What is Flanking palaces?

Flanking in Zi Wei Dou Shu is the relationship where a palace is pinched by its two neighbors: when the two stars of a matched pair sit on either side of a palace, the palace in the middle is flanked. Flanked by helpful stars, the middle palace gains support; flanked by challenging stars, it gains pressure. It differs from the San Fang Si Zheng: it looks at the next-door neighbors, not the opposite palace and the corners of the triangle.

The short version:

• Formula: flanking = the two palaces right next door each hold one star of a matched pair. One star of a pair alone doesn't count.
• Helpful and challenging: Zuo Fu-You Bi, Wen Chang-Wen Qu, Tian Kui-Tian Yue, Zi Wei-Tian Fu and Sun-Moon flanks help; Qing Yang-Tuo Luo, Huo Xing-Ling Xing and Di Kong-Di Jie flanks add pressure.
• Only certain palaces: Zuo Fu-You Bi, Wen Chang-Wen Qu and Sun-Moon flanks only reach Chou and Wei; Zi Wei-Tian Fu only Yin and Shen; Di Kong-Di Jie only Si and Hai.
• Weight: flanking is a supporting role, lighter than sharing a palace, the opposite or the trines. The lead is still the palace's own stars.

Which stars can flank

The stars that flank come in pairs. Volume three of the Quan Shu sorts them into two groups:

Three flanks of the Life Palace are harmful; six flanks are good.

The note beneath explains: the three are Di Kong-Di Jie, Huo Xing-Ling Xing and Qing Yang-Tuo Luo; the six are Zi Wei-Tian Fu, Zuo Fu-You Bi, Wen Chang-Wen Qu, Tian Kui-Tian Yue, the Lu, Quan and Ke transformations, and Tai Yang-Tai Yin. So besides the helpful minor-star pairs, two main-star pairs and the transformations can flank too. Only when both stars of a pair sit on the two sides of a palace is it flanked; one alone next door doesn't count.

The eight flanks at a glance

Each flank is set by something different, so the palaces it can reach differ too. Worked out from the placement rules:

Why:

• Zuo Fu-You Bi and Wen Chang-Wen Qu: Zuo Fu starts from Chen and moves clockwise by birth month, and You Bi starts from Xu and moves counterclockwise, so the two are always mirrored across the Chou-Wei line. Wen Chang and Wen Qu are placed by birth hour, one moving counterclockwise from Xu and the other clockwise from Chen, also mirrored across the Chou-Wei line. So both flanks only appear in Chou and Wei.
• Tian Kui-Tian Yue: these depend on the stem of your birth year. Only in Ren and Gui years (Kui in Mao, Yue in Si) do they flank Chen, and only in Bing and Ding years (Kui in Hai, Yue in You) do they flank Xu; in other years the two are never one palace apart.
• Zi Wei-Tian Fu and Tai Yang-Tai Yin: the main stars are placed together, and it works out that Zi Wei and Tian Fu only ever flank Yin or Shen, and Tai Yang and Tai Yin only Chou or Wei.
• Huo Xing-Ling Xing: both move clockwise by birth hour, and the gap between them depends only on the year branch. Only in Yin, Wu and Xu years are they exactly one palace apart, so a chart from those years always has some palace flanked by them, and charts from other years never do.
• Di Kong-Di Jie: Di Jie moves clockwise from Hai by birth hour and Di Kong counterclockwise from Hai, mirrored across the Si-Hai line, so they only flank Si or Hai.

In practice, check which branch your Life Palace is on first. If it isn't Chou or Wei, there's no need to look for Zuo Fu-You Bi, Wen Chang-Wen Qu or Sun-Moon flanking the Life Palace, which saves a lot of effort.

Birth month and hour: when the flank happens

The Zuo Fu-You Bi and Wen Chang-Wen Qu flanks can be read straight off your birth data:

Di Kong-Di Jie also depends only on the hour: born in the Si hour (Di Jie in Chen, Di Kong in Wu) or the Wei hour (Di Jie in Wu, Di Kong in Chen), they flank Si; born in the Hai hour (Di Jie in Xu, Di Kong in Zi) or the Chou hour (Di Jie in Zi, Di Kong in Xu), they flank Hai. Whether the flanked palace is your Life Palace depends on where your Life Palace falls.

