Star Combinations: Wen Chang and Wen Qu

Wen Chang's brightness table matches Xingge's; Xingge also grades Mao, Wei and Hai as Li. Wen Chang and Wen Qu are placed by birth hour: Wen Chang starts from Xu at the Zi hour and counts backward, Wen Qu starts from Chen at the Zi hour and counts forward, so both stars' positions depend on the hour alone. Si, You and Chou form the metal trine, and Wen Chang belongs to metal, so it is Miao there; Yin, Wu and Xu form the fire trine, and fire overcomes metal, so it falls. That is the Five Elements logic behind Wen Chang's table. For Wen Chang's character as a whole, see The Nature of Wen Chang.

The Gu Sui Fu's original is 「文曲武曲為人多學多能」 (segment 16), with Wen Qu as the subject; this chapter changes it to Wen Chang, so the two places disagree. The Nature of Wu Qu, for its part, says Wu Qu travelling with Wen Chang and Wen Qu makes a literary person of much learning and many abilities, which counts both. The note requires the Body or Life Palace in the four tombs or in Mao, You, Si or Hai, and looks for Hua Ke, Hua Quan and Hua Lu in the San Fang. Wu Qu is a wealth star that governs action; add a literary star and the person can handle both pen and practice, a little of everything. That is someone who crosses fields and has a broad set of skills.

The original is the Gu Sui Fu's 「文星暗拱賈誼允矣登科」 (segment 35). The Gu Sui Fu says 'hidden embrace' and this chapter says 'embracing shine', close in meaning: Wen Chang, Wen Qu and Hua Ke shining on the Life Palace from the San Fang. Jia Yi was made an academician by Emperor Wen of Han in his twenties, the ancients' model of early success. It suggests an early start in study and exams, and being noticed for one's expertise while young. On a chart, look for Wen Chang, Wen Qu and a Hua Ke among the three palaces of the Life Palace's San Fang.

Two kinds of 'Three Terraces' need keeping apart. Here it means the highest officials, the rank of the Three Dukes. Among Xingge's minor stars there is also a star called San Tai (paired with Ba Zuo and placed by birth day), which is a star and has nothing to do with this title of office. The page What Does Zi Wei Govern? uses the word a third way, calling Zi Wei's palace and the palaces on either side the upper, middle and lower terraces. Three meanings under one name; do not mix them up when reading a chart.

The condition is the same as segment 2, but the verdict rises from 'much learning and many abilities' to 'letters and arms both'. The textual note already suspects the reading. The note cites Sun Bin, a military strategist with both strategy and writings to his name, exactly letters and arms. The Quan Shu's historical examples are mostly later attributions with no real birth data behind them; read them as a type of character and leave it there.

'The Xingge approach' above explains that this line is identical to Wen Chang's and how it differs from Xingge's brightness. One point from the Five Elements: Wen Qu belongs to water, so its strong positions ought to follow water (Shen, Zi and Chen form the water trine), yet the Quan Shu copies Wen Chang's metal table. This may be a straight repetition in copying, or the ancients may have treated the two stars as a pair sharing one table. Xingge's Wen Qu brightness is broadly the same as this line, with the differences listed above.

The two Qu in Miao palaces and meeting Zuo Fu and You Bi make the material of a general or minister. 'The Xingge approach' above points out that 'Wen Qu best in Zi, Wu or You' clashes with Wu being fallen on this page. What Does Wen Qu Govern? also says 「武貪三合同垣，將相之格，文昌遇合亦然」, so the Quan Shu sees the two Qu with Zuo Fu and You Bi, or with Tan Lang, as combinations for generals and ministers. That is someone who can both plan and carry out, and lead a team.

The original is the Gu Sui Fu's 「武曲廟垣威名赫奕」 (segment 21), widened here to both Qu. The note's palaces: Wen Qu best in Zi, next Mao and You; Wu Qu best in Chen, next Chou and Wei. By Xingge's brightness, Wu Qu is Miao in Chen, Chou and Wei, in line with the note; Wen Qu is only De in Zi, Wang in Mao and Miao in You, so putting Zi first does not fit the brightness. The Wu Qu page of this chapter has a more detailed version.

