What is the Qing Yang star?

When people see Qing Yang on their chart, the first reaction is often worry: it heads the Six Malefic Stars, and its name even carries a weapon. In fact Qing Yang describes a straight-ahead kind of force: willing to charge, willing to compete, not fond of detours. When practitioners look at Qing Yang, the question isn't whether it's good or bad but where that force goes, and whether it's being steered well. To see which palace your Qing Yang sits in, draw your chart.

What kind of star is Qing Yang

Qing Yang is one of the Six Malefic Stars. Xingge describes its nature as "a star of punishment, a hard edge": impulsiveness, competition, meeting force with force, and, used well, real nerve. In plain terms, Qing Yang is a star of drive. It wants to solve problems head-on and isn't used to waiting or giving way.

How Qing Yang is placed: always beside Lu Cun

Qing Yang doesn't find its own position; it follows Lu Cun. Volume two of the Quan Shu is clear about it:

These two stars are placed by Lu Cun: Qing Yang in front of Lu Cun, Tuo Luo behind it.

One palace ahead of Lu Cun is Qing Yang, and one palace behind is Tuo Luo. Lu Cun is placed by the birth-year stem, and so is Qing Yang: everyone born in a year with the same stem has Qing Yang in the same branch. Jia years in Mao, Yi years in Chen, Bing and Wu years in Wu, Ding and Ji years in Wei, Geng years in You, Xin years in Xu, Ren years in Zi, Gui years in Chou. By this method Qing Yang never appears in Yin, Shen, Si or Hai.

That is also why, on every chart, Qing Yang and Tuo Luo flank Lu Cun on either side. The ancients called this Yang Tuo Jia Lu: Lu Cun is very good at holding on, and because of that, it finds it hard to let go. The Lu Cun and Tian Ma lesson covers this.

Brightness: steadiest in Chen, Xu, Chou and Wei

Volume two says Qing Yang is at Miao in Chen, Xu, Chou and Wei and at Xian in Zi, Wu, Mao and You, and Xingge's charts mark its brightness the same way. At Miao, Qing Yang's drive has somewhere to land and reads more like decisiveness and responsibility. At Xian, the force is more easily spent on clashing with people.

What the classics say, and how we read it today

Volume two's verse on Qing Yang in the Life Palace says:

Qing Yang guarding the Life Palace makes a strong nature. Born in the four tomb branches, there is long life and blessing. If Zi Wei and Tian Fu come to meet it, granaries and chests will be full.

"The four tombs" are Chen, Xu, Chou and Wei. The meaning: people with Qing Yang in the Life Palace are strong-willed, and if they were born in those years and Qing Yang sits in those branches, they are actually steadier for it; if it also meets Zi Wei and Tian Fu, they can build real security. Zi Wei and Tian Fu carry enough weight to hold Qing Yang's drive in check and turn it into the force that gets things done.

A line from the Supplemented Tai Wei Fu is worth reading alongside:

A gentleman's chart also has Qing Yang, Tuo Luo, Huo Xing and Ling Xing; a small-minded person's chart is not without Hua Ke, Hua Lu and Hua Quan.

People of good character have Qing Yang on their charts too. How many challenging stars you have has never said whether you are a good person.

Qing Yang in the Life Palace

People with Qing Yang in the Life Palace usually come across as having strong views at a glance: direct in speech, quick to decide, not afraid of conflict. They speak up when something is unfair, and want to win when there's competition.

That force is very useful where something needs breaking through: sales, starting a business, negotiation, sport, emergency work. People with Qing Yang are often the first to step in. Where they tend to get stuck is meeting force with force: hitting something head-on that could have been stepped around, or being right in substance but so blunt in delivery that the other person only remembers the tone.

One suggestion for people with Qing Yang in the Life Palace: first decide whether something is worth fighting over, then decide how to fight. Put your energy in the right place, and Qing Yang is your competitive edge.

Qing Yang in the twelve palaces

Wherever Qing Yang sits, you especially want to handle that palace's affairs by your own strength, and friction comes more easily there. A few placements people often ask about:

• Life Palace: direct, with strong views, as above.
• Spouse Palace: in love you speak plainly and don't like going around things, and arguments flare quickly. If your partner is also quick-tempered, agree on a way to cool down.
• Wealth Palace: you earn by charging ahead and going after things, and suit competitive, target-driven settings; spending can be impulsive too.
• Career Palace: you want to win and move forward at work, and suit roles that need nerve; leave a little buffer with colleagues.
• Travel Palace: situations away from home often need you to step up, and you are bolder out in the world than at home.
• Fortune Palace: your inner pace is quick and you find it hard to sit still even when resting; find a hobby that burns off the energy, such as exercise.
• Health Palace: this is about how stress builds up. With Qing Yang here, pressure tends to come out all at once, so regular exercise and a steady routine matter.

The same Qing Yang reads very differently depending on the main star beside it, its brightness, and whether auspicious stars are present. The Six Malefic Stars lesson gives the full order for reading it.

What to read Qing Yang with

• Tuo Luo: Qing Yang and Tuo Luo always flank Lu Cun, one in front and one behind. One charges, the other grinds, so they are often discussed together.
• Yang Tuo Jia Ji: when your birth-year Hua Ji lands in the palace with Lu Cun, so that Qing Yang and Tuo Luo flank it, the ancients called it Yang Tuo Jia Ji: the thing you care about most is squeezed in the middle, and the more you rush, the more it sticks.
• Huo Xing and Ling Xing: when Qing Yang also meets Huo Xing or Ling Xing, the drive becomes faster and fiercer, and needs more time to cool down.
• Zi Wei and Tian Fu: the Quan Shu says Tian Fu can put Qing Yang and Tuo Luo to work for it, and the verse above says that if Qing Yang "meets Zi Wei and Tian Fu," it can build security instead. Zi Wei and Tian Fu carry enough weight that, beside them, Qing Yang's drive more easily becomes responsibility.
• Annual Qing Yang: each year there is also an "annual Qing Yang" that moves with the annual Lu Cun. It only acts for that year and is used when reading the Annual Luck.

Common questions

Is Qing Yang a bad star?

Qing Yang belongs to the Six Malefic Stars, and the classics say it transforms into Punishment, but its nature is drive and nerve, which is not a bad thing. At Miao it is often read as decisive and responsible; at Xian the force is more easily spent on clashing with people. Practitioners look at where the force goes, not at whether you have Qing Yang.

What are people with Qing Yang in the Life Palace like?

Usually direct, quick and strong-minded, willing to face conflict and keen to win. The strengths are fast action and a readiness to take things on; the sticking points are meeting force with force and speaking too bluntly. Deciding first whether something is worth fighting over, then how to say it, is the most useful habit for them.

Why is Qing Yang always next to Lu Cun?

Because Qing Yang is placed by Lu Cun. The Quan Shu's placement verse puts Qing Yang one palace ahead of Lu Cun and Tuo Luo one palace behind, so on every chart Lu Cun is flanked by the two. Lu Cun depends on the birth-year stem, so Qing Yang's position does too.

How does Qing Yang differ in Chen, Xu, Chou and Wei versus Zi, Wu, Mao and You?

The Quan Shu says Qing Yang is at Miao in Chen, Xu, Chou and Wei, and at Xian in Zi, Wu, Mao and You. At Miao the drive has somewhere to land and reads more like decisiveness; at Xian it more easily turns into impatience and friction with people. Qing Yang never lands in Yin, Shen, Si or Hai.