What is Ri Yue Jia Ming (Sun and Moon Flank the Life Palace)?

Tai Yang and Tai Yin are the sun and moon of the chart. Tai Yang stands for the public side: reputation, visibility, light sent outward. Tai Yin stands for the inner side: care, comfort and quiet support. Ri Yue Jia Ming (sun and moon flank the Life Palace) is the two of them standing one on each side of your Life Palace, as if someone were looking out for you by day and by night. The Quan Shu puts it first in its list of noble patterns. Being flanked isn't enough on its own: the Life Palace itself needs a lucky star and must not sit in emptiness. About 1 chart in 128 has it. To check whether you do, draw your chart.

The conditions for Ri Yue Jia Ming

Xingge's detection needs three things at once:

1. Tai Yang and Tai Yin flank the Life Palace. The palaces just before and just after the Life Palace hold Tai Yang on one side and Tai Yin on the other.
2. The Life Palace holds a lucky star. Any of Zuo Fu, You Bi, Wen Chang, Wen Qu, Tian Kui, Tian Yue or Lu Cun sits in the Life Palace, or a star there takes Hua Lu, Hua Quan or Hua Ke.
3. The Life Palace is not in emptiness. There is no Di Kong or Di Jie in it, and it isn't the palace marked Xun Kong or Jie Kong (Jie Lu Kong Wang).

Why it only appears in Chou or Wei

Tai Yang and Tai Yin are placed together, and they never land in neighboring palaces. When they sit with exactly one palace between them, that palace is always Chou or Wei. So the Life Palace of Ri Yue Jia Ming is always in Chou or Wei, and the main stars sitting there are fixed too:

• Life Palace in Chou, Tian Fu inside: Zi holds Tai Yang (at Xian); Yin holds Tian Ji and Tai Yin (Tai Yin at Wang).
• Life Palace in Chou, Wu Qu and Tan Lang inside: Zi holds Tian Tong and Tai Yin (Tai Yin at Miao); Yin holds Tai Yang and Ju Men (Tai Yang at Wang).
• Life Palace in Wei, Tian Fu inside: Wu holds Tai Yang (at Wang); Shen holds Tian Ji and Tai Yin (Tai Yin at Li).
• Life Palace in Wei, Wu Qu and Tan Lang inside: Wu holds Tian Tong and Tai Yin (Tai Yin at Bu, dim); Shen holds Tai Yang and Ju Men (Tai Yang at De).

By Xingge's count, about 1 chart in 37 has the Life Palace flanked by the sun and moon. Add the two conditions, a lucky star and no emptiness, and only about three in ten of those remain, so full Ri Yue Jia Ming is about 0.8% of all charts.

Which birth years form it most easily

Lucky stars and emptiness mostly depend on the birth year, so the year matters a lot:

• Jia, Wu and Geng years: Tian Kui is always in Chou and Tian Yue always in Wei, so a Life Palace in Chou or Wei comes with a helper star already inside, and the lucky-star condition is met.
• Jie Kong rules out two groups: for Wu and Gui years, Jie Kong falls in Zi and Chou, so a Life Palace in Chou can't form the pattern; for Yi and Geng years, Jie Kong falls in Wu and Wei, so a Life Palace in Wei can't. That means Wu-year births only have a chance with the Life Palace in Wei, Geng-year births only in Chou, and Jia-year births in either.
• Wu Qu and Tan Lang in the Life Palace give one more route: in Jia years Wu Qu takes Hua Ke, in Wu years Tan Lang takes Hua Lu, in Ji years Wu Qu takes Hua Lu and Tan Lang Hua Quan, and in Geng years Wu Qu takes Hua Quan, so the Life Palace has its own Hua Lu, Hua Quan or Hua Ke.
• Lu Cun can't help here: Lu Cun only lands in Yin, Mao, Si, Wu, Shen, You, Hai and Zi, never in Chou or Wei, so the Lu Cun option in the condition never applies to Ri Yue Jia Ming.

