What is the Jie Kong star?

Jie Kong (Intercepting Void) is short for "Jie Lu Kong Wang": the road is cut off halfway, and things tend to come to nothing at the last step. One detail often confuses people: with the same birthday, a different placement method may show a single "Jie Kong" on the chart, or two cells marked "Jie Lu" and "Kong Wang." Both are right; the difference is the school. To see which one your chart uses, first draw your chart, then check the chart settings.

What kind of star is Jie Kong

Jie Kong is one of the void stars and belongs to the minor stars. Xingge reads it as: the benefits are visible but hard to land in your pocket, and that palace's affairs take one more step before they count. Among the kinds of void, the ancients gave it particular weight.

The Quan Shu's method: two palaces

The verse for placing Jie Lu Kong Wang in volume two of the Zi Wei Dou Shu Quan Shu (The Complete Book of Zi Wei Dou Shu):

Jia and Ji in Shen and You; Yi and Geng in Wu and Wei; Bing and Xin in Chen and Si; Ding and Ren in Yin and Mao; Wu and Gui in Zi and Chou.

Each pair of stems occupies two neighboring palaces. Xingge follows the Quan Shu by default, marking the yang-branch palace as Jie Lu and the yin-branch palace as Kong Wang, and both count as Jie Kong when reading. So on the default chart, you won't see the words "Jie Kong."

The Zhongzhou school's method: one palace

If you choose the Zhongzhou school in the chart settings, the chart shows a single Jie Kong instead, taking only one of the verse's two palaces: the yang-branch palace for people born in a yang year, and the yin-branch palace for people born in a yin year. By birth-year stem:

• Jia year in Shen, Yi year in Wei, Bing year in Chen, Ding year in Mao, Wu year in Zi.
• Ji year in You, Geng year in Wu, Xin year in Si, Ren year in Yin, Gui year in Chou.

The year stem follows the lunar year. The two methods differ only in "two palaces" versus "one palace"; the meaning is the same. Wang Tingzhi's explanation shows the difference well: Jie Kong is "one star occupying two palaces," with the palace matching the year stem's yin or yang being the true void, carrying the most force, and the other the side void, with very little force; the Zhongzhou chart marks only the true void. Under the Zhongzhou setting, Xingge's charting also marks a few extra minor stars, such as Jie Sha.

What the classics say, and how to read it today

The first line of the chapter on the essentials of the stars in volume three of the Quan Shu:

In reading the Body and Life Palaces, it matters most that Lu and Ma do not fall into a void: Tian Kong and Jie Kong are the most pressing, Xun Kong next.

When the ancients read a chart, the first step was to check whether Lu Cun and Tian Ma had fallen into a void, and Jie Kong weighed more than Xun Kong. Read for today, Jie Kong often looks like this: an agreed deal changing at the last moment, a beautifully made plan bringing in less than expected, or gains that take a longer way around to reach you.

Wang Tingzhi compared the two kinds of void: Jie Kong is a sudden obstacle brought by others, while Xun Kong is more like delaying yourself. So he also says a wealth star meeting Jie Kong is less favorable than meeting Xun Kong, pointing the same way as the Quan Shu's "Jie Kong is the most pressing, Xun Kong next."

Jie Kong in key palaces

• Life Palace: things go smoothly at first and then stall, and the finish takes more effort. Think through the last step before you start.
• Spouse Palace: a relationship's progress tends to get interrupted by outside events. Double-check plans you've agreed on.
• Wealth Palace: one of the positions the ancients cared about most. Agreed money sometimes arrives late or shrinks; keep records when signing and collecting payment.
• Career Palace: projects tend to be halted at short notice. Leave buffer in timelines and keep a record of what you deliver.
• Travel Palace: travel arrangements tend to change at short notice. Keep a backup for important trips.

Jie Kong with Lu Cun and Tian Ma

• Lu Feng Jie Kong (Lu meeting Jie Kong): Lu Cun or Hua Lu falls into Jie Kong in the Life, Body or Wealth Palace. See Lu Feng Jie Kong. Under the Quan Shu's two-palace method, people born in Bing and Gui years always have Lu Cun in Jie Kong; under the Zhongzhou school's one-palace method, Jie Kong is in Chen for Bing years and Chou for Gui years, so Lu Cun (in Si and Zi) is not inside it.
• Ma Feng Jie Kong (Ma meeting Jie Kong): Tian Ma falls into Jie Kong in the Life or Body Palace. You run around a lot, and the gains don't necessarily follow. See Ma Feng Jie Kong.
• Challenging stars in Jie Kong: the Xing Xing Fu in volume one of the Quan Shu says "a killing star fallen into a void has no power at all," so the drive of challenging stars shrinks too.

When the Decade Luck or Annual Luck reaches the Jie Kong palace, practitioners often read it as a time to put commitments in writing.

Jie Kong, Xun Kong, Tian Kong and Di Kong: the differences

• Jie Kong: goes only by birth-year stem; the ancients considered it the heaviest of the minor-star voids.
• Xun Kong: goes by which ten-year cycle your birth year's stem-branch pair falls in; lighter than Jie Kong.
• Tian Kong: goes by birth-year branch, placed in the palace after your zodiac sign's; light.
• Di Kong: goes by birth hour, one of the Six Malefic Stars; the Quan Shu writes it as Tian Kong.