Song of the Life Palace and the Luck Periods

These four lines pair the Five Elements Bureaus with the directions of the trigrams, and the logic behind them can be unlocked with the twelve Chang Sheng stages. The Metal bureau's Chang Sheng (birth) stage is in Si, and counting forward it reaches 'death' at Zi; the Wood bureau's is in Hai and reaches death at Wu; the Fire bureau's is in Yin and reaches death at You. Kan is Zi, Li is Wu and Dui is You: exactly the death position of each bureau. The water line names Gen (Chou and Yin), which in water's sequence are the decline and sickness stages, one step lighter than death, and accordingly the wording is only 'held up'. The Xingge detailed chart lists the twelve Chang Sheng stages for each palace, counted forward for yang men and yin women and backward for yin men and yang women, so only for those counted forward does 'death' fall in the palaces the verse names.

In the Quan Shu the Earth bureau, like the Water bureau, starts its Chang Sheng in Shen (see the rule for placing Chang Sheng); counting forward it reaches death at Mao, so an earth life fears Zhen (Mao), and Xun (Chen and Si) holds its tomb and extinction stages. The verse warns of pus and blood and fright, and says that even with lucky stars shining in there will be a round of legal trouble, heavier wording than the first four lines. On a Xingge chart the Five Elements Bureau is shown with the birth data; what to look for is the Decade Luck or Annual Luck reaching the palaces in these directions. This song and the star-based judgments that follow are two separate methods: the first works from the bureau and direction, the second from the stars.

From here begins the longest palace-by-palace table in the Quan Shu: from the Zi year to the Hai year, each year in three sections, 'in the temple, transformed to good', 'not in the temple, transformed to bad', and 'lucky and malefic stars met by Tai Sui'. The heading says 「太歲小限」, and each section below says Tai Sui and the Minor Luck reach a palace together. There is a fact of chart construction to know first. Under the Quan Shu's own Minor Luck rule (forward for men, backward for women, see the rule for placing the Minor Luck), a man's Minor Luck never falls in the same palace as Tai Sui, while a woman's coincides with it once every six years. Read strictly, then, the table would apply only to a few years in women's charts; the usual practice is to apply it separately, to Tai Sui reaching the palace or to the Minor Luck reaching it.

The first section for the Zi year. There is one key to reading this table: the 'lucky' birth-year stems listed are mostly the stems that put Lu Cun in this palace's San Fang Si Zheng. The San Fang Si Zheng of the Zi palace is Zi, Wu, Chen and Shen; Lu Cun is in Zi for Gui, in Wu for Ding and Ji, and in Shen for Geng. In the next segment, Qi Sha and Po Jun in Zi with Gui, Geng and Ji, and Tian Fu, Tian Xiang and Tian Liang with Ding, Ji and Geng, are all on that list; most of the other stems come through the birth year's Hua Lu or Hua Quan.

Taken apart: Qi Sha or Po Jun in Zi, prosperity for Gui, Geng and Ji: all three stems bring Lu Cun into the San Fang Si Zheng of Zi, and in a Gui year Po Jun is also Hua Lu. Ju Men or Tian Ji in Zi: in a Yi year Tian Ji is Hua Lu, in a Gui year Ju Men is Hua Quan. Tian Fu, Tian Xiang and Tian Liang with Ding, Ji and Geng: Lu Cun is in Wu or Shen, and in a Ji year Tian Liang is also Hua Ke. Tian Tong with Bing and Ding: Tian Tong is Hua Lu in a Bing year and Hua Quan in a Ding year. Set side by side like this, the Quan Shu's lists of stems are no mystery: they follow two lines, Lu Cun and the birth-year transformations. On a Xingge chart the birth-year transformations and Lu Cun are both shown in their palaces, so a quick comparison will confirm which of the two a given item depends on.

The second section for the Zi year, 'not in the temple, transformed to bad'. Against the lucky list, the unlucky list mostly comes from two situations: the birth year's Hua Ji falls on the star, or Qing Yang falls in this palace or its opposite. Qing Yang sits one palace after Lu Cun, so it can only appear in the eight palaces Zi, Wu, Mao, You, Chen, Xu, Chou and Wei; Yin, Shen, Si and Hai never have Qing Yang. Tuo Luo sits one palace before Lu Cun, so Zi, Wu, Mao and You never have Tuo Luo. This regularity is useful later for reading each year's list of malefic stars.

Zi Wei in Zi is Ping (Average), not Miao or Wang, which is why it sits in the unlucky section. For people born in Bing or Wu years Lu Cun is in Si and Qing Yang in Wu, clashing with Zi straight from the opposite palace; in a Bing year Lian Zhen is also Hua Ji in the Chen palace, which is in Zi's trine. So 'regret and trouble, loss of money and disaster' can be read as the emperor star out of strength and struck by Qing Yang across the chart. On a chart with Zi Wei in Zi, the opposite palace Wu holds Tan Lang, and for people born in Bing or Wu years Qing Yang sits in Wu with Tan Lang. 'Regret and trouble' means small setbacks, lighter than the 'legal trouble' and 'mourning' that come later.

