FIVE WITHIN · Methodology

Sources & Schools Note

Version: 1.0 · Last updated: August 30, 2026

FIVE WITHIN is an independent, modern educational interpretation of Chinese metaphysical and calendrical traditions. It is not an official authority for a single lineage. This note makes our source families, calculation choices, translation limits, and editorial boundaries visible.

1. Traditions covered

The site may discuss Bazi or Four Pillars (八字/四柱), the Five Phases (五行), Yin-Yang, Heavenly Stems and Earthly Branches, the sexagenary cycle, solar terms, the Chinese zodiac, the Yijing, Feng Shui, and related cultural systems. Similar words can carry different meanings across historical periods and schools.

2. Classical source families

  • Yijing (易经/周易) and later commentarial traditions for change, symbol, and correlative thinking;
  • the “Hong Fan” (洪范) chapter of the Shang Shu for an early Five Phases formulation;
  • Huangdi Neijing traditions for historical correlative correspondences—presented culturally, never as modern medical advice;
  • Yuanhai Ziping (渊海子平), Sanming Tonghui (三命通会), Ditian Sui (滴天髓), and Ziping Zhenquan (子平真诠) as major Bazi/Ziping source families.

Authorship, dating, editions, commentaries, punctuation, and modern translations can differ. Listing a text does not mean every statement on this site is a direct quotation or that all schools agree.

3. School differences

Bazi practice is not monolithic. Practitioners may disagree about strength analysis, seasonality, useful or favorable phases (用神/喜神), combinations and transformations, hidden stems, luck cycles, true solar time, the start of a day at midnight or late Zi hour, and how much weight to give symbolic correspondences. FIVE WITHIN will label a school-specific rule when it materially changes a result and will not present one convention as universal.

4. Current chart-calculation conventions

  • Year boundary: Li Chun (立春), not Gregorian January 1.
  • Month boundary: the twelve Jie (节) solar-term boundaries.
  • Place and time: the civil local time and time-zone history associated with the selected birthplace; true solar-time correction is not currently applied.
  • Day boundary: the interface identifies the selected convention; supported options include midnight and late Zi-hour handling.
  • Unknown birth time: the hour pillar may be omitted or treated as uncertain rather than guessed.

These choices are product conventions, not proof that competing conventions are wrong.

5. Technical sources and licenses

  • lunar-javascript, version 1.7.7, by 6tail, MIT License, supports calendrical conversion and pillar calculations. The production copy is version-pinned and integrity-checked before release.
  • GeoNames geographical data, used for the local city-search index under CC BY 4.0. GeoNames contributors are attributed; place coverage and spellings can contain omissions or errors.
  • WordPress.com and Jetpack provide hosting and site infrastructure under their respective terms and policies.

6. Translation and editorial method

We generally use “Five Phases” to emphasize movement and relationship, while also using “Five Elements” as a familiar search bridge. Translations are explanatory, not exact one-to-one equivalents. Articles should distinguish: (a) what a classical or scholarly source says, (b) a school convention, (c) FIVE WITHIN’s modern editorial synthesis, and (d) a reflective prompt.

7. Evidence and claim boundaries

Traditional use, cultural importance, and interpretive usefulness are not the same as scientific validation. We do not present Bazi or related systems as diagnostic tests, causal science, guaranteed prediction, or proof of health, personality, compatibility, financial, or life outcomes. Lifestyle and product suggestions are symbolic and optional.

8. Corrections and versioning

Substantive corrections should identify the affected page, old and new convention, reason, source, and date. Calculation-engine changes require regression testing before publication. Readers may report a citation, translation, date, city, or rule issue to service@fivewithin.com.

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