Huang Dao and Hei Dao
Six day gods belong to Huang Dao, the traditionally auspicious path, and six to Hei Dao, the traditionally inauspicious path. The sequence’s starting position depends on the solar month’s branch. A new branch month can therefore change which day branch carries a particular god.
The day’s activity list remains a separate reading: check Yi and Ji for the particular task you are considering.
Huang Dao · auspicious
Azure Dragon · 青龙
Next: 13 September 2026
Yang Metal Tiger · 庚寅
Solar month: 丁酉 · Yin Fire Rooster
Compare its Yi/Ji entries →Huang Dao · auspicious
Bright Hall · 明堂
Next: 14 September 2026
Yin Metal Rabbit · 辛卯
Solar month: 丁酉 · Yin Fire Rooster
Compare its Yi/Ji entries →Hei Dao · inauspicious
Heavenly Punishment · 天刑
Next: 15 September 2026
Yang Water Dragon · 壬辰
Solar month: 丁酉 · Yin Fire Rooster
Compare its Yi/Ji entries →Hei Dao · inauspicious
Vermilion Bird · 朱雀
Next: 16 September 2026
Yin Water Snake · 癸巳
Solar month: 丁酉 · Yin Fire Rooster
Compare its Yi/Ji entries →Huang Dao · auspicious
Golden Coffer · 金匮
Next: 17 September 2026
Yang Wood Horse · 甲午
Solar month: 丁酉 · Yin Fire Rooster
Compare its Yi/Ji entries →Huang Dao · auspicious
Heavenly Virtue · 天德
Next: 18 September 2026
Yin Wood Goat · 乙未
Solar month: 丁酉 · Yin Fire Rooster
Compare its Yi/Ji entries →Hei Dao · inauspicious
White Tiger · 白虎
Next: 19 September 2026
Yang Fire Monkey · 丙申
Solar month: 丁酉 · Yin Fire Rooster
Compare its Yi/Ji entries →Huang Dao · auspicious
Jade Hall · 玉堂
Next: 20 September 2026
Yin Fire Rooster · 丁酉
Solar month: 丁酉 · Yin Fire Rooster
Compare its Yi/Ji entries →Hei Dao · inauspicious
Heavenly Prison · 天牢
Next: 21 September 2026
Yang Earth Dog · 戊戌
Solar month: 丁酉 · Yin Fire Rooster
Compare its Yi/Ji entries →Hei Dao · inauspicious
Dark Warrior · 玄武
Next: 22 September 2026
Yin Earth Pig · 己亥
Solar month: 丁酉 · Yin Fire Rooster
Compare its Yi/Ji entries →Huang Dao · auspicious
Controller of Destiny · 司命
Next: 23 September 2026
Yang Metal Rat · 庚子
Solar month: 丁酉 · Yin Fire Rooster
Compare its Yi/Ji entries →Hei Dao · inauspicious
Gou Chen · 勾陈
Next: 12 September 2026
Yin Earth Ox · 己丑
Solar month: 丁酉 · Yin Fire Rooster
Compare its Yi/Ji entries →The same names · a separate cycle
How auspicious hours fit inside a day
The animal marks the time
The twelve Earthly Branches divide the day into double-hours. Tiger names 03:00–04:59; Horse names 11:00–12:59. An hour’s stem adds its Yin or Yang element, so its complete label is more specific than the animal alone.
Read the stems and their elements →The god supplies the hour’s classification
The hourly Tian Shen sequence uses the day’s branch and the hour’s branch. It is separate from the day-god sequence, which uses the seasonal month. An auspicious hour can therefore fall within an inauspicious day.
See every hour today →Midnight splits the Rat hour
Rat crosses midnight. A civil-day reading lists 00:00–00:59 first and 23:00–23:59 last. Keeping those portions separate preserves their different stem and god labels.
Choose a date and compare its hours →Three markers · ten repeating stems
Joy, Blessing and Wealth directions
Joy · Xi Shen 喜神
The Joy marker is read from the day’s Heavenly Stem. Find that stem in a date’s pillar, then read its listed compass direction.
Blessing · Fu Shen 福神
Blessing has more than one traditional direction table. These dates use the second Fu Shen table throughout, so the direction stays consistent between this reference and the daily calendar.
Wealth · Cai Shen 财神
The Wealth direction is a stem-based compass marker. It differs from Direct Wealth and Indirect Wealth, which compare two stems in the Ten Gods system.
Jǐ 己 · Yin Earth
12 September 2026
Joy: Northeast · 东北
Blessing: North · 正北
Wealth: North · 正北
Gēng 庚 · Yang Metal
13 September 2026
Joy: Northwest · 西北
Blessing: Southwest · 西南
Wealth: East · 正东
Xīn 辛 · Yin Metal
14 September 2026
Joy: Southwest · 西南
Blessing: Northwest · 西北
Wealth: East · 正东
Rén 壬 · Yang Water
15 September 2026
Joy: South · 正南
Blessing: Southeast · 东南
Wealth: South · 正南
Guǐ 癸 · Yin Water
16 September 2026
Joy: Southeast · 东南
Blessing: Northeast · 东北
Wealth: South · 正南
Jiǎ 甲 · Yang Wood
17 September 2026
Joy: Northeast · 东北
Blessing: North · 正北
Wealth: Northeast · 东北
Yǐ 乙 · Yin Wood
18 September 2026
Joy: Northwest · 西北
Blessing: Southwest · 西南
Wealth: Northeast · 东北
Bǐng 丙 · Yang Fire
19 September 2026
Joy: Southwest · 西南
Blessing: Northwest · 西北
Wealth: Southwest · 西南
Dīng 丁 · Yin Fire
20 September 2026
Joy: South · 正南
Blessing: Southeast · 东南
Wealth: Southwest · 西南
Wù 戊 · Yang Earth
21 September 2026
Joy: Southeast · 东南
Blessing: Northeast · 东北
Wealth: North · 正北
Why familiar names appear in different systems
Azure Dragon, White Tiger and Vermilion Bird also name groups of lunar mansions. A palace of seven mansions and a single day-god label are different calendar structures, even where they share an image or name. Keep the field label with the result when comparing dates.
Meet the four palaces and twenty-eight mansions →