The third section for the Zi year, 'lucky and malefic stars met by Tai Sui'. Unlike the first two sections it no longer divides by birth-year stem; it only asks which stars sit in the palace of Tai Sui, here the Zi palace. On a Xingge chart, in any Zi year the Annual Luck is the Zi palace, and this section speaks of the stars there. It comes round once every twelve years; 2032, for example, is a Ren Zi year.

The lucky list for the Zi palace is almost entirely stars that are bright in Zi: Tian Ji Miao, Tian Tong Wang, Tai Yin Miao, Ju Men Wang, Tian Fu Miao, Tian Xiang Miao, Po Jun Miao, Qi Sha Wang; Lian Zhen is Ping, but shares the palace with Tian Xiang in Miao. The unlucky side has Tai Yang (Xian in Zi) and Zi Wei (Ping in Zi), along with Tan Lang, Tian Liang, Qing Yang and Hua Ji. Tian Liang is Miao in Zi yet listed as unlucky, which goes against the brightness principle and is one of the harder points in the table to explain. The closing 「減半論之」 matters: the stars Tai Sui meets count at only half strength, a lighter layer than the natal chart or the Decade Luck.

The first section for the Chou year. The San Fang Si Zheng of the Chou palace is Chou, Wei, Si and You, and the stems that bring Lu Cun into it are Bing and Wu (Lu Cun in Si) and Xin (Lu Cun in You). The lucky list in the next segment uses exactly these three stems, Bing, Wu and Xin, without a single exception, the cleanest fit of any palace in the table. Chou is one of the four tomb palaces, and neither it nor its opposite, Wei, ever holds Lu Cun.

All five groups use Bing, Wu and Xin, every one a stem that puts Lu Cun in the trine. Note that by the brightness table Xingge uses, Tian Ji in Chou is Xian (Fallen), yet the Quan Shu places it under 'in the temple, transformed to good', and in a Bing year Tian Ji is also Hua Quan; the heading's 'in the temple' cannot be applied word for word here and means something closer to 'meeting good'. There are extra points as well: in a Wu year Tai Yin is Hua Quan and Tan Lang Hua Lu (Wu Qu and Tan Lang share the palace in Chou), and in a Bing year Tian Tong is Hua Lu in You, which is in the trine when Tian Ji is in Chou.

The second section for the Chou year. The malefic stars that can appear in Chou are Qing Yang (Gui years) and Tuo Luo (Jia years), both sitting right in the Chou palace. The unlucky list in the next segment has Tai Yang for people born in Jia and Yi years: in a Jia year Tai Yang is Hua Ji, Tai Yang in Chou always shares the palace with Tai Yin, and in a Yi year Tai Yin is Hua Ji, so both stems send a Hua Ji into the Chou palace.

This segment contradicts segment 11 directly. Tai Yin in Chou with a Wu-year birth is 'flourishing' in segment 11 and 'regret and trouble' here; Tian Ji in Chou with Bing and Xin is flourishing in segment 11 and also listed under regret here. Same table, same palace, same star, same stem, opposite verdicts, and the original does not say what condition separates them. To force a reconciliation one could say the earlier passage means the star in its temple with a good transformation and this one the star out of its temple turned bad, but the brightness of Tai Yin and Tian Ji in Chou is fixed; it is not sometimes Miao and sometimes Xian. Tian Tong and Lian Zhen bringing lawsuits for Ding and Geng births, on the other hand, can be traced: in a Geng year Tian Tong is Hua Ji, and in a Ding year Ju Men is Hua Ji (Tian Tong in Chou always shares the palace with Ju Men).

The third section for the Chou year. The combinations of stars possible in Chou are limited: Zi Wei with Po Jun, Tian Fu, Tian Ji, Tai Yang with Tai Yin, Tian Tong with Ju Men, Wu Qu with Tan Lang, Lian Zhen with Qi Sha, Tian Liang, Tian Xiang, or an empty palace. So however long the list, a palace will actually hold only one or two of these stars. With lists like this, first find on the Xingge chart which group sits in the Chou palace, then come back and compare; there is no need to memorise the whole string.

This list contains an internal conflict: Tai Yang and Tai Yin in Chou always share the palace (the sun and moon are together in Chou and Wei), yet Tai Yin is listed as lucky and Tai Yang as unlucky, and the original does not say how to count the sun and moon together. The rest can mostly be explained: Wu Qu and Tan Lang share a palace and both are unlucky, Tian Tong and Ju Men share a palace and both are unlucky, Zi Wei and Po Jun both lucky; each pair is consistent. The unlucky side for the Chou year adds 'legal trouble and quarrels', which is Ju Men's nature.

The first section for the Yin year. The San Fang Si Zheng of the Yin palace is Yin, Shen, Wu and Xu; Lu Cun is in Yin for Jia, in Shen for Geng and in Wu for Ding and Ji, which together make the next segment's Jia, Geng, Ding and Ji. Yin is one of the four birth places, where stars are mostly not dim, and this is the background to the Yin year being mostly lucky.

