What is Shuang Lu Jiao Liu (Double Lu Exchange)?

Zi Wei Dou Shu has two kinds of "Lu": one is Lu Cun, a fixed star; the other is Hua Lu, a transformation set by your birth-year stem. When both shine into the Life Palace, it is called Shuang Lu Jiao Liu (two Lu exchanging), meaning income and good things come by more than one road. To see whether you have it, draw your chart.

The difference between the two kinds of Lu

• Lu Cun is steady income, like savings: it holds on, and is fairly conservative. It is always flanked by Qing Yang and Tuo Luo, so it is good at holding on and finds it hard to let go, as the Lu Cun and Tian Ma lesson explains.
• Hua Lu is flowing benefit, like opportunity and goodwill: things readily pay off and connections form, but they come and go. The Hua Lu lesson is about exactly this kind of ease.

One leans toward keeping, the other toward flowing. Having both means a foundation and a living stream.

The conditions for Shuang Lu Jiao Liu

• Lu Cun falls within the Life Palace's San Fang Si Zheng: one of the Life, Travel, Wealth and Career Palaces.
• Your birth-year Hua Lu also falls in one of those four.
• The two can be in the same palace or different ones.

The combination isn't rare: about 1 chart in 9 has it. Both Lu sitting directly in the Life Palace, which the classics call "two Lu guarding the Life Palace," is much rarer, about 1 in 180.

"Shuang Lu Jiao Liu" is a later name; the Quan Shu uses phrases like "Lu meeting Lu Cun" and "two Lu guarding the Life Palace."

What the classics say, and how we read it today

When volume two discusses the natures of the transformations, it says:

Hua Lu belongs to earth and loves to meet Lu Cun.

What Hua Lu likes best is meeting Lu Cun. Under "Ke, Quan and Lu together: both wealth and standing," the commentary in volume three says:

Lu Cun is Lu too; when Lu meets Lu Cun, wealth and standing come together.

Volume three's passage on Lu Cun also has the line:

Two Lu guarding the Life Palace: Empress Lü held power alone.

Using Empress Lü as its example, it says people with both Lu in the Life Palace have both resources and skill, and can take charge of the whole situation.

Today, Shuang Lu Jiao Liu commonly looks like this:

• More than one source of income. Beyond your main work there is often a side project, investments or income through connections, or one job that brings both salary and opportunity.
• Relying on yourself and on connections. Lu Cun is what you build by holding on; Hua Lu is what connections bring. You have both.
• The longer you tend it, the thicker it grows. A single income stream breaks easily; two lines support each other, and over time the difference shows.

Where Shuang Lu Jiao Liu tends to get stuck

First, not letting go. Lu Cun, flanked by Qing Yang and Tuo Luo, is naturally conservative. With more income, you may fear losing it even more, and hesitate when it's time to invest.

Second, trusting luck too much. Hua Lu's gains come easily, and over time you may assume it will always be this smooth and prepare less.

Third, focusing only on money. Both Lu are about resources; the other stars in the Life Palace's San Fang decide what those resources are used for. Having money without knowing what to do with it is a common way of spinning your wheels.

What weakens it

• Meeting Di Kong or Di Jie. Volume one has another entry, "double canopy: Lu Cun and Hua Lu in the Life Palace meeting Di Kong and Di Jie." With both Lu in the Life Palace and Di Kong or Di Jie as well, gains slip away easily; read it with Lu Feng Kong Jie.
• Meeting Hua Ji. Hua Lu and Hua Ji in the same palace or opposite each other bring gains and ties together; see Lu Feng Chong Po.
• Hua Ji in the palace with Lu Cun. That is Yang Tuo Jia Ji, running in exactly the opposite direction to Shuang Lu Jiao Liu, and read separately.

On the other hand, with Hua Quan and Hua Ke also in the San Fang, it approaches the classics' "Ke, Quan and Lu together: both wealth and standing"; with all three of Lu, Quan and Ke present, it is San Qi Jia Hui.

How to check whether you have Shuang Lu Jiao Liu

1. Draw your chart and find which palace Lu Cun is in.
2. Find which palace the star marked "Lu" is in.
3. If both are among the Life, Travel, Wealth and Career Palaces, you have Shuang Lu Jiao Liu; if both are in the Life Palace, it is the classics' "two Lu guarding the Life Palace."

Lu Cun's position follows the birth-year stem: Yin for Jia, Mao for Yi, Si for Bing and Wu, Wu for Ding and Ji, Shen for Geng, You for Xin, Hai for Ren, Zi for Gui. To find which star takes Hua Lu, use the birth-year transformations lookup.

Common questions

What does Shuang Lu Jiao Liu mean?

Zi Wei Dou Shu has two kinds of Lu: Lu Cun, the fixed star of steady income, and Hua Lu, the transformation set by the birth-year stem. When both fall within the Life Palace's San Fang Si Zheng, it is called Shuang Lu Jiao Liu, meaning income and good things come by more than one road. The Quan Shu says "Lu Cun is Lu too; when Lu meets Lu Cun, wealth and standing come together."

Which is better, Lu Cun or Hua Lu?

They are different in nature. Lu Cun leans toward keeping, like savings, steady but conservative; Hua Lu leans toward flowing, like opportunity and goodwill, coming easily but not always staying. The strength of Shuang Lu Jiao Liu is that the two complement each other.

Is Shuang Lu Jiao Liu common?

About 1 chart in 9, so not rare. "Two Lu guarding the Life Palace," with both in the Life Palace, is much rarer: about 1 in 180.

What happens when Shuang Lu Jiao Liu meets Di Kong and Di Jie?

The classics say "double canopy: Lu Cun and Hua Lu in the Life Palace meeting Di Kong and Di Jie," meaning gains easily come to nothing or slip away. In practice it isn't a lack of money; what comes in needs to be set aside earlier, and not all put on one thing at once.