What is Sha Po Lang?

Sha Po Lang is the Zi Wei Dou Shu name for the three main stars Qi Sha, Po Jun and Tan Lang. By the placement rules, these three are in trine with each other on every chart, always appearing in the same San Fang Si Zheng: if one is in the Life Palace, the other two are in the Wealth and Career Palaces. Later practitioners use it to describe a bold rhythm of life that moves forward through change.

The short version:

• Formula: Sha Po Lang = Qi Sha + Po Jun + Tan Lang, each four palaces from the next, always in trine.
• Every chart has it: what differs is which three palaces the triangle falls on; with one of the three in the Life Palace, the effect is most direct.
• Fixed opposites: opposite Qi Sha is always Tian Fu, and opposite Po Jun is always Tian Xiang; Tan Lang's opposite varies.
• Rhythm, not ability: Sha Po Lang describes moving forward through change. A star's brightness and where the transformations land make a much bigger difference.

The three stars

Opposite Tan Lang is Zi Wei, Wu Qu or Lian Zhen, or an Empty Palace, depending on where Zi Wei sits.

Why the three are always linked

The fourteen main stars aren't placed at random. Zi Wei is placed first, then Tian Fu, mirrored to it; the Tian Fu group follows at fixed intervals: Tian Fu, Tai Yin, Tan Lang, Ju Men, Tian Xiang, Tian Liang, Qi Sha, then three palaces on to Po Jun. Counting it out, Tan Lang, Qi Sha and Po Jun are each four palaces apart, landing exactly on the three corners of a trine.

So Sha Po Lang isn't a combination only some people have; it's a structure on every chart. The twelve palaces divide into exactly four trines, and Sha Po Lang always fills one of them:

On the Life, Wealth and Career trine it shapes life's rhythm most. On another trine, those areas carry the sense of change: on Spouse, Travel and Fortune, for example, love and time away from home often take turns, and mood moves with them.

Sha Po Lang in the Life Palace

Each of the three stars either sits alone or shares a palace with Zi Wei, Lian Zhen or Wu Qu, never with any other main star. With one of them in the Life Palace, these are the only possibilities:

The partner star changes the flavor. Qi Sha with Zi Wei adds an emperor's sense of command to the drive; Po Jun with Lian Zhen adds principle and a stubborn streak to the urge to rebuild; Tan Lang with Wu Qu turns curiosity toward money and practical matters. When the star sits alone, the palaces of its San Fang Si Zheng and its opposite matter even more.

Reading a chart

Qi Sha in the Life Palace in Yin: the Wealth Palace in Xu holds Tan Lang, the Career Palace in Wu holds Po Jun, and the opposite Travel Palace in Shen holds Zi Wei with Tian Fu. All three Sha Po Lang stars are in the San Fang Si Zheng, with Zi Wei and Tian Fu straight across. Volume three of the Quan Shu says:

Qi Sha in Yin, Shen, Zi or Wu: a whole life of rank and prosperity.

and notes that this is the "Qi Sha Facing the Dipper" pattern. Qi Sha charges ahead while Zi Wei and Tian Fu across the chart set the direction and guard the rear, which the old writers saw as a pattern that gets things done. Today, this person often makes their own way, but what they win tends to last when there's a steady backer or a solid structure behind them.

Tian Tong in the Life Palace in Mao: the Life Palace holds gentle Tian Tong, and Sha Po Lang falls on the Siblings Palace (Yin, Qi Sha), the Property Palace (Wu, Po Jun) and the Health Palace (Xu, Tan Lang). This person isn't hasty by nature, but siblings and friends are often doers, they may have moved home several times, and their daily routine tends to fill up. With Sha Po Lang outside the Life Palace, the sense of change shows up in these areas rather than as the person's basic color.

The three star groups

Later practitioners roughly divide the fourteen main stars into three groups to see a person's main theme:

The "three star groups" are a later arrangement. The closest the Quan Shu comes is this line in volume one:

Qi Sha and Po Jun do well away from home; Ji Yue Tong Liang make officials.

The Tai Wei Fu also sets Sha and Po against Zi Wei and Tian Fu:

Zi Wei and Tian Fu rely entirely on the help of Zuo Fu and You Bi; Qi Sha and Po Jun are driven by the fierceness of Qing Yang and Ling Xing.

Zi Wei and Tian Fu need helpers like Zuo Fu and You Bi to do well; when Qi Sha and Po Jun meet fierce stars like Qing Yang, Huo Xing and Ling Xing, their force is pushed even harder.

The rhythm of Sha Po Lang

Practitioners often say this type can't sit still and that change is their fuel: changing jobs, moving, switching fields are often when they do their best. Qi Sha takes the goal, Po Jun clears away the old, Tan Lang looks for the next possibility, and as the three take turns, life keeps moving forward.

What they need to practice isn't staying put but keeping a way back before each departure, borrowing the steadiness of the star across from them: Qi Sha borrows Tian Fu's reserves, and Po Jun borrows Tian Xiang's sense of proportion. In the Decade Luck, the ten years when the decade's Life Palace reaches Sha Po Lang are often a time of changing tracks, moving or starting something new.

Common misunderstandings

• Sha Po Lang doesn't mean impulsive. The star groups describe rhythm, not ability. Within a group, a star's brightness and where the transformations land make a much bigger difference.
• It isn't only about the Life Palace. Every chart has the Sha Po Lang triangle; it just falls in different palaces and touches different areas of life.
• The Sha Po Lang pattern is read when the Life Palace holds one of the three. The star group is a structure on every chart; only when the Life Palace's main star is Qi Sha, Po Jun or Tan Lang is it read as a pattern, covered in the Sha Po Lang pattern.
• Tan Lang isn't only about romance. Read within Sha Po Lang, Tan Lang's curiosity and sociability are more about a pioneering urge to try everything.

The full lesson is the three star groups, and for reading two of the stars together, see Qi Sha and Po Jun. Draw your chart and find which three palaces Qi Sha, Po Jun and Tan Lang fall in.