Zi Wei, Tai Yang, Tian Liang and Qi Sha are all Wang or Miao in Yin, Wu Qu is De, and the four stems are all ones that bring Lu Cun into the San Fang Si Zheng, the tidiest conditions of any sentence in the table. Note, though, that while Lu Cun is in Yin in a Jia year, Tai Yang is Hua Ji; with Tai Yang in Yin (sharing the palace with Ju Men), a Jia year actually puts Lu Cun and Hua Ji in the same palace. The Quan Shu lists them together as 'good in wealth and office' without treating them separately. On a Xingge chart this case, two stars in one palace with one lucky and one Hua Ji, shows as a Hua Ji mark and Lu Cun in the same palace.

The second section for the Yin year. The Yin palace never has Qing Yang and can only have Tuo Luo (Yi years). So the unlucky section for the Yin year speaks mainly through Hua Ji and through Qing Yang shining in from the trine; the Bing and Wu in the next segment are exactly the stems that put Qing Yang in Wu, shining into Yin from the trine.

Lian Zhen, Tan Lang or Po Jun in Yin: in a Bing year Lian Zhen is Hua Ji (with Lian Zhen in Yin it falls on this palace; with Tan Lang in Yin it falls on the opposite palace, Shen), and in a Wu year Qing Yang is in Wu and shines in from the trine. So 「招官非」 can be read as the combination of Lian Zhen's Hua Ji and Qing Yang. Lian Zhen's transformed qi is 'prisoner', and its link to lawsuits recurs throughout the Quan Shu; see Star Combinations: Lian Zhen. The second half, 「甲子生人不喜寅申歲限」, joins stem and branch, and corresponds to 「子命忌寅申」 in Stars to Avoid as the Lucks Pass the Twelve Palaces.

The third section for the Yin year. For the palace of Tai Sui in a Yin year, the list in the next segment is the most generous in the whole table: eleven main stars are listed as lucky, and on the unlucky side only Tan Lang, Tuo Luo and Hua Ji. This matches the brightness pattern of the Yin palace, where most main stars are Miao or Wang; the clear exceptions are Tan Lang (Ping) and Po Jun (De).

The lucky list covers nearly every main star that is reasonably bright in Yin; the only main star named as unlucky is Tan Lang, which is only Ping in Yin and has Lian Zhen opposite. The unlucky side names only Tuo Luo, not Qing Yang, which fits exactly the rule that the Yin palace can have Tuo Luo but never Qing Yang, showing that the list has a basis and was not jotted down at random. Readers can check on a Xingge chart whether the Yin palace holds Tuo Luo.

The first section for the Mao year. The San Fang Si Zheng of the Mao palace is Mao, You, Wei and Hai; Lu Cun is in Mao for Yi, in You for Xin and in Hai for Ren. The next segment uses Yi and Xin but not Ren, so this palace's list has one stem fewer than the rule would give. Mao is one of the peach-blossom (romance) positions, and the Mao year's lists also add phrases like 'one happy event of marriage after another'.

In a Yi year Lu Cun sits in the Mao palace itself, in a Xin year in the opposite palace You, so for both stems Lu Cun shines on Mao. In addition, in a Yi year Tian Ji is Hua Lu and Zi Wei Hua Ke, and in a Xin year Ju Men is Hua Lu and Tai Yang Hua Quan, all landing directly on stars in the list. Note that when Lu Cun sits in Mao in a Yi year, the palaces on either side, Yin and Chen, hold Tuo Luo and Qing Yang, so the Life Palace is flanked by them; in this sentence the Quan Shu looks only at Lu Cun and does not mention the flanking.

The second section for the Mao year. The Mao palace can have Qing Yang (Jia years, with Lu Cun in Yin) but never Tuo Luo. In the next segment, Lian Zhen's 'sudden loss of money' for people born in Jia years is exactly Qing Yang falling in the Mao palace itself, alongside Lian Zhen.

Lian Zhen in Mao always shares the palace with Po Jun, the two being Ping and Xian. In a Jia year Qing Yang sits in Mao, in a Bing year Lian Zhen is Hua Ji: one stem brings Qing Yang, the other Hua Ji. The Quan Shu's word for the loss means sudden, unexpected, which suits Qing Yang's nature. Tai Yin in Mao is in a fallen position; in a Yi year Tai Yin is Hua Ji, in a Jia year Qing Yang shares its palace, and in a Geng year Tian Tong is Hua Ji in the opposite palace You with Qing Yang there too, clashing across: all of it holds together. Segment 27 below lists Tai Yin on both the lucky and the unlucky side, and the two can be read together.

The third section for the Mao year. The combinations possible in Mao are Tian Ji with Ju Men, Zi Wei with Tan Lang, Tai Yang with Tian Liang, Wu Qu with Qi Sha, Lian Zhen with Po Jun, and Tian Fu, Tian Xiang, Tai Yin or Tian Tong on its own, or an empty palace. When Tai Sui reaches Mao in a Mao year, look at which of these groups sits there.