In other years it comes down to whether Zuo Fu, You Bi, Wen Chang or Wen Qu happens to fall into the Life Palace, which depends on birth month and hour. Xun Kong depends on the birth year's stem-and-branch pair, and it rules out some people too; only the drawn chart tells you. Di Kong and Di Jie follow the hour: with the Life Palace in Chou, a Yin-hour birth (3 to 5 a.m.) brings Di Jie and a Xu-hour birth (7 to 9 p.m.) brings Di Kong; in Wei, a Shen-hour birth (3 to 5 p.m.) brings Di Jie and a Chen-hour birth (7 to 9 a.m.) brings Di Kong.

What the classics say, and how Xingge differs

The first entry in the section on noble patterns in volume one of the Quan Shu reads:

Ri Yue Jia Ming (sun and moon flanking the Life Palace): the Life Palace not sitting in emptiness, the sun (Tai Yang) and moon (Tai Yin) flanking it on either side, and auspicious stars in the palace itself; that is this pattern.

The Star Combinations chapter on Tai Yin in volume three adds:

The sun and moon flanking the Life Palace or flanking the Wealth Palace, with lucky stars added: if not power, then wealth. (Note) With Qing Yang and Tuo Luo clashing or guarding, suited to be a monk.

The section on wealth patterns in volume one has a related entry:

Ri Yue Jia Cai (sun and moon flanking wealth): Wu Qu guarding the Life Palace, with the sun (Tai Yang) and moon (Tai Yin) flanking it on either side; that is this pattern. The Wealth Palace is the same.

Wu Qu is the wealth star, so the sun and moon flanking a Life Palace that Wu Qu guards are flanking wealth itself, which is where the name comes from; "the Wealth Palace is the same" means the sun and moon flanking the Wealth Palace counts too. Wu Qu guarding the Life Palace with the sun and moon on either side is exactly the two cases above where Wu Qu and Tan Lang sit in the Life Palace in Chou or Wei.

Xingge follows the three conditions of the noble-patterns entry and settles the details this way:

• What counts as emptiness. The classics only say "emptiness." Xingge counts Di Kong, Di Jie, Xun Kong and Jie Kong; meeting any one of them in the Life Palace means no pattern.
• What counts as a lucky star. The classics only say "auspicious stars." Xingge takes the Six Auspicious Stars (Zuo Fu, You Bi, Wen Chang, Wen Qu, Tian Kui, Tian Yue), Lu Cun, and the birth-year Hua Lu, Hua Quan and Hua Ke.
• Qing Yang and Tuo Luo aren't judged separately. Xingge doesn't cancel the pattern for them, but it covers them under "what weakens it" below.
• Only the Life Palace. The classics also praise the sun and moon flanking the Wealth Palace; Xingge currently only detects the Life Palace version.

How to read it today

The sun on one side and the moon on the other are two different kinds of support:

• The Tai Yang side: public, visible help. A manager who promotes you, a senior who recommends you, chances to be seen.
• The Tai Yin side: private, quiet care. Family support, friends who check in, resources that don't make a show.

A flanked Life Palace means both kinds of support lean toward you; a lucky star in the palace means you can take hold of it. Xingge's reading is: with Tai Yang and Tai Yin on either side of your Life Palace and a lucky star inside, people pull you up in public and back you in private; when someone reaches out, take the hand.

How bright the sun and moon are also changes the feel. In the Chou version with Wu Qu and Tan Lang, both are bright and the support is the most balanced. In the Chou version with Tian Fu, Tai Yang is at Xian, so public help tends to arrive later or take more work. Xingge's detection doesn't look at brightness, but it is worth noticing when you read the chart.

The main stars in the Life Palace shape how you use the support. People with Tian Fu there are good at holding and managing, and do well being trusted inside a stable system. People with Wu Qu and Tan Lang there are bold and sociable, and move fast once someone gives them a lift; read Tan Wu Tong Xing alongside this.

What weakens it

• Qing Yang or Tuo Luo clashing or sitting in. The classics say "suited to be a monk." Today, that means the outside pull gets worn down and you lean inward: research, practice, focused work that needs solitude, rather than climbing through connections.
• Hua Ji in the Life Palace. With a lucky star and Hua Ji together, you take the help while carrying a knot of your own. Sort out your own pace first, then take the hand that's offered.
• Hua Ji on the flanking sun or moon. Help from that side comes with strings attached.

The flanking palaces lesson covers the forms of flanking, and the Tai Yang and Tai Yin lesson covers the two stars themselves. For the sun and moon in the Life Palace's San Fang, read Ri Yue Bing Ming.