Identify the board conditions
Chart time, time zone, yin or yang arrangement, cycle number, and calculation school can change the board. List these before the interpretation. Near an hour or solar-term boundary, keeping two candidate conditions is more honest than hiding input uncertainty.
A focus gives the question a place
Each palace contains several layers. Without a specific question, every box can produce a loose statement. Assign the person or matter to a focus palace, then read its condition, door-star combination, and upper-lower stem relation.
Return one palace to the network
A palace cannot be judged by one symbol. Its opposite, adjacent palaces, Chief and Messenger, and seasonal context change the emphasis. A clear report shows the focus-palace evidence first, then explains support and constraint elsewhere.
- Palace holding the question focus
- Door, star, spirit, and stems there
- Positions of Chief and Messenger
- Opposite palace and seasonal relations
Translate patterns into conditions
A supportive pattern does not mean act immediately, and obstruction does not mean abandon the matter. Useful guidance names the available condition, main resistance, information to verify, and the signal that would trigger a new judgment.