# Lightweight queries (/en/docs/go/query)

The Chinese zodiac animal, zodiac sign and Soul palace major stars, without charting the whole thing.



Some questions do not need a whole chart. These five functions each run only as far as necessary and
return; their results always agree with the corresponding fields of a full chart, because they go
through the same core logic.

<Callout type="info">
  The examples on this page chart with `"en-US"`, so the display values in the output are English.
</Callout>

***

## GetZodiacBySolarDate [#getzodiacbysolardate]

**Purpose** Get the Chinese zodiac animal from a solar date.

**Zi Wei meaning** The zodiac animal is determined by the **year branch**, and when the year branch
turns over is governed by `YearDivide`.
For someone born between lunar New Year and the Beginning of Spring, the two settings give different
animals — not a defect, a difference of school.

**Signature**

```go
func GetZodiacBySolarDate(solarDate string, language Language, config *Config) (string, error)
```

**Parameters**

| Parameter   | Type       | Required | Default | Description                                                       |
| ----------- | ---------- | -------- | ------- | ----------------------------------------------------------------- |
| `solarDate` | `string`   | Yes      | —       | Solar date in `YYYY-M-D`                                          |
| `language`  | `Language` | Yes      | —       | Chart language                                                    |
| `config`    | `*Config`  | Yes      | —       | Pass `nil` for the defaults; only `YearDivide` affects the result |

**Return value** The animal name translated into the language.

**Example**

```go
zodiac, _ := iztro.GetZodiacBySolarDate("2000-8-16", iztro.LanguageEnUS, nil)
fmt.Println(zodiac)
```

**Output**

```text
dragon
```

**Edge cases and pitfalls**

<Callout type="warn" title="The year boundary moves with the configuration">
  By default the year turns over at lunar New Year. Switch to
  `&Config{YearDivide: iztro.YearDivideExact}` and it turns over at the Beginning of Spring, so people
  born from late January to early February can get a different animal.
</Callout>

***

## GetSignBySolarDate / GetSignByLunarDate [#getsignbysolardate--getsignbylunardate]

**Purpose** Get the zodiac sign.

**Zi Wei meaning** The zodiac sign is a Western astrology concept determined solely by the solar
date, unrelated to the Zi Wei algorithm. The lunar version converts to solar first, so both give the
same result for the same day.

**Signature**

```go
func GetSignBySolarDate(solarDate string, language Language) (string, error)
func GetSignByLunarDate(lunarDate string, isLeapMonth bool, language Language) (string, error)
```

**Parameters**

| Parameter                 | Type       | Required | Default | Description                                            |
| ------------------------- | ---------- | -------- | ------- | ------------------------------------------------------ |
| `solarDate` / `lunarDate` | `string`   | Yes      | —       | The date in `YYYY-M-D`                                 |
| `isLeapMonth`             | `bool`     | Yes      | —       | Lunar version only: whether that month is a leap month |
| `language`                | `Language` | Yes      | —       | Chart language                                         |

There is no `config` parameter — zodiac signs are unaffected by any setting.

**Return value** The sign name.

**Example**

```go
s1, _ := iztro.GetSignBySolarDate("2000-8-16", iztro.LanguageEnUS)
s2, _ := iztro.GetSignByLunarDate("2000-7-17", false, iztro.LanguageEnUS)

fmt.Println(s1, s2)
```

**Output**

```text
leo leo
```

***

## GetMajorStarBySolarDate / GetMajorStarByLunarDate [#getmajorstarbysolardate--getmajorstarbylunardate]

**Purpose** Get just the Soul palace's major stars, without charting the whole thing.

**Zi Wei meaning** The major stars of the Soul palace are the single most commonly asked item in Zi
Wei Dou Shu. When the Soul palace is empty, convention borrows the major stars of the opposite palace,
and this function already handles that step.

**Signature**

```go
func GetMajorStarBySolarDate(
    solarDate string, timeIndex uint8, fixLeap bool, language Language, config *Config,
) (string, error)

func GetMajorStarByLunarDate(
    lunarDate string, timeIndex uint8, leap LeapMonth, language Language, config *Config,
) (string, error)
```

**Parameters**

| Parameter                 | Type        | Required | Default | Description                                                                                                         |
| ------------------------- | ----------- | -------- | ------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| `solarDate` / `lunarDate` | `string`    | Yes      | —       | The date                                                                                                            |
| `timeIndex`               | `uint8`     | Yes      | —       | Hour index 0–12; the Soul palace is fixed jointly by month and hour                                                 |
| `fixLeap`                 | `bool`      | Yes      | —       | Solar version only: whether a solar date falling after the 15th of a leap month is treated as the next month        |
| `leap`                    | `LeapMonth` | Yes      | —       | Lunar version only: `NotLeapMonth` / `LeapMonthKeep` / `LeapMonthFixed`, see [`ByLunar`](/en/docs/go/astro#bylunar) |
| `language`                | `Language`  | Yes      | —       | Chart language                                                                                                      |
| `config`                  | `*Config`   | Yes      | —       | Pass `nil` for the defaults                                                                                         |

**Return value** Several major stars separated by commas; the opposite palace's major stars when the
Soul palace is empty.

**Example**

```go
en, _ := iztro.GetMajorStarBySolarDate("2000-8-16", 2, true, iztro.LanguageEnUS, nil)
zh, _ := iztro.GetMajorStarBySolarDate("2000-8-16", 2, true, iztro.LanguageZhCN, nil)

fmt.Println(en, zh)
```

**Output**

```text
emperor 紫微
```

**Edge cases and pitfalls**

<Accordions>
  <Accordion title="Without an hour there is no Soul palace">
    The Soul palace is located jointly from the lunar month and the birth hour, so `timeIndex` is
    required. Knowing only the date and not the hour, Zi Wei Dou Shu cannot fix a Soul palace.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="For predicates, use the key form">
    The return value is a translated string that changes with the language. For programmatic checks use
    `MajorStarKeysBySolarDate` / `MajorStarKeysByLunarDate` below, or chart the whole thing and compare
    the `Key` of the `MajorStars`.
  </Accordion>
</Accordions>

***

## MajorStarKeysBySolarDate / MajorStarKeysByLunarDate [#majorstarkeysbysolardate--majorstarkeysbylunardate]

**Purpose** The Soul palace's major stars as language-independent keys — the key form of the two
functions above, for programmatic checks.

**Signature**

```go
func MajorStarKeysBySolarDate(
    solarDate string, timeIndex uint8, fixLeap bool, config *Config,
) ([]string, error)

func MajorStarKeysByLunarDate(
    lunarDate string, timeIndex uint8, leap LeapMonth, config *Config,
) ([]string, error)
```

**Return value** `[]string` — star key constant values (e.g. `StarZiweiMaj`); an empty Soul palace
borrows its opposite's major stars just the same. Keys are language-independent, so these functions
&#x2A;*take no `language`**.

**Example**

```go
keys, _ := iztro.MajorStarKeysBySolarDate("2000-8-16", 2, true, nil)

fmt.Println(keys)
```

**Output**

```text
[ziweiMaj]
```