---
type: Name Numerology Concept
title: "The Five Grids (五格剖象)"
description: "The five grids — Heaven, Personality, Earth, External and Total — and how they are derived."
resource: https://localpapa.com/tools/name.html
category: "Name Numerology · Five Grids"
tags: [name, wuge, five-grids, san-cai]
timestamp: 2026-06-21T00:00:00Z
---

# The Five Grids · 五格剖象

Five-grid name numerology derives five numbers from a name’s **Kangxi stroke counts**, each mapped to one of the [81 numbers](./numbers/index.md). The three core grids (Heaven, Personality, Earth) also give the **Three Talents (三才)** by their elements.

## The five grids

- **Heaven Grid (天格)** — from the surname (+1 for a single surname). Ancestral / innate, with indirect influence.
- **Personality Grid (人格)** — surname’s last + given name’s first character — the core grid: character, ability and mid-life.
- **Earth Grid (地格)** — from the given name (+1 for a single given name). Early life, home and juniors.
- **External Grid (外格)** — total minus personality plus one. Social life, outer connections and luck.
- **Total Grid (總格)** — the sum of all strokes. Later life and the overall picture.

## The Three Talents (三才)

The unit digit of Heaven / Personality / Earth gives each an element (1,2→Wood; 3,4→Fire; 5,6→Earth; 7,8→Metal; 9,0→Water). Whether the three **generate or restrict** one another is the Three-Talents reading — a generating chain is favourable.

> Uses **Kangxi (traditional) stroke counts**, which differ from modern strokes for some radicals. For entertainment and reference; schools differ.

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*[The 81 numbers](./numbers/index.md) · [Name numerology knowledge base](./index.md)*