Siblings Palace

This chapter describes the Siblings Palace by 'how many', the reading of an age of large families. Zi Wei in the Siblings Palace 「有倚靠年長之兄」: with the emperor star in the siblings' place, there is an elder brother or sister of higher standing to lean on. Of the stars named with it, Tian Fu, Tian Xiang and Po Jun, Zi Wei shares a palace only with these and with Tan Lang and Qi Sha (Zi Wei with Tian Fu in Yin and Shen, with Tian Xiang in Chen and Xu, with Po Jun in Chou and Wei). 「各胞生」 means born of different mothers; today it can be read as half-siblings, or as brothers who feel like outsiders. The numbers need not be taken literally; the point is whether there is someone among siblings or peers who will back you up. See Zi Wei in the Siblings Palace.

Tian Ji in the Siblings Palace gives few siblings, mostly two. The only stars that can share a palace with Tian Ji are Ju Men (Mao, You), Tian Liang (Chen, Xu) and Tai Yin (Yin, Shen), and this entry lists all three. Tian Ji's transformed qi is kindness, and it also rules change, so the saying that siblings 'turn their backs and are not of one mind' fits Tian Ji's changeable nature: different ideas, each going their own way. The Quan Shu often treats Tian Ji with Ju Men as a source of much talk and argument, which in the Siblings Palace means plenty of disagreement between siblings. Read today: siblings or colleagues who all think fast, and who need to agree on who does what before working together. See Tian Ji in the Siblings Palace.

Tai Yang in Miao or Wang gives three; with Tai Yin (Chou, Wei), five; with Ju Men (Yin, Shen) and no malefic stars, three. Tai Yang is an outgoing star that rules men and giving; in Miao or Wang in the Siblings Palace, siblings are warm-hearted and look out for each other, while in Xian they lack harmony and cannot help. Tai Yang's Xian positions are Hai and Zi, and the brightness shows directly on a Xingge chart. 「欠力」 means unable to help; today, siblings each busy with their own lives, not someone to count on. People with Tai Yang in the Siblings Palace are often the ones who give more. See Tai Yang in the Siblings Palace.

Wu Qu in Miao or Wang gives two, 「不合」, not in accord: Wu Qu is a blunt, hard star of wealth, and siblings easily clash over money. Wu Qu can share a palace with Tian Fu (Zi, Wu), Tian Xiang (Yin, Shen), Qi Sha (Mao, You), Tan Lang (Chou, Wei) and Po Jun (Si, Hai); this entry lists Tian Xiang, Po Jun and Qi Sha. Wu Qu with Qi Sha and Wu Qu with Po Jun both give 'one, not in harmony', because a general star or a star of waste added to a wealth star means sharper conflict. In real life, going into business with siblings or handling an inheritance together calls for clear accounts. See Wu Qu in the Siblings Palace.

Tian Tong in its temple gives four or five, a high number for this chapter. Tian Tong is the star of blessing, easy-going by nature, so with Tian Tong in the Siblings Palace there are many siblings and they get along. Tian Tong can share a palace with Tai Yin (Zi, Wu), Ju Men (Chou, Wei) and Tian Liang (Yin, Shen), and this entry lists all of them. In Xian (Wu), only two. 「少宜分居不和」 is the advice for when malefic stars or Hua Ji come: living apart actually keeps the peace. Siblings who are fond of each other, but need some distance for it to last. See Tian Tong in the Siblings Palace.

Lian Zhen in its temple gives two; with Tan Lang (Si, Hai), resentment; with Qi Sha (Chou, Wei), one. Lian Zhen's transformed qi is prisoner, carrying a sense of restraint and of grudges, so in the Siblings Palace bad feeling forms easily. Lian Zhen and Tan Lang together in Si or Hai are both Xian, hence 'resentment'. The last sentence, siblings who get on warmly but are few, is explained in the text note as a later insertion in plain language that contradicts what comes before. Read today: rivalry between siblings, where whose career went further or who did more for the parents easily becomes a sore point. See Lian Zhen in the Siblings Palace.

Tian Fu gives the most siblings in this chapter, five; Zi Wei and Tian Fu with Zuo Fu, You Bi, Wen Chang and Wen Qu, six or seven. Tian Fu is the treasury and rules tolerance, so in the siblings' place it means a large family, ample resources and mutual support. Tian Fu can share a palace with Zi Wei (Yin, Shen), Lian Zhen (Chen, Xu) and Wu Qu (Zi, Wu); this entry does not mention Wu Qu. When Tian Fu is in the Siblings Palace, the Life Palace is always the next palace along from Tian Fu, so the Life Palace always holds Tai Yin, the next star in the Tian Fu group. Siblings or peers are a solid backstop. See Tian Fu in the Siblings Palace.

