The Emperor’s Poem of the Four Seasons is a highly simplified system of Chinese astrology that is found in the Chinese Almanac.
It gives a quick snapshot of a person’s potential life path in the form of a short poem.
In this system, you are deemed to be born on one of the parts of the emperor’s body based on the time and season that you are born.
The various parts are the emperor’s head, shoulder, hands, chest, stomach, lower abdomen, knee and ankle with head being the most desirable and ankle the most unfortunate!
The tables below shows the time of birth and associated parts of the emperor’s body for each of the four seasons:-
Spring (from 4th Feb to 5th May)
| Time | Chinese Time | Part of Emperor’s Body |
|---|---|---|
| 11 pm to 1 am | Zi | Head |
| 1 am to 3 am | Chou | Stomach |
| 3 am to 5 am | Yin | Ankle |
| 5 am to 7 am | Mao | Shoulder |
| 7 am to 9 am | Chen | Knee |
| 9 am to 11 am | Si | Hands |
| 11 am to 1 pm | Wu | Lower Abdomen |
| 1 pm to 3 pm | Wei | Hands |
| 3 pm to 5 pm | Shen | Ankle |
| 5 pm to 7 pm | You | Shoulder |
| 7 pm to 9 pm | Xu | Knee |
| 9 pm to 11 pm | Hai | Stomach |
Summer (from 6th May to 7th Aug)
| Time | Chinese Time | Part of Emperor’s Body |
|---|---|---|
| 11 pm to 1 am | Zi | Lower Abdomen |
| 1 am to 3 am | Chou | Hands |
| 3 am to 5 am | Yin | Ankle |
| 5 am to 7 am | Mao | Shoulder |
| 7 am to 9 am | Chen | Knee |
| 9 am to 11 am | Si | Hands |
| 11 am to 1 pm | Wu | Head |
| 1 pm to 3 pm | Wei | Stomach |
| 3 pm to 5 pm | Shen | Ankle |
| 5 pm to 7 pm | You | Shoulder |
| 7 pm to 9 pm | Xu | Knee |
| 9 pm to 11 pm | Hai | Stomach |
Autumn (from 8th Aug to Nov 6th)
| Time | Chinese Time | Part of Emperor’s Body |
|---|---|---|
| 11 pm to 1 am | Zi | Shoulder |
| 1 am to 3 am | Chou | Hands |
| 3 am to 5 am | Yin | Knee |
| 5 am to 7 am | Mao | Stomach |
| 7 am to 9 am | Chen | Ankle |
| 9 am to 11 am | Si | Hands |
| 11 am to 1 pm | Wu | Shoulder |
| 1 pm to 3 pm | Wei | Stomach |
| 3 pm to 5 pm | Shen | Lower Abdomen |
| 5 pm to 7 pm | You | Knee |
| 7 pm to 9 pm | Xu | Ankle |
| 9 pm to 11 pm | Hai | Head |
Winter (from 7th Nov to 3rd Feb)
| Time | Chinese Time | Part of Emperor’s Body |
|---|---|---|
| 11 pm to 1 am | Zi | Lower Abdomen |
| 1 am to 3 am | Chou | Knee |
| 3 am to 5 am | Yin | Stomach |
| 5 am to 7 am | Mao | Shoulder |
| 7 am to 9 am | Chen | Ankle |
| 9 am to 11 am | Si | Head |
| 11 am to 1 pm | Wu | Hands |
| 1 pm to 3 pm | Wei | Knee |
| 3 pm to 5 pm | Shen | Stomach |
| 5 pm to 7 pm | You | Shoulder |
| 7 pm to 9 pm | Xu | Ankle |
| 9 pm to 11 pm | Hai | Hands |
** Please note that the start of the season can wobble by a day or so.
For example if you are born between 7 to 9 pm during the months of spring, you are deemed to be born on the emperor’s knee. If you are born between 9 to 11 am in winter, you are deemed to be born on the emperor’s head.
The system is very highly simplified especially when compared to serious systems like Ba Zi and Zi Wei Dou Shu and accuracy is bound to suffer. As such you should not take the reading too seriously!
So what does it means to be born on the emperor’s head, shoulder or ankle.
Find out using this Emperor’s Poem of the Four Seasons tool.
