Stars in Strong Positions: Wealth and Rank

Stars in Strong Positions: Wealth and Rank shares its theme with the earlier Stars in Strong Positions: Fitting Patterns, but it is written as one continuous run of seven-character lines, listing the palaces in turn. For Zi it lists Tai Yin, Qi Sha, Po Jun, Wen Chang, Tan Lang and Wen Qu, and against the brightness table these are all Miao, Wang or De, a close match.

「丑未紫破朝日月」 is a problem on the chart: when Zi Wei and Po Jun share Chou or Wei, Tai Yang and Tai Yin are in Chen and Xu, not in the San Fang Si Zheng of Chou or Wei, so 'facing the sun and moon' cannot hold literally; the sun and moon then sit in Chen and Xu, only distantly facing Zi Wei and Po Jun. 「未貞梁丑」: Lian Zhen in Wei shares the palace with Qi Sha, and Tian Liang in Chou sits alone at brightness Wang.

Yin lists Tai Yang with Ju Men, Qi Sha, Tian Tong with Tian Liang, and the literary stars; Mao lists Tian Ji with Ju Men, and Wu Qu. This is almost identical to the Yin and Mao poems of Stars in Strong Positions: Fitting Patterns; see Stars in Strong Positions: Fitting Patterns. Tai Yang and Ju Men in Yin, Tai Yang Wang and Ju Men Miao, are a top pattern by the Quan Shu's common consent; Qi Sha in Yin is Miao, which is Qi Sha Chao Dou.

「卯上巨機為貴格」, set against Stars in Fallen Positions: Broken Patterns listing Tian Ji and Ju Men in You as a broken pattern, is the Quan Shu's 'good in Mao, bad in You'. Wu Qu guarding Mao shares the palace with Qi Sha, at brightness Li. Xingge's pattern pages explain Ju Ri Tong Gong and Ju Ji Tong Lin, the patterns in this segment.

Tian Ji and Tian Liang in Chen or Xu are Shan Yin Chao Gang; Tian Fu in Xu shares the palace with Lian Zhen and is Miao; Tian Ji or Tian Xiang in Si or Hai are only Ping and De on the brightness table, yet the Quan Shu calls them noble; Zi Wei, Tian Fu and Tian Liang are all Miao or Wang in Wu, but each is a different chart.

「巳亥天機天相貴」 is worth noticing: Tian Ji in Si or Hai is Ping and Tian Xiang there is De, neither strong, yet the Quan Shu puts them under wealth and rank, perhaps because Zi Wei or Tian Fu meet these palaces from the San Fang. The Si poem of Stars in Strong Positions: Fitting Patterns likewise says 「巳位天機天相臨，紫府朝垣福更深」, with Zi Wei and Tian Fu facing the Life Palace as the condition.

This segment lists all the strong positions of the sun and moon at once: Tai Yin in You, Xu and Hai, Tai Yang in Mao, Chen, Si and Wu. Against the brightness table: Tai Yin is Wang in You, Wang in Xu, Miao in Hai; Tai Yang is Miao in Mao and Wang in Chen, Si and Wu, a perfect match. It is also part of what Master Xiyi says in What Does Tai Yin Govern?, 「以酉戌亥子丑為得垣」.

Shen lists Lian Zhen, Ju Men, Tai Yin and Qi Sha: Lian Zhen, Ju Men and Qi Sha are all Miao in Shen, and Tai Yin in Shen is Li. Zi Wei, Tian Fu and Ju Men in Si and Hai: Zi Wei is Wang there (sharing the palace with Qi Sha), Tian Fu De, Ju Men Wang. Overall, this segment agrees closely with the brightness table.

「亥宮天府天梁吉」: Tian Fu in Hai is De, but Tian Liang in Hai is Xian. The previous chapter, Stars in Fallen Positions: Broken Patterns, says 「亥宮貪火天梁同，飄蕩浪子走西東」, listing Tian Liang in Hai as a broken pattern. Within the same set of verses Tian Liang in Hai is auspicious in one place and bad in another, a direct contradiction inside the Quan Shu; see Stars in Fallen Positions: Broken Patterns.