Tai Yin in its temple gives five, with Tai Yang five or six, with Tian Ji two, with Hua Ke or Hua Quan four or five. Tai Yin rules softness, the mother and women, so in the Siblings Palace it is often read as many sisters, or a sensitive, finely tuned sibling bond. Tai Yin is in its temple in Hai, Zi and Chou, which you can read straight off the brightness on a Xingge chart. This entry has an unusual condition, 「科權同」: Tai Yin takes Hua Quan in Wu years and Hua Ke in Geng and Gui years. With malefic stars, 「宜分居相背」, the same advice as in the Tian Tong entry. See Tai Yin in the Siblings Palace.

Tan Lang in Miao or Wang gives two; in Xian, 「宜各胞」, half-siblings by a different mother are actually better. This is the old way of resolving trouble: for a combination with too much harm, let the harm fall on half-siblings. Tan Lang can share a palace with Zi Wei (Mao, You), Lian Zhen (Si, Hai) and Wu Qu (Chou, Wei); this entry does not mention Wu Qu. Lian Zhen with Tan Lang means no harmony, because both are Xian in Si and Hai. In a modern family: siblings each have their own desires and directions, and there is no need to force them into step. See Tan Lang in the Siblings Palace.

The key phrase for Ju Men in the Siblings Palace is 「乖違不一心」, at odds and not of one mind: Ju Men's transformed qi is darkness, and it rules words, quarrels and suspicion. With Tian Ji (Mao, You) the friction is worse, since both stars overthink and love to argue. With Tai Yang (Yin, Shen) plus Zuo Fu, You Bi, Wen Chang and Wen Qu, three, because Tai Yang lights up Ju Men's darkness. In Xian (Chen, Xu), half-siblings, and better to live apart. Siblings who talk and argue a lot, where saying things plainly works better than bottling them up. See Ju Men in the Siblings Palace. The Quan Shu has much more on Ju Men with Tai Yang in the section on Ju Men.

Tian Xiang in the Siblings Palace is 「和平」: Tian Xiang is the mediator, and siblings can smooth things over between them. 'Seeing malefic stars, none at all' shows how heavily malefic stars weigh on Tian Xiang here. Tian Xiang can share a palace with Zi Wei (Chen, Xu), Wu Qu (Yin, Shen) and Lian Zhen (Zi, Wu), and this entry lists all of them. Tian Xiang is always flanked by Ju Men and Tian Liang, and the Life Palace is the next palace along from the Siblings Palace, so when the Siblings Palace holds Tian Xiang, the Life Palace always holds Tian Liang. See Tian Xiang in the Siblings Palace.

Tian Liang in Miao or Wang gives two who get along; if there are more, some are by a different mother and there is no harmony; in a Xian palace, none. Tian Liang is the star of shelter and of old age, so in the Siblings Palace it is often read as one sibling who looks after the others like a parent. Tian Liang can share a palace with Tian Tong (Yin, Shen), Tian Ji (Chen, Xu) and Tai Yang (Mao, You); this entry does not mention Tai Yang. Tian Liang's Xian positions are Si, Hai and Shen, which you can see directly from the brightness on Xingge. In families today, the common picture is one sibling who takes on the caring role. See Tian Liang in the Siblings Palace.

Qi Sha rules loneliness and harm, and only in Zi, Wu, Yin or Shen are there three. Those are exactly the positions where Qi Sha sits alone with Zi Wei and Tian Fu, or Wu Qu and Tian Fu, in the opposite palace, the same set the Qi Sha chapter praises as Qi Sha in Yin, Shen, Zi or Wu. In other words, Qi Sha's positions facing the dipper are better even for the Siblings Palace. 「宜各人」 means each going their own way. Siblings who are independent of each other, not clingy, but able to pitch in when it counts. See Qi Sha in the Siblings Palace.

Po Jun in its temple (Zi, Wu) gives three; in Xian with malefic stars, alone. With Wu Qu (Si, Hai) and with Zi Wei (Chou, Wei), two each; with Lian Zhen (Mao, You), one. This follows Po Jun's brightness exactly: Mao and You are Po Jun's only Xian positions, and they give the fewest. Po Jun's transformed qi is waste, so in the Siblings Palace it means a lot of change between siblings: they may scatter to different places, or fight over property. On the whole, a sibling bond with ups and downs. See Po Jun in the Siblings Palace.

