What is Ri Yue Bing Ming (Sun and Moon Both Bright)?

Tai Yang is daytime light; Tai Yin is nighttime light. On a chart these two are often one bright and one dim, because their positions move together: when Tai Yang is bright, Tai Yin is often in the dark. Ri Yue Bing Ming (sun and moon both bright) is one of the few situations where both are bright and both reach the Life Palace, and the ancients valued it highly. To see whether you have it, draw your chart.

The conditions for Ri Yue Bing Ming

Xingge's detection uses two conditions:

• Tai Yang and Tai Yin are both within the Life Palace's San Fang Si Zheng.
• Both have a brightness of Miao or Wang.

Tai Yang and Tai Yin have fixed positions relative to each other, so only four combinations can make both bright:

• Tai Yang in Yin (Wang), Tai Yin in Zi (Miao)
• Tai Yang in Mao (Miao), Tai Yin in Hai (Miao)
• Tai Yang in Chen (Wang), Tai Yin in Xu (Wang)
• Tai Yang in Si (Wang), Tai Yin in You (Wang)

Add the requirement that the Life Palace sits where both can reach it, and about 1 chart in 13 has it.

What the classics say, and how we read it today

The Gu Sui Fu in volume one of the Quan Shu says:

Sun and moon both bright, assisting the ninefold palace of Yao.

The "ninefold palace" is the emperor's palace, and "assisting" it means serving the ruler at court. The ancients saw Ri Yue Bing Ming as a pattern for reaching the center of power and becoming a trusted minister.

In its passage on Tai Yang and Tai Yin shining in, volume three adds two very specific lines:

Sun in Chen, moon in Xu, vying in brilliance: no small share of authority and income.

The sun and moon guarding the Life Palace is not as good as shining in together.

The first names the combination of Tai Yang in Chen and Tai Yin in Xu, saying that with the two vying in brightness, both authority and income are plentiful. The second is more interesting: the sun and moon sitting in the Life Palace is not as good as shining in from the San Fang. The ancients felt that light shining in from outside beats light crowded into the Life Palace. Xingge's detection counts the Life Palace too, so if your Tai Yang or Tai Yin sits right in the Life Palace, know that the classics prefer it shining in.

Today, a closer reading of Ri Yue Bing Ming:

• Both reason and feeling are taken care of. Tai Yang is giving outward, getting things done and reputation; Tai Yin is inner feeling, detail and accumulation. With both bright, your work has both light and warmth.
• A stage by day and by night. You can hold up both your public work and your private life; a common picture is doing well in your main job while also running a side project or a home well.
• Easily trusted. Tai Yang comes across as open and above board, Tai Yin as careful and reliable; together, both your popularity and your credibility are in good shape.

Where Ri Yue Bing Ming tends to get stuck

First, wanting to look after both sides. Tai Yang wants to give outward; Tai Yin wants to protect its own small world. Trying to do both work and life perfectly can leave you tired on both fronts.

Second, caring too much what others think. Tai Yang cares about reputation and Tai Yin about feelings, so people with both bright often find it hard to say no.

What weakens it

• Tai Yang or Tai Yin taking Hua Ji. In Jia years Tai Yang takes Hua Ji; in Yi years Tai Yin does. The bright star gains an extra layer of worry.
• Qing Yang, Tuo Luo, Huo Xing or Ling Xing in the same palace as the sun or moon. The light is still there, but with more collisions and back-and-forth.
• Tai Yang sharing a palace with Ju Men. Tai Yang in Yin always sits with Ju Men, which the ancients called "the hidden," and it blocks some of the light. This pairing has its own reading, Ju Ri Tong Gong.

By the way: with the Life Palace in Wei, empty of main stars, and Tai Yang in Mao and Tai Yin in Hai shining in from the trines, it is not only Ri Yue Bing Ming but also the separately named Ming Zhu Chu Hai. The opposite case, with both dim, is called Ri Yue Fan Bei.

How to check whether you have Ri Yue Bing Ming

1. Draw your chart and find which palaces Tai Yang and Tai Yin are in.
2. Confirm both are within the Life Palace's San Fang Si Zheng (Life, Travel, Wealth and Career Palaces).
3. Look at the brightness marked next to each; if both are Miao or Wang, the pattern forms.

You can read Tai Yang's and Tai Yin's personalities in full in the Tai Yang and Tai Yin lesson.

Common questions

What does Ri Yue Bing Ming mean?

Tai Yang and Tai Yin are both in bright positions (Miao or Wang) and both shine into the Life Palace's San Fang Si Zheng. The Quan Shu says "sun and moon both bright, assisting the ninefold palace of Yao," which the ancients read as a pattern for a trusted minister; today it reads as balancing reason and feeling, and holding up both public and private life.

Do Tai Yang and Tai Yin have to be in the Life Palace?

No, and the classics actually prefer that they aren't. Volume three of the Quan Shu says "the sun and moon guarding the Life Palace is not as good as shining in together," meaning shining in from the San Fang is better than sitting in the Life Palace.

How common is Ri Yue Bing Ming?

About 1 chart in 13. Tai Yang's and Tai Yin's positions move together, so there are only four combinations in which both are bright, and they also need to reach the Life Palace, so it isn't common.

What is the difference between Ri Yue Bing Ming and Ri Yue Tong Lin?

Ri Yue Tong Lin is Tai Yang and Tai Yin sitting in the same palace, which only happens in Chou and Wei: in Chou, Tai Yin is bright and Tai Yang dim; in Wei, Tai Yang is a little better and Tai Yin dim, so one of them is always outside Miao or Wang. Ri Yue Bing Ming has the two apart, both in bright positions, and both shining into the Life Palace. They are different combinations; for Ri Yue Tong Lin, see the Ri Yue Tong Lin page.