What is Qi Sha Chao Dou (Seven Killings Faces the Dipper)?

Qi Sha is the general star: charging ahead, decisive, willing to stake everything. What does a general need most? A cause worth serving. Qi Sha Chao Dou (the general facing the Dipper) is about exactly that: Qi Sha in the Life Palace with the emperor or treasury star directly opposite, like a general presenting himself before the Northern Dipper. Once the drive has a direction, it is no longer just impulse. To see whether you have it, draw your chart.

The conditions for Qi Sha Chao Dou

The condition is: the Life Palace's only main star is Qi Sha, and the Life Palace is in Yin, Shen, Zi or Wu.

In these four positions Qi Sha always sits alone, and its brightness is good in all of them: Miao in Yin and Shen, Wang in Zi and Wu. The star opposite comes in two kinds:

• Life Palace in Yin or Shen: opposite is Zi Wei with Tian Fu. The Northern Dipper's emperor star is directly opposite: the classic "facing the Dipper."
• Life Palace in Zi or Wu: opposite is Wu Qu with Tian Fu. This is commonly called "looking up to the Dipper," with strength close to facing it.

By this condition, about 1 chart in 35 has it.

Because Qi Sha, Po Jun and Tan Lang always sit in trine with one another, Qi Sha Chao Dou is always on the Sha Po Lang line. It is the form of Sha Po Lang with the clearest sense of direction.

What the classics say

When volume three of the Quan Shu discusses Qi Sha, its first line is:

Qi Sha in Yin, Shen, Zi or Wu: rank and income flourish all life long. This is the pattern of Qi Sha facing the Dipper.

The conditions match Xingge's detection: all four of Yin, Shen, Zi and Wu count. The Gu Sui Fu has two lines as well:

Qi Sha facing the Dipper: rank and income flourish. Zi Wei and Tian Fu in the same palace: deep blessings all life long.

Facing the Dipper, looking up to the Dipper: rank and income flourish.

The first puts Qi Sha Chao Dou next to Zi Fu Tong Gong, which are two sides of the same set of stars: when Qi Sha is in the Life Palace in Yin or Shen, Zi Fu Tong Gong is directly opposite. The second lists facing and looking up to the Dipper side by side, meaning both are good.

Volume three also gives Qi Sha's brightness: Miao in Yin and Shen, Wang in Zi and Wu. Qi Sha has no Xian position.

How to read it today

The general star facing the emperor, read today:

• Drive with direction: willing to fight, and able to win a place. Not change for its own sake, but knowing where to charge.
• Suited to roles that need decisiveness. Entrepreneurship, sales leadership, project leads, crisis management, the military, police and firefighting, athletes: positions where you make decisions under pressure.
• Loyal to those you believe in. The "Dipper" in Qi Sha Chao Dou can today be a leader worth following, or a goal you believe in. Once you find it, you give it everything.

Where Qi Sha Chao Dou tends to get stuck

First, staking everything. Qi Sha's nature is to go all in. When things go well, that is explosive power; when they don't, one blow does a lot of damage. Before each big decision, make sure you could survive the worst case.

Second, not liking to consult. The general is used to its own judgment, and other people's input can sound like delay. But often, asking one more question saves a long detour.

Third, hard to stop even in the wrong direction. Drive with direction is a strength, provided the direction is right. Stopping regularly to check matters more than charging all the way.

What weakens it

• Qing Yang, Tuo Luo, Huo Xing or Ling Xing in the same palace as Qi Sha. The Tai Wei Fu says "Qi Sha and Po Jun rely entirely on the ferocity of Qing Yang and Ling Xing": meeting challenging stars amplifies drive into recklessness.
• Hua Ji in the San Fang. The charge comes with more worry and back-and-forth.
• Di Kong or Di Jie in the Life Palace. You charge hard, and it's easy to land on nothing.

On the other hand, Zi Wei or Wu Qu opposite taking Hua Quan or Hua Lu, and Zuo Fu, You Bi or Hua Ke in the San Fang, all give the general more backing.

How to check whether you have Qi Sha Chao Dou

1. Draw your chart and see whether your Life Palace is in Yin, Shen, Zi or Wu.
2. Check whether its only main star is Qi Sha.
3. Then see whether Zi Wei and Tian Fu are opposite (facing the Dipper) or Wu Qu and Tian Fu (looking up to the Dipper).

Qi Sha's full personality is in its star introduction, and the difference between Qi Sha and Po Jun is in the Qi Sha and Po Jun lesson. The similar pattern for Po Jun in the Life Palace in Zi or Wu is called Ying Xing Ru Miao.

Common questions

What does Qi Sha Chao Dou mean?

Qi Sha is the general star. When it sits alone in the Life Palace in Yin, Shen, Zi or Wu, Zi Wei with Tian Fu or Wu Qu with Tian Fu is directly opposite, like a general presenting himself before the Northern Dipper. Volume three of the Quan Shu says "Qi Sha in Yin, Shen, Zi or Wu: rank and income flourish all life long; this is the pattern of Qi Sha facing the Dipper." Today it reads as drive with direction, willing to fight and able to win a place.

What is the difference between facing and looking up to the Dipper?

Both have Qi Sha alone in the Life Palace. In Yin or Shen, Zi Wei and Tian Fu are opposite, usually called facing the Dipper; in Zi or Wu, Wu Qu and Tian Fu are opposite, usually called looking up to it. The Quan Shu's Gu Sui Fu says "facing the Dipper, looking up to the Dipper: rank and income flourish," so both are rated well.

Does Qi Sha in the Life Palace in Chen, Xu, Chou or Wei count?

No. Qi Sha is also at Miao in Chen, Xu, Chou and Wei: in Chou and Wei it shares the palace with Lian Zhen; in Chen and Xu it sits alone, with Lian Zhen and Tian Fu opposite. Volume three of the Quan Shu only lists Yin, Shen, Zi and Wu as Qi Sha Chao Dou; the others are read by Qi Sha itself and the stars in the same and opposite palaces.

How common is Qi Sha Chao Dou?

About 1 chart in 35. Among people with Qi Sha in the Life Palace, it is a sizable share.