Ancient Figures in the Quan Shu (Part 1): Yan Hui, Confucius, Shi Chong, and Even Mencius Had Their Charts Cast

The Zi Wei Dou Shu Quan Shu loves to name-drop: Yan Hui, Confucius, Zilu, Qu Yuan, Xiang Yu, Li Guang, Guan Yu, Zhuge Liang... Just in the middle of Volume One’s “Dou Shu Gu Sui Fu” (Bone Marrow Fu of Zi Wei Dou Shu), there is almost one ancient figure per sentence.

It writes this way to use celebrities as example sentences: it tells a story everyone knows, so you can simultaneously remember what a group of stars represents. This issue divides them into five types based on “what the Quan Shu uses them to illustrate,” to see how the ancients used this trick.

1. As units of measurement: Yan Hui, Peng Zu, Shi Chong

When Qi Sha sits in the Jue stage, lifespan is short like Yan Hui. When Tan Lang sits in the Chang Sheng stage, longevity is enduring like Peng Zu.

This comes from Volume One’s “Tai Wei Fu.” Yan Hui was Confucius’s most valued student, who passed away very young; Peng Zu is a legendary figure said to have lived for eight hundred years.

The Quan Shu uses them as quantifiers: Yan Hui means “short-lived,” and Peng Zu means “long-lived.” If Qi Sha falls in the Jue stage, life is as short as Yan Hui’s; if Tan Lang sits in the Chang Sheng stage, life is as long as Peng Zu’s.

Shi Chong is the same. He was a wealthy man famous for flaunting his riches during the Western Jin Dynasty. Volume Two discusses Tai Yang in a male chart, stating, “Wealth and status both complete, surpassing Shi Chong.” Today we say “rich as so-and-so”; the ancients said “surpassing Shi Chong.”

2. As examples of bad luck periods: Confucius, Deng Tong

Deng Tong starved to death when his luck period reached the Da Hao palace; the Master ran out of food when his limit entered the Tian Shang palace.

This comes from the “Dou Shu Gu Sui Fu.” Confucius ran out of food while traveling through the State of Chen; Deng Tong was a favorite minister of Emperor Wen of Han. After Emperor Wen died, Deng Tong’s assets were confiscated, leaving him penniless, and he eventually died in someone else’s home.

This does not refer to an entire lifetime, but to a specific period. The song in Volume One says, “When the limit reaches Da Hao, it is called Tian Shang.” Da Hao and Tian Shang refer to the same thing. Tian Shang is fixed in the Friends Palace in every chart. The Quan Shu’s point is: when your luck period reaches this sector, even a sage will go hungry, so be careful.

3. As personality metaphors: Zilu, Yu Rang

Qi Sha is like Zilu fighting tigers bare-handed and crossing rivers without boats; Huo Xing and Ling Xing are like Yu Rang swallowing charcoal to feign muteness.

This comes from Volume One’s “Xing Xing Fu” (Form and Nature Fu), which discusses appearance and personality. “Fighting tigers bare-handed and crossing rivers without boats” comes from a dialogue between Zilu and Confucius in the Analects, generally interpreted as Confucius warning Zilu not to be too rash. Yu Rang was an assassin during the Warring States period who swallowed charcoal to ruin his voice in order to avenge his master.

The Quan Shu uses them to describe the appearance of stars, explaining itself in the next line: “Fighting tigers bare-handed and crossing rivers without boats, the eyes are too fierce; swallowing charcoal to feign muteness, the hidden wolf sound is deep.” Qi Sha has fierce eyes, while Huo Xing and Ling Xing have deep voices. Mention one name, and everyone understands, much like today’s memes.

4. Directly writing out the chart: Mencius, Jia Yi

Previously, stories were paired with groups of stars. In Volume Three, there are two instances that go further, specifying the palaces as well.

When Tian Ji and Tian Liang meet, one is good at discussing military strategy; residing in Xu is also considered a fine discussion. Mencius’s Travel Palace is in Xu, containing Tian Ji and Tian Liang.

Mencius’s Travel Palace is in Xu, with Tian Ji and Tian Liang. According to chart calculation rules, when Tian Ji and Tian Liang share a palace, the opposite palace must have no major stars. Therefore, in the book’s version of Mencius, the Life Palace is in Chen and is an Empty Palace (this is our deduction; the original text does not state this).

Another instance is “Jia Yi and Bu Shang, Wen Chang and Wen Qu in Wei Palace, Life Palace in Chou Palace,” referring to the Han Dynasty’s Jia Yi and Confucius’s student Zixia. Wen Chang and Wen Qu are together in Wei Palace, which only happens for those born in the Mao hour. Adding that the Life Palace is in Chou, the birth month is also determined: the third lunar month.

The problem is that none of these people’s birth hours were recorded. The charts in the book can only be reverse-engineered from the stories.

5. Exceptions of changing fate: Zhuge Liang

Such as Song Jiao weaving a reed bridge to save ants. Also, such as Zhuge Liang burning the Rattan Armor Army, causing excessive harm and reducing his lifespan by one Ji.

This comes from Volume Three’s “On Yin Zhi Extending Life,” one of the few places in the Quan Shu that says fate can be changed. Legend has it that Song Jiao wove a bridge out of reeds to let ants cross water, doing a good deed, and thus safely passed through a dangerous luck period. Zhuge Liang burned the Rattan Armor Army, causing too much harm, and reduced his lifespan by one Ji, which is twelve years. The burning of the Rattan Armor Army is actually a plot from Romance of the Three Kingdoms; the fate book uses a novel as an example, just as we use movie quotes to make a point today.

Story first, or stars first?

There is one thing deliberately left unsaid above: for the same person, the Quan Shu often assigns more than one group of stars.

In “Tai Wei Fu,” Yan Hui is associated with Qi Sha, but in “Gu Sui Fu,” he becomes “Yan Hui died young, Wen Chang fallen in Tian Shang.” Peng Zu changes from Tan Lang in “Chong Bu Dou Shu Gou Lv” to Tai Yang: “Sun in Wang palace can learn from Peng Zu who lived eight hundred years.” Confucius running out of food is recalculated in Volume Two under Di Jie and Di Kong: “Jie and Kong in two limits are most perverse; the Master in Chen also ran out of food.” When Zilu appears under his given name Zhong You, Qi Sha is replaced by Lian Zhen: “Zhong You is mighty, Lian Zhen at Miao meets the General.” Shi Chong is the standard for wealth, but also an example of ruin: “Shi Chong’s great wealth, limit reaches Jie ground, leading to family ruin.”

If these were truly calculated from birth charts, the same person would not have two different charts. A more reasonable reading is the reverse: first, there is a story everyone knows, then a group of stars is matched to it to make the rules easier to remember. So when you read these names, treat them as examples given by the ancients, not as verified birth charts.

The next issue will switch to another batch: Xiang Yu, Qu Yuan, Li Guang, Zhou Bo, Ruan Ji, to see how the Quan Shu distinguishes between “temporary luck periods” and “lifelong fate.”