What is the Tian Guan star?

Some people walk into a room and others naturally show them a little extra courtesy: they're offered a seat, given their due. That isn't necessarily because they hold the highest position; it's the trustworthy air they carry. When practitioners look at this tendency to be treated with respect, they go to the Tian Guan star. It is a minor star, light in weight, about standing and being respected. Draw your chart and you'll see which palace your Tian Guan is in.

What kind of star is Tian Guan

Tian Guan is an auspicious minor star, paired with Tian Fu (Blessing), not to be confused with the main star Tian Fu; together they are called "Tian Guan Tian Fu." Xingge reads this pair as: blessings and standing alike, often looked after and treated with respect. If you had to split them, Tian Guan leans toward "name": position, status, being respected. Tian Fu (Blessing) leans toward "fortune": a good life, and knowing how to enjoy it.

How Tian Guan is placed

Tian Guan goes by the stem of your birth year, with one fixed position per stem:

• Jia year in Wei, Yi year in Chen, Bing year in Si, Ding year in Yin, Wu year in Mao
• Ji year in You, Geng year in Hai, Xin year in You, Ren year in Xu, Gui year in Wu

So everyone born in the same year has Tian Guan in the same branch; people born in Ji and Xin years both have it in You. Wu years are a special case: Tian Guan and Tian Fu (Blessing) are both in Mao, sharing a palace.

Like Lu Cun and Tian Kui and Tian Yue (Heavenly Halberd), Tian Guan is placed by the birth-year stem, so it is often read alongside the birth-year transformations of the same stem. To see your own birth-year transformations, use the birth-year transformations lookup.

What the classics say

Tian Guan 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 on the chart by today's common method 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." Each animal stands for a branch (goat is Wei, rooster is You, and so on). The first animal is Tian Guan, the second is Tian Fu (Blessing).

Tian Guan in key palaces

• Life Palace: blessings and standing alike, often looked after and treated with respect. Treasure that good fortune; don't take it for granted.
• Career Palace: at school or work you readily gain standing and respect; work steadily and your position stays secure. Later in life, it's often a reputation built up over the years that's still there, and people naturally respect you.
• Travel Palace: away from home you're often treated well and looked after; things actually go more smoothly out there.
• 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.
• Fortune Palace: content inside and good at enjoying life; your days have flavor.
• Parents Palace: elders look after you a lot and give you shelter. Remember to give back for that good fortune too.

Tian Guan with main stars, transformations and luck periods

Tian Guan can't carry a palace by itself. If the main star cares about status, like Zi Wei or Tian Xiang, Tian Guan makes "being respected" feel natural; if the main star likes to charge ahead, like Po Jun, Tian Guan is often read as standing that follows once you've charged out and produced results.

As for the four transformations, Tian Guan itself takes none of Hua Lu, Hua Quan, Hua Ke or Hua Ji. With Hua Quan in the same palace or its trines, you get to lead on top of the standing; with Hua Ke, reputation and status often come together; with Hua Ji, it's often read as having the position while the thing you care most about also sits here, so loosen up gradually.

When the Annual Luck or a Decade Luck period enters Tian Guan's palace, practitioners often read it as a time for promotion or moving to a better position. The Annual Luck lesson teaches you to find which palace each year reaches.