The Four Transformations Disagree on Three Stems: 戊, 庚 and 壬
The ten-stem four-transformation table looks fixed until you compare editions: three stems differ between the standard table and the Zhongzhou (Wang Tingzhi) table. This page shows the exact rows that differ and what changes on a chart.
Direct answer
The standard ten-stem four-transformation table and the Zhongzhou (Wang Tingzhi) table agree on seven stems and differ on three: 戊 (科: 右弼 vs 太阳), 庚 (科: 太阴 vs 天府) and 壬 (科: 左辅 vs 天府). The 禄, 权 and 忌 columns are identical for those same stems; only the 科 star moves. Because 科 marks reputation, study and documentation, the practical effect is a different star wearing the 科 transformation — which changes how the chart explains recognition and methodology, not the amount of fortune.
Key terms in this page
- 四化 (four transformations)(sì huà)
- — 禄/权/科/忌 — four stars transformed by a stem's energy; the backbone of Zi Wei interpretation.
- 生年四化 (birth-year)(shēng nián sì huà)
- — the four transformations set by the birth year stem.
- 通行表 (standard table)(tōng xíng biǎo)
- — the widespread table used by iztro's default and most mainland software.
- 中州表 (Zhongzhou table)(zhōng zhōu biǎo)
- — the table recorded in the Wang Tingzhi (中州派) tradition.
01The exact rows that differ
戊 stem: standard 贪狼/禄, 太阴/权, 右弼/科, 天机/忌; Zhongzhou 贪狼/禄, 太阴/权, 太阳/科, 天机/忌. The 科 star moves from 右弼 to 太阳.
庚 stem: standard 太阳/禄, 武曲/权, 太阴/科, 天同/忌; Zhongzhou 太阳/禄, 武曲/权, 天府/科, 天同/忌. The 科 star moves from 太阴 to 天府.
壬 stem: standard 天梁/禄, 紫微/权, 左辅/科, 武曲/忌; Zhongzhou 天梁/禄, 紫微/权, 天府/科, 武曲/忌. The 科 star moves from 左辅 to 天府. A minority transcription also reads 天府 as the 科 for 庚 with 天同 as 忌, and some editions use 太阳 for 戊's 科 — the variants are documented, not secret.
02Worked example and near miss: a 庚-year chart under both tables
Take a 庚-year birth. Under the standard table 太阴 carries 科; under the Zhongzhou table 天府 does. On the chart the two stars sit in different palaces, so the 'recognition' theme appears in a different life domain: 太阴's palace speaks of accumulation and inner resources, 天府's of reserves and institutional position.
The near miss: a 乙-year or 丙-year birth. Seven stems agree completely, so the same chart is identical under both tables. If a user reports a difference on a 乙-year chart, the cause is not this table — look at the year boundary or the day-rollover convention instead.
03What this site does
This site defaults to the standard table and exposes the Zhongzhou table as a switch on the chart. The convention panel under every chart names the table in use, and switching re-computes the chart before any interpretation is produced, so the reading never cites a transformation the chart did not draw.
A product that advertises 'multiple schools' while drawing every chart from one table is describing something it does not do. We show the switch and the resulting chart, and we say which table a given reading used.
04Limits
The three differences are real textual variants, not one side being wrong. Which table a practitioner uses is a school affiliation, and both continue to be taught.
The table affects one transformation (科) for three of ten stems. It does not change the 禄/权/忌 stars, and it does not change the palace locations — so a reading should not claim an entirely different fortune from it.
05Reader checklist
- The birth year stem was identified
- If the stem is 戊/庚/壬, both tables' 科 star were compared
- The chart's stated four-transformation table was recorded
- If the stems are any of the other seven, this table was ruled out as the cause of a disagreement
FAQ
How many stems differ between the tables?
Three: 戊, 庚 and 壬. The other seven stems produce identical transformations under both tables.
Which column of the table differs?
Only the 科 star moves. 禄, 权 and 忌 are identical for the three affected stems.
Does switching the table change the palaces?
The palace grid is the same; what changes is which star carries the 科 transformation, and therefore which palace's theme the reading ties to recognition.
Is the Zhongzhou table 'more correct'?
It is the Wang Tingzhi tradition's recorded version. Whether it is used is a school choice; this site exposes both rather than picking silently.
I use a 庚-year chart and two apps disagree — is it this table?
If the 科 star differs (太阴 vs 天府), yes. If the difference is the year stem itself (乙巳 vs 丙午), look at the year-boundary page first.
Sources reviewed on 2026-10-31
- iztro 2.5.3 default mutagen table (standard) — 甲廉破武阳 / 乙机梁紫阴 / 丙同机昌廉 / 丁阴同机巨 / 戊贪阴右机 / 己武贪梁曲 / 庚阳武阴同 / 辛巨阳曲昌 / 壬梁紫左武 / 癸破巨阴贪
- Zhongzhou (Wang Tingzhi) table variants — 戊科太阳 / 庚科天府 / 壬科天府; recorded in this repo's lib/ziwei/mutagen-schools.ts
- Our Zi Wei engine (divination-core, iztro mutagens override) — table switch is a per-chart setting; default is the standard table
Computed values on this page were produced by running the engine versions listed above at the reviewed date; school disagreements are reported as disagreements, not resolved to a single answer.
Related pages
- Zi Wei Year Pillar: Lunar New Year or 立春? (The 13-Day Window)zi wei dou shu and bazi split their year boundaries differently — and within one app the setting alone can redraw the whole chart. This page pins the 2026 window to the date and shows the same birth charted under both conventions.
2026-10-31