Chinese Astrologer and Co-Author

For Calandar do you suggest using Chinese Tradional or Local based on Standard Time Zone or Local based on Local Mean Time?

For Four Pillars work it is best to use the traditional calendar. That is what the Chinese almanacs use and that is what has been used for centuries. All the other options were included in the Imperial Astrologer for purposes of research and personal preference. We need to be clear, though, that tradition in Chinese astrology states that the traditional calendar and sundial time are what was used for centuries. Oddly, the Four Pillars are based on the solar calendar, whereas the commencement of the New Year is always taken as the New Moon in Aquarius--therefore, the New Year chart always uses the lunar calendar, whereas a person's Four Pillar reports are always based upon the solar calendar. I have never really worked out why they do that, but they do. It has made for some interesting discussions in one of my classes because one of the students was born just before the Li Chun, but the New Year that year was before the Li Chun (a Bright Year). Her Pillars were completely different in the two systems.

Malvin Artley, Chinese Astrologer and Co-Author

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