What is the Tian Fu (Blessing) star?

First, one thing to be clear about: Tian Fu (Blessing) is not the Tian Fu main star. The two names sound the same in pinyin but are written differently in Chinese. The Tian Fu main star is one of the fourteen main stars, in charge of resources and preserving what you have; Tian Fu (Blessing) is a small minor star about blessings, contentment and knowing how to live well. The names sound alike, but on the chart they carry completely different weight. Draw your chart first and see which palace your Tian Fu (Blessing) sits in.

What kind of star is Tian Fu (Blessing)

Tian Fu (Blessing) is an auspicious minor star, paired with Tian Guan; together they are called "Tian Guan Tian Fu." Xingge reads this pair as: blessings and standing alike, often looked after and treated with respect. Read separately, Tian Guan leans toward standing, and Tian Fu (Blessing) toward the good fortune of daily life: eating well, sleeping soundly, having someone to look out for you when something comes up, and knowing how to treasure what you have.

How Tian Fu (Blessing) is placed

It goes by the stem of your birth year:

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

Everyone born in the same year has it in the same branch; Geng and Ren years are both in Wu, Xin and Gui years both in Si. For people born in a Wu year, Tian Fu (Blessing) and Tian Guan are both in Mao, sharing a palace.

Like Lu Cun, Tian Fu (Blessing) is placed by the birth-year stem, so it is often read with the same year's birth-year transformations. To see your own birth-year transformations, use the birth-year transformations lookup.

What the classics say

Tian Fu (Blessing) can't be found in the placement verses of the Zi Wei Dou Shu Quan Shu (The Complete Book of Zi Wei Dou Shu), and the Zhu Xing Wen Da Lun doesn't mention it. Xingge places it by today's common stem table and reads it by later common practice. The common method has a rhyme for it, pairing each stem with two zodiac animals: "Jia, goat and rooster; Yi, dragon and monkey; Bing, snake and rat; Ding, tiger and pig; Wu, the jade rabbit twice; Ji, rooster with tiger; Geng, pig and horse; Xin, rooster and snake; Ren, dog and horse; Gui, horse and snake." The first animal is Tian Guan, the second is Tian Fu (Blessing). For a Jia year, for example, the goat is Wei and the rooster is You, so Tian Fu (Blessing) is in You.

Another placement in the Daoist Canon edition: the Daoist Canon edition of Zi Wei Dou Shu (attributed to Chen Tuan, in the Ming supplement to the Daoist Canon) also has a Tian Fu (Blessing), but it belongs to a different star system (the book calls it the Eighteen Flying Stars) and goes by the birth-year branch rather than the stem. It "starts the Zi year at Wei and counts forward to your birth year" to find a starting point, then places stars in the book's own order. Worked out, that puts a Zi year in You and a Chou year in Xu, moving forward by year branch. The book describes it as "named Shan Xiang, the auspicious spirit that bestows blessings by imperial token." The Xingge chart follows the common stem table.

Tian Fu (Blessing) in key palaces

• Fortune Palace: the placement mentioned most. Content inside and good at enjoying life; your days have flavor, and that good fortune is your foundation.
• Life Palace: blessings and standing alike, often looked after and treated with respect. Treasure that good fortune; don't take it for granted.
• Wealth Palace: your finances carry a touch of luck, and money often comes in when you urgently need it. Guard that good fortune and spend in moderation.
• Travel Palace: away from home you're often looked after; things actually go more smoothly out there.
• Career Palace: at work you readily earn recognition and respect; work steadily and people trust you.
• Parents Palace: elders look after you a lot and give you shelter. Remember to give back for that good fortune too.

Tian Fu (Blessing) with main stars, transformations and luck periods

It carries little weight, so look at the main star first. If the main star already values comfort, like Tian Tong, it makes "knowing how to live well" more pronounced; if the main star is a busy one, like Qi Sha or Wu Qu, it's often read as: busy as you are, there's always someone looking out for you, and remember to leave yourself some rest.

Tian Fu (Blessing) itself takes none of Hua Lu, Hua Quan, Hua Ke or Hua Ji. With Hua Lu in the same palace or its trines, blessings and tangible gains come together; with Hua Ji, it's often read as the thing you care most about sitting here, so you only feel the blessing once you let yourself relax.

For Decade or Annual Luck periods that reach the palace of Tian Fu (Blessing), practitioners often read them as times when life has more breathing room, and help comes readily when things get hard. The Annual Luck lesson explains how to find each year's palace.