Volume three of the Quan Shu gives very specific examples in its pattern list:

• Zuo Fu and You Bi flanking the Life Palace is a noble pattern; the example is the Life Palace in Chou, with Zuo Fu in Zi and You Bi in Yin.
• Wen Chang and Wen Qu flanking the Life Palace is most remarkable; the example is the Life Palace in Chou, with Wen Chang in Yin and Wen Qu in Zi.
• Tian Kui and Tian Yue flanking the Life Palace is a remarkable pattern; the example is the Life Palace in Chen, with Tian Kui in Mao and Tian Yue in Si.

Those examples aren't chosen at random; each falls exactly where the tables above say it can.

Lu Cun, Qing Yang and Tuo Luo by year stem

The palace before Lu Cun always holds Qing Yang and the palace after always holds Tuo Luo, called "Yang and Tuo flank Lu." All three are set by the stem of your birth year:

Lu Cun is very good at keeping, and also finds it harder to let go. When Lu Cun's palace also has Hua Ji, volume three calls Yang and Tuo flanking Ji a losing pattern; its example is the Life Palace in Shen with Hua Ji, flanked by Qing Yang in You and Tuo Luo in Wei. Read today: the thing you can least let go of often sits here, and it loosens bit by bit.

Tian Xiang, always flanked

The palaces on either side of Tian Xiang always hold Ju Men and Tian Liang. Its neighbors are fixed by the placement rules, so Tian Xiang depends especially on their state:

• Wealth and Shelter Flank the Seal: later practitioners call Hua Lu (wealth) plus Tian Liang (shelter) flanking Tian Xiang (the Seal) by this name: resources on one side and protection on the other. In Xin years Ju Men becomes Hua Lu, and Ju Men is always next to Tian Xiang, so every chart from a Xin year has this form.
• Punishment and Ji Flank the Seal: Hua Ji plus Qing Yang flanking Tian Xiang, pulled from both sides, a reminder not to vouch for others. For example, on a chart from a Ding year with Zi Wei in Yin, Tian Xiang is in Wu, Ju Men with Hua Ji is in Si, and Tian Liang sits with Qing Yang in Wei, so Tian Xiang is flanked this way.

The Quan Shu's own wording of Wealth and Shelter Flank the Seal is different: "wealth" originally meant Wu Qu, but by the placement rules Wu Qu never sits next to Tian Xiang, so later readers took it as Hua Lu. Punishment and Ji Flank the Seal was added later.

A real example

Born in the ninth lunar month at the You hour, with the Life Palace in Chou. By the table above, someone born in the ninth month has Zuo Fu in Zi and You Bi in Yin, flanking the Life Palace: Zuo Fu and You Bi flank the Life. Born in the You hour, Wen Chang and Wen Qu are both in Chou, sitting right in the Life Palace. If Zi Wei is in Si on this chart, the Life Palace in Chou holds Wu Qu and Tan Lang, Zi holds Tian Tong and Tai Yin, and Yin holds Tai Yang and Ju Men, so the Sun and Moon flank the Life Palace from both sides as well.

The reading order doesn't change: first the Life Palace, Wu Qu and Tan Lang with Wen Chang and Wen Qu, which is the lead; then the San Fang Si Zheng; only last the two flanks, as a bonus of "helpful neighbors on both sides." However pretty the flank, it never replaces the palace's own stars.

Noisier neighbors

When Qing Yang and Tuo Luo, Huo Xing and Ling Xing, or Di Kong and Di Jie flank a palace, it doesn't predict trouble. It's more like a noisier environment:

• Qing Yang and Tuo Luo: pulled from both sides, things tend to get stuck on details, so give yourself more time.
• Huo Xing and Ling Xing: your rhythm often gets interrupted by urgent matters, so take your own pace back.
• Di Kong and Di Jie: many ideas, and many fall through, so do important things in stages.

Flanking vs. sharing a palace vs. San Fang Si Zheng

Flanking carries less force than sharing a palace or shining in. Xingge only discusses flanking for the Life, Wealth, Career and Spouse Palaces and the Body Palace; elsewhere it tends to become noise. When reading, remember that the lead is still the star living in the palace; flanking is the atmosphere the neighbors bring. Full examples are in the lesson flanking: your neighbors matter, and related patterns are Zuo Fu and You Bi flank the Life Palace and Yang and Tuo flank Ji. If the palace has no main star, first borrow from the opposite palace as for any Empty Palace, then look at the flank.