「子宮機宿亦中平」: Tian Ji in Zi is Miao, and calling it only middling is a cautious verdict. 「七殺子午逢左右，文曲加之格最清」: Qi Sha in Zi or Wu is Wang with Wu Qu and Tian Fu opposite, and with Zuo Fu, You Bi and Wen Qu added it is the pure form of Qi Sha Chao Dou.

「廉坐中宮逢輔弼，更兼化吉禍尤興」: in a chapter on wealth and rank, 'misfortune flourishes' says the opposite of what is expected, and the textual note suggests 禍 may be an error for 福. Read as 'blessings', it means Lian Zhen in the Life Palace meeting Zuo Fu and You Bi, with an auspicious transformation, has blessings that flourish all the more, which agrees with the Lian Zhen chapter's 「只宜官祿身命之位，遇吉福映」.

What 'the central palace' means is unclear. One possibility is the Life Palace; another is Lian Zhen in Yin or Shen, since Lian Zhen sits alone only in Yin and Shen, its Miao positions. The second reading has no support in the text; both are given here, and taking it as the Life Palace is the safer reading.

「武曲巳亥逢，六甲帥邊庭」: Wu Qu in Si or Hai shares the palace with Po Jun, and in Jia years Wu Qu takes Hua Ke and Po Jun Hua Quan; both stars in the palace are transformed auspiciously, so the person can command troops. The Po Jun chapter also says 「或與武曲同居巳宮，貪狼拱亦居臺閣」 (see What Does Po Jun Govern?).

「貪狼居卯酉，遇火作公卿」: Tan Lang in Mao or You shares the palace with Zi Wei at brightness Li, and meeting Huo Xing makes it a form of the Huo Tan pattern. The Star Combinations chapters say elsewhere that Huo Xing with Tan Lang 'in the four tomb palaces brings the wealth of a great family', with Chen and Xu best; here the positions given are Mao and You, so the two places differ.

「天機坐卯貴」: Tian Ji in Mao is Wang and shares the palace with Ju Men. 「寅月六丁榮」: Tai Yin in Yin (sharing the palace with Tian Ji) is Wang, and in Ding years Tai Yin takes Hua Lu, so those born in Ding years are glorious. 「巨卯逢左右，六乙立邊庭」: with Ju Men in Mao, in Yi years Tian Ji, in the same palace, takes Hua Lu, and with Zuo Fu and You Bi it can win distinction.

The year stems in these lines all line up with the four transformations, as orderly as in Stars in Strong Positions: Fitting Patterns. Tian Ji and Tai Yin in Yin are 'glorious' here but a broken pattern in Stars in Fallen Positions: Broken Patterns, which shows that the same stars depend on the year stem and on auspicious stars: with Hua Lu in a Ding year it is auspicious, with Wen Chang and Wen Qu but no auspicious transformation, bad.

「巨坐寅申位，偏喜甲庚生」: Ju Men in Yin or Shen shares the palace with Tai Yang; in Geng years Tai Yang takes Hua Lu, which helps the pair, but Jia years, when Tai Yang takes Hua Ji, are listed too, without explanation. By The Nature of the Four Transformations, 「若太陽在寅卯辰巳午化忌，太陰在酉戌亥子化忌為福論」, Hua Ji on Tai Yang in Yin does not count as bad, so it can be made to work for Yin, but Shen falls outside that range.

The second half, 「二宮逢七殺，左右會昌星」, runs on into the next segment and concerns Qi Sha in Yin or Shen meeting Zuo Fu, You Bi and Wen Chang. Qi Sha in Yin or Shen is Miao, with Zi Wei and Tian Fu opposite: the standard form of Qi Sha Chao Dou.

Continuing the previous segment: Qi Sha in Chen or Xu, also meeting the three stars Zuo Fu, You Bi and Wen Chang, is sure to rise to the dukes and ministers. Qi Sha in Chen or Xu is Miao, with Lian Zhen and Tian Fu opposite.

These two lines extend Qi Sha's top pattern from Yin, Shen, Zi and Wu to Chen and Xu, on condition of Zuo Fu, You Bi and Wen Chang. What Does Qi Sha Govern? says 「七殺寅申子午宮，四夷拱手服英雄」 without mentioning Chen and Xu, and this chapter fills that in. Read as a whole, most conditions in this chapter can be checked against the brightness table and the year-stem transformations, making it the most orderly of these palace-by-palace verses.