What is Xiong Su Chao Yuan (The Bold Star Pays Court)?

In Xiong Su Chao Yuan (the bold star pays court), the "bold star" is Lian Zhen. Lian Zhen transforms into Restraint: a star of principle and ambition, with strong emotions too. In Yin and Shen it is at Miao, its steadiest and brightest position. With Lian Zhen sitting there and no challenging stars in the way, the classics promise wealth, standing and "a name that spreads far." About 1 chart in 113 has Xiong Su Chao Yuan. To check whether you have it, draw your chart.

The conditions for Xiong Su Chao Yuan

Xingge's detection is: Lian Zhen sits alone in the Life Palace, the Life Palace is in Yin or Shen, and no challenging star shares the palace.

The challenging stars here are Tuo Luo, Huo Xing, Ling Xing, Di Kong and Di Jie, plus Qing Yang, six in all. Qing Yang, though, never lands in Yin or Shen. It always sits in the palace after Lu Cun, and Lu Cun only lands in Yin, Mao, Si, Wu, Shen, You, Hai and Zi, so the palace after it is never Yin or Shen. That leaves five stars that can actually break the pattern:

• Tuo Luo: in Yin for Yi-year births, in Shen for Xin-year births.
• Huo Xing and Ling Xing: placed by birth-year branch and birth hour.
• Di Kong and Di Jie: placed by birth hour.

In Yin and Shen, Lian Zhen always sits alone, with Tan Lang in the opposite palace. The Life Palace's San Fang is fixed too. With the Life Palace in Yin, the Wealth Palace is in Xu with Zi Wei and Tian Xiang, and the Career Palace is in Wu with Wu Qu and Tian Fu. With the Life Palace in Shen, the Wealth Palace is in Chen and the Career Palace in Zi, holding the same two pairs. So everyone with Xiong Su Chao Yuan meets Zi Wei, Tian Fu, Wu Qu and Tian Xiang in the San Fang: the whole chart belongs to the Zi Fu Lian Wu Xiang family. And since the Life Palace holds neither Tian Fu nor Tian Xiang while the San Fang always meets both, the chart also marks Fu Xiang Chao Yuan at the same time.

By Xingge's count, Lian Zhen alone in the Life Palace in Yin or Shen appears in about 1 chart in 68. Around four in ten of those have a challenging star in the same palace; the rest are Xiong Su Chao Yuan, about 0.9% of all charts.

What the classics say, and how Xingge differs

The opening line on Lian Zhen in the Star Combinations chapters of volume three of the Quan Shu (the line before it is only Lian Zhen's brightness table) says:

Lian Zhen in the Shen or Wei palace without challenging stars: rich and noble, the name spreading far. (Note) The Xiong Su Chao Yuan pattern; with challenging stars, ordinary.

This differs from Xingge's detection in two ways:

• The classics say Shen and Wei; Xingge uses Yin and Shen. In Shen, Lian Zhen is at Miao and alone. In Wei it is only at Li and always shares the palace with Qi Sha, which is a different combination. Later practitioners mostly teach Xiong Su Chao Yuan as Lian Zhen alone at Miao in Yin or Shen, and Xingge follows that common reading, so Lian Zhen with Qi Sha in Wei doesn't count. The "Wei" in the original may be a copying slip. Lian Zhen with Qi Sha has its own line in the Gu Sui Fu in volume one: "Lian Zhen and Qi Sha make, on the contrary, a person who piles up wealth."
• Which stars count as challenging. The original only says "without challenging stars." Xingge counts Qing Yang, Tuo Luo, Huo Xing, Ling Xing, Di Kong and Di Jie in the same palace, and looks only at the Life Palace itself, not the San Fang.

Which birth years suit it best

• Jia years: Lian Zhen takes Hua Lu, and Lu Cun is in Yin. With the Life Palace in Yin, Lu Cun sits right in it; in Shen, Lu Cun shines in from the opposite palace. With both Hua Lu and Lu Cun present, Jia is often seen as the best year stem for this pattern.
• Geng years: Lu Cun is in Shen, so with the Life Palace in Shen, Lu Cun shares it.
• Bing years: Lian Zhen takes Hua Ji. Xingge still counts the pattern, since Hua Ji isn't one of the challenging stars, but the pull between principle and emotion is more noticeable, as explained below.

How to read it today

Lian Zhen at Miao in Yin or Shen magnifies the best side of the star:

• Principled. You hold yourself to a standard and follow through on what you say.
• Ambitious. You want to rise, and you are willing to discipline yourself for it.
• Socially fluent. Lian Zhen rules the Career Palace and is also a "secondary peach-blossom star": it knows how to deal with people and how to handle a room.

Meeting Zi Wei, Tian Fu, Wu Qu and Tian Xiang in the San Fang means there are structures, resources and people to work with around you; Tan Lang opposite brings outside opportunities and a busy social life. The classics say "the name spreading far." Today, a name isn't something you announce. It is built one finished piece of work at a time.

Xingge's reading is: principled and ambitious, you build your name one task at a time; when you set out the rules first, people can keep up, and they want to follow.

Suitable stages include management, public relations, legal work, project coordination, sales leadership, or any role that needs someone to "set the rules and lead people through them."

Where Xiong Su Chao Yuan tends to get stuck

Lian Zhen's other side is strong emotion and high demands. People with Xiong Su Chao Yuan often get stuck in two ways:

• Treating your own standard as everyone's standard. Rules that seem obvious to you may be news to others. Saying them clearly up front works better than being annoyed later.
• Tying ambition to pride. When you want to win, you tend to push through on willpower. Breaking goals into smaller pieces and delivering them one by one makes your reputation far more solid.

What weakens it

• A challenging star in the same palace. This is the classics' "with challenging stars, ordinary," and Xingge's detection no longer applies. Tuo Luo slows things down, Huo Xing and Ling Xing shorten the temper, and Di Kong and Di Jie let plans fall through. Lian Zhen's strengths remain; things just run less smoothly.
• Challenging stars in the San Fang or opposite palace. Xingge doesn't cancel the pattern for these, but that palace's affairs carry more ups and downs. With a challenging star in the Career Palace, for example, work takes more effort.
• Lian Zhen taking Hua Ji (Bing-year births). Principle and emotion easily get tangled, about both the work and the people. Setting out the rules first beats arguing about right and wrong afterward.

For how Lian Zhen and Tan Lang relate, see the Lian Zhen and Tan Lang lesson; the challenging stars are in the Six Malefic Stars lesson. For another Lian Zhen pattern, read Xing Qiu Jia Yin.