This list has an obvious repetition: Tai Yin appears both among the lucky stars (the very first) and among the unlucky ones (after Lian Zhen and Po Jun), and the original sets no condition to tell them apart. By the Xingge table Tai Yin in Mao is Xian, so by brightness it belongs with the unlucky; the one in the lucky list may be a copyist's duplication or may mean something else, and there is no way to be sure. The rest is mostly reasonable: Tian Xiang and Po Jun are both Xian in Mao and both listed as unlucky, and Zi Wei and Tan Lang, which share the palace, are both lucky.

The first section for the Chen year. The San Fang Si Zheng of the Chen palace is Chen, Xu, Shen and Zi, and Lu Cun can only be in Shen (Geng) or Zi (Gui). Chen is the 'Sky Net', and Stars to Avoid as the Lucks Pass the Twelve Palaces says a person born in a Chen year most fears reaching a Chen luck; this section, by contrast, looks at which star combinations in Chen turn out lucky.

The stems in this segment fit the Lu Cun rule rather loosely. Gui and Geng are stems that put Lu Cun in the trine; but Tian Tong 'going smoothly' for Wu births and Ju Men 'getting their wishes' for Bing births run against the rule, since in Bing and Wu years Tuo Luo sits right in the Chen palace. Ju Men is already Xian in Chen, and in a Xin year, when Ju Men is Hua Lu, Qing Yang is in the opposite palace Xu. The Quan Shu does not explain these points; they can be taken as another set of rules of thumb folded in, with no need to force them into one system. Zi Wei, Tan Lang and Qi Sha with Gui and Jia: in a Gui year Po Jun is Hua Lu, in a Jia year Po Jun is Hua Quan, and since Qi Sha, Po Jun and Tan Lang are always in one another's San Fang, all of them benefit.

The second section for the Chen year. The Chen palace can have Qing Yang (Yi years) or Tuo Luo (Bing and Wu years); it is one of the four tomb palaces where both malefic stars can sit. Nearly every group in the next segment's unlucky list can be explained by Hua Ji.

Group by group: Tan Lang or Wu Qu in Chen (the two face each other across the chart), Wu Qu is Hua Ji in a Ren year and Tan Lang in a Gui year; Tian Tong or Ju Men (also facing each other), Ju Men is Hua Ji in a Ding year and Tian Tong in a Geng year; Tai Yin, Tai Yang or Tian Ji, Tai Yang is Hua Ji in a Jia year, Tai Yin in a Yi year and Tian Ji in a Wu year. Almost all of it is the birth year's Hua Ji falling on the Chen palace or its opposite. Only Lian Zhen with Ren and Gui does not quite fit: Lian Zhen in Chen shares the palace with Tian Fu, and in a Ren year Wu Qu is Hua Ji in Shen, in its trine, an indirect link.

The third section for the Chen year. The main-star combinations possible in Chen are Zi Wei with Tian Xiang, Tian Ji with Tian Liang, Lian Zhen with Tian Fu, and Tian Tong, Tan Lang, Qi Sha, Wu Qu, Ju Men, Po Jun, Tai Yin or Tai Yang on its own, or an empty palace. For Tai Sui in a Chen year, see which group sits in this palace.

The Chen palace's list has one peculiarity: there are more unlucky stars than lucky ones, and Zi Wei and Tian Fu, the emperor star and the treasury star, are both on the unlucky side. By brightness Tian Fu in Chen is Miao and Zi Wei De, not bad at all; the Quan Shu's placing them with the unlucky may have to do with the idea of Chen as the Sky Net, the emperor star caught in the net. The lucky side has Tai Yang (Wang in Chen), Tan Lang and Qi Sha (Miao) and Tian Ji with Tian Liang. It also lists Wen Chang, Zuo Fu and You Bi, but not Wen Qu.

The first section for the Si year. The San Fang Si Zheng of the Si palace is Si, Hai, You and Chou; Lu Cun is in Si for Bing and Wu, in You for Xin and in Hai for Ren. The next segment's lucky list uses Bing, Wu and Xin and again leaves out Ren, as with the Mao palace. Si is one of the four birth places, and also a Tian Ma position.

The first half, 「紫微天府天同巨門天相天梁破軍丙戊辛人發福」, fits the Lu Cun rule. The second half is strange: under the heading 'in the temple, transformed to good', Tai Yin and Tian Ji are given 'loss of money', and Tan Lang 'middling'. Tai Yin in Si is Xian, and in a Ding year, when Tai Yin is Hua Lu, Tuo Luo shares its palace; Tian Ji in Si is Ping. So these two sentences look more like unlucky verdicts copied into the wrong place. Tan Lang in Si shares the palace with Lian Zhen, both Xian, and in a Wu year Tan Lang is Hua Lu, so it gets only as far as middling.

The second section for the Si year. The Si palace never has Qing Yang and can have Tuo Luo (Ding and Ji years). The next segment's unlucky list uses Gui and Bing, neither of which is a stem that brings Tuo Luo into the palace; both work through Hua Ji.

