XinggeQi Sha Met Twice
〈論七殺重逢〉
The Complete Book of Zi Wei Dou Shu, Volume 3: Reading a life and its luck periods · Original text with translation
Introduction
Qi Sha Met Twice (論七殺重逢) describes another malefic luck: the trine of the natal Life Palace already holds Qi Sha, and the Annual Luck brings the annual Qing Yang and Tuo Luo clashing in as well. Qi Sha and Qing Yang and Tuo Luo meet a second time, and 「為禍最毒」, the harm is most poisonous.
The Quan Shu also gives conditions that soften it. With Qi Sha in Miao, the disaster and gloom are lighter; with many lucky stars, Qi Sha can turn misfortune into luck, so it cannot all be judged malefic; and Qing Yang, Tuo Luo and Qi Sha meeting Zi Wei, Tian Xiang or Lu Cun shining in from the trine are relieved. Conversely, a fallen position with Hua Ji, or Qing Yang met in Mao or You, is unfavourable for those born in a Wu year.
The closing verse joins Qing Yang and Tuo Luo Stacked with this chapter: 「羊陀迭並命難逃，七殺重逢禍必遭，太歲二限臨此地，十生九死不堅牢。」
1如命中三合原有七殺守照，而流年又遇流羊流陀沖照凶，七殺重逢二者為禍最毒，入廟災晦減輕，如陷地逢忌及卯酉遇擎羊為閑宮，午生人不利也。然七殺逢吉曜眾亦轉凶化吉，不可一概論凶。擎羊陀羅七殺逢紫微天相祿存三合拱照可解。
TranslationIf the trine of the Life Palace already has Qi Sha guarding or shining on it, and the Annual Luck brings the annual Qing Yang and Tuo Luo clashing in, it is malefic: Qi Sha met twice, and the two together do the most poisonous harm. With Qi Sha in its temple, disaster and gloom are lighter. In a fallen position with Hua Ji, or meeting Qing Yang in Mao or You (the original calls these 'idle palaces'), it is unfavourable for those born in a Wu year. Yet when Qi Sha meets many lucky stars it also turns misfortune into luck; it cannot all be judged malefic. Qing Yang, Tuo Luo and Qi Sha meeting Zi Wei, Tian Xiang or Lu Cun shining in from the trine can be relieved.
- 三合
- The trine: the Life, Wealth and Career Palaces forming a triangle, read together with the opposite Travel Palace.
- 閑宮
- Literally an idle palace, one of little account; the meaning here is unclear.
- 拱照
- Shining in from the trine palaces.
The condition for 「七殺重逢」 is that the San Fang Si Zheng of the natal Life Palace already holds Qi Sha and the Annual Luck brings the annual Qing Yang and Tuo Luo clashing in. The Quan Shu ranks it with Qing Yang and Tuo Luo stacked as the most poisonous combination, then gives some adjustments: Qi Sha in Miao makes the disaster lighter; a fallen position with Hua Ji, or Qing Yang in Mao or You, makes it heavier. One thing to note: in the brightness table Xingge uses, Qi Sha has no Xian (Fallen) position at all, its lowest being Ping (Average) in Si and Hai, so a 'fallen Qi Sha' never shows up as Xian on the chart.
The last sentence is the remedy: Zi Wei, Tian Xiang or Lu Cun shining in from the trine relieve it. Of these, Tian Xiang can never stand in Qi Sha's San Fang Si Zheng (Qi Sha's opposite palace always holds Tian Fu, and its trine Po Jun and Tan Lang), so in practice the relief comes from Zi Wei or Lu Cun. Read this alongside Star Combinations: Qi Sha, where 「流年羊刃到命，即七殺重逢」 gives a looser definition: the annual Qing Yang reaching the Life Palace is already Qi Sha met twice.
2詩曰 羊陀迭並命難逃，七殺重逢禍必遭，太歲二限臨此地，十生九死不堅牢。
TranslationThe verse says: Qing Yang and Tuo Luo stacked, the life can hardly escape; Qi Sha met twice, disaster is sure to come; when Tai Sui and the two lucks arrive at this place, nine in ten die and few hold firm.
The verse puts the two combinations together: Qing Yang and Tuo Luo stacked, Qi Sha met twice, and on top of that Tai Sui and the Decade and Minor Luck all reaching the same place, and then 「十生九死」. Taken as written the words are as heavy as they come, but the conditions are just as strict: the natal structure, the annual stars, the Decade Luck, the Minor Luck and Tai Sui must all point to the same palace at once. Such an overlap is not common in practice, so the verse works better as a reminder that Dou Shu judges major events from several layers coming true together, not from a single Qi Sha or one annual Qing Yang. To check on a Xingge chart, see whether the current Decade Luck palace, the palace of this year's branch and the Minor Luck palace for this year's age fall in one palace or clash with each other across the chart.
Base text (Wikisource, partly in simplified Chinese)
FAQ
What does 'Qi Sha met twice' mean?
The trine of the natal Life Palace already has Qi Sha, and the Annual Luck brings the annual Qing Yang and Tuo Luo clashing in; Qi Sha and Qing Yang and Tuo Luo meet again, and the Quan Shu says 「為禍最毒」, the harm is most poisonous.
Is there any relief for Qi Sha met twice?
The Quan Shu says that with Qi Sha in Miao the disaster is lighter, that many lucky stars can turn misfortune into luck, and that Qing Yang, Tuo Luo and Qi Sha meeting Zi Wei, Tian Xiang or Lu Cun shining in from the trine are relieved.
Which luck period does 'nine in ten die' refer to?
It is the verse at the end of Qi Sha Met Twice: Qing Yang and Tuo Luo stacked, Qi Sha met twice, and Tai Sui with the Decade and Minor Luck arriving at the same place too; nine people in ten die and it is hard to hold out.
Main stars in this section