Wen Chang and Wen Qu in the Siblings Palace 「諸宮皆有三人」, three whatever the palace, which shows the Quan Shu treating them as a bonus rather than something that decides the number. With Qing Yang, Tuo Luo, Huo Xing or Ling Xing, brightness decides: no harm in Miao or Wang, alone in a Xian palace. Volume three's table puts the Xian positions of both Wen Chang and Wen Qu in Yin, Wu and Xu; in Xingge's brightness, Wen Chang is Xian in Yin, Wu and Xu, while Wen Qu is Xian in Wu and Xu and Ping in Yin. 'With Di Kong and Di Jie added, none at all' shows that in this chapter Di Kong and Di Jie weigh more than the other four malefic stars. Read today: siblings who share a cultural or educational common language.

Zuo Fu in the Siblings Palace gives three; with Tian Tong, Wen Chang and Wen Qu, four or five. Zuo Fu is by nature a helper star, and the Siblings Palace suits it best: siblings are helpers of one's own generation. With Qing Yang, Tuo Luo, Huo Xing or Ling Xing the number drops to two; with Di Kong or Di Jie they cannot help and do not get along. Here Zuo Fu is paired with Tian Tong: Tian Tong rules blessing and Zuo Fu rules help, which together make for happy siblings. Widened to one's circle today: steady support among peers, colleagues and friends.

You Bi's entry is almost the same as Zuo Fu's; only the main stars it pairs with change from Tian Tong to Tian Fu, Tian Xiang and Zi Wei. Zi Wei, Tian Fu and Tian Xiang all belong to the group of Zi Wei, Tian Fu, Lian Zhen, Wu Qu and Tian Xiang, and You Bi's role is to carry out the emperor's orders, so it fits naturally with the Zi Wei group. This pair of entries shows that the Quan Shu treats Zuo Fu and You Bi as a set, with the same effect in the Siblings Palace. Among siblings or colleagues, someone quietly helping in the background.

Lu Cun in the Siblings Palace, 「相生有兄弟」: 'generating each other' means Lu Cun's element (earth) and the element of the palace's branch are in a generating relationship. Lu Cun can only sit in eight branches, Yin, Mao, Si, Wu, Shen, You, Hai and Zi; in Si or Wu, for example, fire generates earth, so they generate each other. With malefic stars, harm and resentment. Qing Yang is always the next palace along from Lu Cun, and the Life Palace is the next palace along from the Siblings Palace, so when the Siblings Palace holds Lu Cun, Qing Yang always sits in the Life Palace. In daily life: money passes between siblings, and if it is handled carefully there is peace, if not there is resentment.

Following the text note, 「羊玲」 is read as 「羊陀」. Qing Yang and Tuo Luo in the Siblings Palace mean harm: in the temple, one; with lucky stars, two or three; in Xian, none. The temple positions of Qing Yang and Tuo Luo are all in Chen, Xu, Chou and Wei, and Xingge marks their brightness. Qing Yang and Tuo Luo always flank Lu Cun, so when the Siblings Palace holds Tuo Luo, Lu Cun is always in the Life Palace; when it holds Qing Yang, Lu Cun is in the Spouse Palace. Rivalry or conflict between siblings; fewer of them is not necessarily bad, since a simpler relationship can be a clearer one.

Huo Xing in its temple (Yin, Wu, Xu) with lucky stars gives one or two; with Lian Zhen, Qi Sha, Po Jun or Ling Xing, alone and harmed. Huo Xing in the Siblings Palace means a sibling bond that is hasty, blunt and quick to flare into conflict. Listing Lian Zhen, Qi Sha and Po Jun alongside Ling Xing is a 'bad company' grouping the Quan Shu uses often. In today's terms: siblings who all have quick tempers, where small things easily blow up, and a cooling-off period works better than reasoning.

Ling Xing in its temple, generating with its palace, gives siblings; with Qing Yang, Tuo Luo, Huo Xing, Di Kong or Di Jie, none. Ling Xing belongs to fire, and 'generating each other' means the same as in the Lu Cun entry: Ling Xing's element and the element of the palace's branch generate each other, for example in Yin or Mao, where wood generates fire. Set side by side with the Huo Xing entry, it shows that the Quan Shu writes Huo Xing and Ling Xing as almost the same. Siblings with pent-up feelings that need an outlet.

The Dou Jun is the palace where a year's first lunar month falls, as the note explains. In the year the Dou Jun reaches the Siblings Palace, the good or bad of the Siblings Palace decides the sibling relationship that year: many lucky stars mean harmony, many malefic stars mean quarrels. The note also covers 「有刑者不見刑」. This is the fixed last entry of each palace chapter in the Quan Shu; every palace has one for the Dou Jun. With the year and month overlaid on Xingge, you can see which palace the Dou Jun falls in. See the passage on the Dou Jun in the chapter on the four transformations.