Ju Men and Tan Lang, quarrels and disaster for Gui and Bing births: in a Gui year Tan Lang is Hua Ji, and in a Bing year Lian Zhen is Hua Ji (Tan Lang in Si always shares the palace with Lian Zhen, both Xian), so both bring Hua Ji into the palace. Ju Men in Si is Wang, and in a Gui year Ju Men is in fact Hua Quan; its place on the unlucky list is harder to explain and may draw on Ju Men's nature as the star of quarrels. Tai Yin is Xian in Si, and Po Jun in Si shares the palace with Wu Qu, both Ping, hence 'disaster and gloom of many kinds'.

The third section for the Si year. The combinations possible in Si are Zi Wei with Qi Sha, Wu Qu with Po Jun, Lian Zhen with Tan Lang, and Tian Fu, Tian Xiang, Tai Yang, Tai Yin, Tian Ji, Tian Tong, Tian Liang or Ju Men on its own, or an empty palace. This is what to look at in the palace of Tai Sui in a Si year.

The unlucky list for the Si year has neither Qing Yang nor Tuo Luo, which fits the rule that the Si palace never has Qing Yang (Tuo Luo is possible there, but the list does not name it). The lucky side has one doubtful point: by the Xingge table Tian Liang in Si is Xian, yet the Quan Shu lists it as lucky; and the unlucky side has Ju Men, which is Wang in Si. So the Si section matches brightness rather poorly. Tian Tong (Miao in Si) and Tai Yang (Wang in Si) on the lucky side do fit their brightness.

The first section for the Wu year. The San Fang Si Zheng of the Wu palace is Wu, Zi, Yin and Xu; Lu Cun is in Wu for Ding and Ji, in Zi for Gui and in Yin for Jia. The next segment's Ding, Ji, Jia and Gui match it to the letter. The latest Wu year is 2026, a Bing Wu year; in it the Annual Luck is the Wu palace.

Eight stars and four stems, every one fitting the rule of Lu Cun in the San Fang Si Zheng. In a Ji year Wu Qu is also Hua Lu (Wu Qu in Wu shares the palace with Tian Fu); in a Jia year Lian Zhen is Hua Lu and Po Jun Hua Quan; in a Gui year Po Jun is Hua Lu; all land straight on stars in the list. Note that when Lu Cun sits in Wu in Ding and Ji years, the palaces either side, Si and Wei, hold Tuo Luo and Qing Yang, so a Life Palace in Wu is Lu Cun flanked by Qing Yang and Tuo Luo. Here the Quan Shu takes only the Lu; compare the site's pattern page on Yang Tuo Jia Ji (Qing Yang and Tuo Luo flanking Hua Ji) for how flanking is judged.

The second section for the Wu year. The Wu palace can have Qing Yang (Bing and Wu years) but never Tuo Luo. This rule offers an answer to how to read the 「丙午」 in the next segment. A Bing Wu year is itself a Bing year, and that year's annual Qing Yang also falls in the Wu palace; if the natal chart has Qing Yang there as well, the two pile up.

As the note says, the punctuation is unclear. Checking against the rules of chart construction, reading it as Tan Lang in Wu with people born in Bing, Ren and Gui years makes all three stems work: in a Bing year Qing Yang sits in Wu with Tan Lang; in a Ren year Qing Yang is in Zi and clashes with Wu from the opposite palace; in a Gui year Tan Lang is Hua Ji. So taking Bing as a birth-year stem is more reasonable than taking it as part of the palace name. Loss of money, legal trouble and quarrels are the typical verdicts for Tan Lang meeting Qing Yang or Hua Ji; Star Combinations: Tan Lang has more examples.

The third section for the Wu year. Wu is where fire is strongest; Zi Wei and Tai Yang are both Miao or Wang there. Qing Yang sitting in Wu, on the other hand, is the well-known Ma Tou Dai Jian (an arrow on the horse's head), so the same palace can be excellent or extremely malefic. This is what to look at in the palace of Tai Sui in a Wu year.

The unlucky side names 「羊陀」, Qing Yang and Tuo Luo, but Tuo Luo never falls in the Wu palace, so the Tuo Luo here can only be shining in from the San Fang (when it is in Yin or Xu). The unlucky main stars are Tai Yin, Tian Tong and Tan Lang: Tian Tong and Tai Yin share the palace in Wu, Tian Tong Xian and Tai Yin Bu (Unsupported), and both are listed as unlucky, consistently. The closing 「本身災厄可免」 is unusual: in other years it is mostly 'disaster and gloom for the person himself', while here the person escapes, and only the household's people and wealth suffer.

The first section for the Wei year. The San Fang Si Zheng of the Wei palace is Wei, Chou, Hai and Mao; Lu Cun is in Hai for Ren and in Mao for Yi. Like Chou, Wei is one of the four tomb palaces, and neither it nor its opposite ever holds Lu Cun, so Lu can only come from the trine.

Zi Wei, Tian Ji, Tian Fu, Tian Xiang and Tian Liang, prosperity for Ren and Yi births: both stems put Lu Cun in the trine; in a Yi year Tian Ji is Hua Lu, Tian Liang Hua Quan and Zi Wei Hua Ke, and in a Ren year Tian Liang is Hua Lu and Zi Wei Hua Quan, so the transformations too all land on the list. Tai Yin with Geng and Ren: in a Ren year Lu Cun is in Hai (the trine); in a Geng year Tai Yin is Hua Ke and Tai Yang Hua Lu, but Tuo Luo also sits right in Wei in a Geng year. The Quan Shu still lists it as prospering and making money, weighting the Lu and Ke of the sun and moon together in Wei. Tian Ji in Wei is Xian by the Xingge table, yet listed under 'in the temple, transformed to good', as in the Chou palace.

The second section for the Wei year. The Wei palace can have Qing Yang (Ding and Ji years) or Tuo Luo (Geng years). Each of the three unlucky groups in the next segment matches a Hua Ji. In 2027, a Ding Wei year, the annual Qing Yang falls exactly in the Wei palace, a ready case to compare against.

Tai Yang with Jia and Yi: Tai Yang is Hua Ji in a Jia year, Tai Yin in a Yi year, and Tai Yang in Wei always shares the palace with Tai Yin. Tian Tong with Ding and Geng: Tian Tong is Hua Ji in a Geng year, Ju Men in a Ding year, and Tian Tong in Wei always shares the palace with Ju Men. Wu Qu with Ren and Gui: Wu Qu is Hua Ji in a Ren year, Tan Lang in a Gui year, and Wu Qu in Wei always shares the palace with Tan Lang. All three groups have the same structure: two stars in one palace, and Hua Ji on either one counts. This is the tidiest segment in the whole table, and it shows that the Quan Shu reads Hua Ji palace by palace, not star by star alone.

The third section for the Wei year. The combinations in Wei mirror those in Chou: Zi Wei with Po Jun, Tai Yang with Tai Yin, Tian Tong with Ju Men, Wu Qu with Tan Lang, Lian Zhen with Qi Sha, and Tian Fu, Tian Xiang, Tian Liang or Tian Ji on its own, or an empty palace.

The Wei year's unlucky list is longer than its lucky one, and Tai Yang, Tai Yin, Tian Tong, Ju Men, Wu Qu and Tan Lang are all on it: all three paired combinations of the Wei palace (sun and moon, Tian Tong with Ju Men, Wu Qu with Tan Lang) are unlucky. The lucky side has Zi Wei with Po Jun, Lian Zhen, Tian Fu, Tian Xiang and Tian Ji. Compared with the Chou year's list this is broadly the reverse: there Tai Yin, Zi Wei, Po Jun, Tian Fu and Tian Xiang are lucky and Wu Qu with Tan Lang and Tian Tong with Ju Men unlucky, so the two palaces are judged partly in mirror image. 「陰人小口不寧」, the women and small children of the house not at peace, is a phrase found only in the Wei year.

The first section for the Shen year. The San Fang Si Zheng of the Shen palace is Shen, Yin, Zi and Chen; Lu Cun is in Shen for Geng, in Yin for Jia and in Zi for Gui, which are the Jia, Geng and Gui that recur in the next segment. Shen and Yin clash, so in a Jia year Lu Cun shines into Shen from the opposite palace.

Lian Zhen, Po Jun, Zi Wei and Ju Men all use Jia, Geng and Gui, a perfect fit with the rule; in a Jia year Lian Zhen is also Hua Lu and Po Jun Hua Quan, and in a Gui year Po Jun is Hua Lu and Ju Men Hua Quan. Tian Ji with Ding, Jia and Gui, plus Geng: in a Ding year Tian Ji is Hua Ke and Tai Yin Hua Lu (Tian Ji in Shen shares the palace with Tai Yin), and Jia, Gui and Geng are Lu Cun stems. The textual note has already corrected 廉偵 to Lian Zhen.

The second section for the Shen year. The Shen palace never has Qing Yang and can have Tuo Luo (Xin years). The unlucky items in the next segment rest almost entirely on Hua Ji. In a Xin year Lu Cun is in You and Tuo Luo falls back to Shen, so anyone born in a Xin year has Tuo Luo in the Shen palace; yet the next segment does not use the Xin stem at all.

This segment is a Hua Ji table: Tian Ji with Yi and Wu (Tian Ji is Hua Ji in a Wu year, Tai Yin in a Yi year, and the two share the palace in Shen); Ju Men with Ding (Ju Men Hua Ji in a Ding year); Lian Zhen with Bing and Ren (Lian Zhen Hua Ji in a Bing year; in a Ren year Wu Qu is Hua Ji in Zi, in the trine); Tian Tong with Jia and Geng (Tian Tong Hua Ji in a Geng year); Tan Lang with Gui and Bing (Tan Lang Hua Ji in a Gui year; in a Bing year Lian Zhen is Hua Ji in the opposite palace Yin). Only the Jia for Tian Tong does not fit. On a Xingge chart the birth-year Hua Ji is marked on its star, so anyone can check which star it falls on.

The third section for the Shen year. Shen is one of the Tian Ma positions and also the Lin Guan (coming of age) stage for metal. The star combinations in the palace of Tai Sui in a Shen year mirror those of Yin; see which group sits in Shen: Zi Wei with Tian Fu, Wu Qu with Tian Xiang, Tai Yang with Ju Men, Tian Tong with Tian Liang, Tian Ji with Tai Yin, or Lian Zhen, Qi Sha, Po Jun or Tan Lang alone.

The Shen year's lucky list has Zi Wei with Tian Fu, Tai Yang with Ju Men, Lian Zhen, Qi Sha, Wu Qu and Wen Chang; the unlucky one has Tian Ji with Tai Yin, Tian Tong with Tian Liang, Tian Xiang and Po Jun. Most pairs that share a palace fall on the same side, with one exception, Wu Qu and Tian Xiang: the two always share the palace in Shen, yet Wu Qu is lucky and Tian Xiang unlucky. Tian Liang in Shen is Xian by the Xingge table, and listing it as unlucky fits its brightness; Tian Xiang in Shen is Miao and yet unlucky, which does not. The unlucky side has no Qing Yang or Tuo Luo, consistent with the rule that Shen never has Qing Yang.

The first section for the You year. The San Fang Si Zheng of the You palace is You, Mao, Si and Chou; Lu Cun is in You for Xin, in Mao for Yi and in Si for Bing and Wu, and the next segment's Bing, Wu, Yi and Xin hit all four. Of these, the Lu Cun of Yi and of Xin is in Mao and You respectively, one in the palace itself and one opposite.

Zi Wei, Tian Ji or Tai Yin in You in the Life Palace: all four stems put Lu Cun in the San Fang Si Zheng. In a Yi year Tian Ji is Hua Lu and Zi Wei Hua Ke; in a Bing year Tian Ji is Hua Quan; in a Wu year Tai Yin is Hua Quan and Tan Lang Hua Lu (Zi Wei in You shares the palace with Tan Lang); the transformations are dense as well. Note that in a Yi year Tai Yin is Hua Ji and in a Wu year Tian Ji is Hua Ji, so with Tai Yin or Tian Ji in You those two stems actually bring Lu and Ji at the same time, which the Quan Shu does not separate.

The second section for the You year. The You palace can have Qing Yang (Geng years) but never Tuo Luo. Jia and Geng recur in the next segment: in a Jia year Qing Yang is in Mao and clashes from the opposite palace, in a Geng year Qing Yang sits in You. So in a You year, the natal Qing Yang of a person born in a Geng year sits in Tai Sui's palace.

Tai Yang and Tian Tong with Jia and Yi, Wu Qu with Geng and Ren, Tian Xiang with Jia and Geng, Lian Zhen with Jia, Geng, Bing and Xin, Tian Fu with Jia, Geng and Ren: Jia and Geng appear in almost every group, the two years that put Qing Yang in Mao and You; the rest is Hua Ji, with Wu Qu Hua Ji in a Ren year, Lian Zhen in a Bing year and Tai Yang in a Jia year. Xin listed as unlucky for Lian Zhen is harder to explain, since in a Xin year Lu Cun sits in You; perhaps it takes the sense of Qing Yang and Tuo Luo flanking.

The third section for the You year. You is one of the four cardinal palaces and a peach-blossom position. The combinations in You mirror those of Mao: Tian Ji with Ju Men, Zi Wei with Tan Lang, Tai Yang with Tian Liang, Wu Qu with Qi Sha, Lian Zhen with Po Jun, and Tai Yin, Tian Fu, Tian Xiang or Tian Tong alone.

The You year's lucky list is short: only Lu Cun, Tai Yin, Zi Wei, Tian Fu and the auspicious stars. The unlucky side names Qing Yang and Tuo Luo, but Tuo Luo never falls in the You palace, so it can only shine in from the trine. Tai Yin in You is Wang, Zi Wei Wang and Tian Fu Wang, all fitting their brightness; Tian Ji and Ju Men are both Miao or Wang in You yet listed as unlucky, which does not fit, and may draw on the saying that Tian Ji and Ju Men in You mean ruin and wandering. 「人離財散」, people parting and wealth scattering, is one of the heaviest phrases in the table.

The first section for the Xu year. The San Fang Si Zheng of the Xu palace is Xu, Chen, Yin and Wu; Lu Cun is in Yin for Jia and in Wu for Ding and Ji, which is why Ding, Ji and Jia appear so often in the next segment. Xu is the 'Earth Net', opposite Chen, the Sky Net.

Most groups use Ding, Ji and Jia, fitting the Lu Cun rule, with a few exceptions. Zi Wei with Ren: in a Ren year Zi Wei is Hua Quan, but Tuo Luo sits right in Xu that year. Ju Men with Ji, Xin and Gui: Ju Men is Hua Lu in a Xin year and Hua Quan in a Gui year, yet in a Xin year Qing Yang also sits in Xu. In these places the Quan Shu weighs Hua Lu and Hua Quan and does not count the Qing Yang or Tuo Luo in the same palace. Tian Ji with Jia, Yi, Ding and Ji: Tian Ji is Hua Lu in a Yi year and Hua Ke in a Ding year.

The second section for the Xu year. The Xu palace can have Qing Yang (Xin years) or Tuo Luo (Ren years). The next segment is the purest in the whole table and worth remembering by itself. Qing Yang in a Xin year or Tuo Luo in a Ren year sitting in Xu adds a malefic star to the Earth Net, one of the year-and-luck situations the Quan Shu fears most.

Each of these seven groups is the year in which that star becomes Hua Ji: Tan Lang with Gui (Tan Lang is Hua Ji in a Gui year), Tian Tong with Geng, Tian Ji with Wu, Ju Men with Ding, Tai Yang with Jia, Lian Zhen with Bing, Wu Qu with Ren. All seven stems are exact, amounting to the birth-year Hua Ji table rewritten for the Xu palace. From this one can work back to how the table was compiled: the unlucky sections rest mainly on the birth year's Hua Ji. Readers can use it as an exercise on Hua Ji, finding charts on Xingge where Hua Ji falls in the Xu palace and comparing.

The third section for the Xu year. The combinations in Xu mirror those of Chen: Zi Wei with Tian Xiang, Tian Ji with Tian Liang, Lian Zhen with Tian Fu, and the other main stars alone, or an empty palace. Chen and Xu are each other's opposite palace, so the stars in Xu should always be read against those in Chen.

The Xu palace's lists are broadly the reverse of the Chen palace's: Tian Fu, Tian Tong and Tai Yin, unlucky in Chen, are lucky in Xu, and Tai Yang, lucky in Chen, is unlucky in Xu. This matches brightness: Tai Yang is Wang in Chen and Bu (Unsupported) in Xu, Tai Yin is Xian in Chen and Wang in Xu. Zi Wei with Tian Xiang is still unlucky in Xu, as in Chen, showing that the Quan Shu consistently takes a dim view of Zi Wei in Chen and Xu, the Sky and Earth Nets.

The first section for the Hai year. The San Fang Si Zheng of the Hai palace is Hai, Si, Mao and Wei; Lu Cun is in Hai for Ren, in Si for Bing and Wu and in Mao for Yi. The stems in the next segment include Ren, Wu and Bing, but also Gui, Ji and Ding.

Zi Wei, Tian Tong, Ju Men and Tian Liang with Ren, Gui and Wu: Ren and Wu are Lu Cun stems, but Gui is the stem that puts Tuo Luo in Hai (in a Gui year Lu Cun is in Zi), and can only be explained by Ju Men's Hua Quan and Tai Yin's Hua Ke in a Gui year. Tian Xiang with Ding, Ji, Bing and Wu: Bing and Wu fit the rule, while in Ding and Ji years Tuo Luo is in Si and clashes with Hai from the opposite palace, against the rule. Tai Yin with Wu and Ji: in a Wu year Tai Yin is Hua Quan, in a Ji year Tian Liang is Hua Ke. The Hai palace's list departs from the Lu Cun rule more than any other in the table, and it reads more sensibly with the four transformations as the main guide.

The second section for the Hai year. The Hai palace never has Qing Yang and can have Tuo Luo (Gui years). The unlucky items in the next segment are all Hua Ji. In a Gui year Lu Cun is in Zi and Tuo Luo falls back to Hai, yet the next segment does not mention the Tuo Luo of Gui years.

Lian Zhen with Bing, Ren and Gui: Lian Zhen is Hua Ji in a Bing year; Lian Zhen in Hai always shares the palace with Tan Lang, which is Hua Ji in a Gui year; in a Ren year Wu Qu is Hua Ji in Mao, in the trine. Wu Qu with Ren and Bing: Wu Qu is Hua Ji in a Ren year, and in a Bing year Lian Zhen is Hua Ji in Wei, in the trine. Tai Yang with Jia: Tai Yang is Hua Ji in a Jia year, and it is already Xian in Hai. All three groups match a Hua Ji, written the same way as for the Shen and Xu palaces.

The third section for the Hai year and the last of the whole table. The combinations in Hai mirror those of Si: Zi Wei with Qi Sha, Wu Qu with Po Jun, Lian Zhen with Tan Lang, and the other main stars alone, or an empty palace. Having read the whole table, one can go back over it along the two lines of Lu Cun and Hua Ji; most of the stems fit.

The last list holds an internal conflict: Zi Wei in Hai always shares the palace with Qi Sha, yet Zi Wei is lucky and Qi Sha unlucky, two stars in one palace judged opposite ways, and the original does not say how to combine them. The unlucky side has only Lian Zhen, Po Jun and Qi Sha, all stars of low brightness in Hai (Lian Zhen Xian, Qi Sha Ping, Po Jun Ping), with no Qing Yang, Tuo Luo or Hua Ji, the shortest unlucky list in the table. 「小口死亡」 means, as written, that small children die, among the heaviest verdicts on luck periods in the Quan Shu; the whole table should be read with the principle of 「減半論之」 in mind: what Tai Sui meets is only one layer.