When the Quan Shu speaks of drowning, it usually involves water stars and the north. What Does Wu Qu Govern? says 「破軍貪狼會於坎宮，必主投河溺水」, and Kan is Zi. Here, the link between Wu or Chou and water is not obvious, and the original gives no reason. This is a condition of the luck periods and cannot be seen on the natal chart: check whether the two Qu and Tan Lang are in the palace when the Decade or Annual Luck reaches Wu or Chou.

A subheading: the lines below deal with Wen Chang and Wen Qu together. The two are placed by hour, one forward and one backward, so their positions mirror each other: at the Mao and You hours they share a palace (Wei and Chou respectively), at every other hour they sit apart, and the axis of the mirror is the Chou-Wei line. That symmetry decides whether the 'flanking', 'same palace' and 'in Si or Hai' lines below can happen at all.

Chang Qu Jia Ming (Wen Chang and Wen Qu flanking the Life Palace); the Gu Sui Fu has 「昌曲夾墀男命貴而且顯」 (segment 48). Since the two stars mirror each other across Chou and Wei, they can flank the Life Palace only when it is in Chou or Wei: Chou is flanked from Yin and Zi, with a birth at the Shen or Xu hour; Wei is flanked from Shen and Wu, with a birth at the Yin or Chen hour. The note's example, Life in Chou with Wen Chang in Yin and Wen Qu in Zi, is a Shen-hour birth. So the pattern is really a fixed pairing of Life Palace and birth hour, and easy to confirm on a Xingge chart.

Chang Qu Tong Gong (Wen Chang and Wen Qu in one palace) happens only in Chou or Wei, and only at the Mao or You hour: at the Mao hour both are in Wei, at the You hour both in Chou. So 「臨於丑未時逢卯酉」 is not two conditions but two ways of stating one fact, fixed by the placement rules. The note cites Jia Yi and Bu Shang, with the pair in Wei and the Life Palace in Chou, meaning the Life Palace borrows the pair from the opposite palace; it adds that the pair must be in the Life Palace with lucky transformations. 'Close to the emperor's face' can be read today as clerical or advisory work beside top leadership.

Wen Chang and Wen Qu never sit together in Si or Hai: with Wen Chang in Si, Wen Qu is in You; with Wen Chang in Hai, Wen Qu is in Mao; with Wen Qu in Si, Wen Chang is in You; with Wen Qu in Hai, Wen Chang is in Mao. So what this line actually describes is one star in Si or Hai and the other in its trine, one guarding and one embracing. Si, You and Chou are the pair's Miao positions, which makes the Si version especially good. 'If not noble, then very rich' is one of the Quan Shu's commonest verdicts on these two stars.

The original is the Tai Wei Fu's 「福安文曜謂之玉袖天香」 (segment 33), where 福安 is the Fortune Palace. Wen Chang and Wen Qu in the Fortune Palace stand for an inner life with taste and cultivation, which the ancients pictured as jade sleeves and a heavenly fragrance. The note adds that Zi Wei in Wu is better still. It describes someone who values the life of the mind, reading and the arts, and lives with some style. On a chart, check whether Wen Chang and Wen Qu are in the Fortune Palace.

Wen Chang and Wen Qu in fallen palaces (Yin, Wu and Xu), broken by Qing Yang, Tuo Luo, Di Kong and Di Jie, bring only empty fame. The pair governs reputation and documents; fallen, they already lack strength, and broken by malefic stars the reputation has a name but no substance. The same phrase 「虛譽之隆」 appears on the Tian Ma and transformations page for Hua Quan and Hua Lu meeting again but joined by malefic stars, a fixed phrase in the Quan Shu for empty fame. In modern terms, the reputation or title outweighs the substance, and the gap between name and reality can bring pressure of its own.

The original is the Gu Sui Fu's 「顏回夭折文昌陷於天傷」 (segment 37); the Gu Sui Fu names only Wen Chang, and this chapter widens it to both stars. Tian Shang is always in the Friends Palace, so the condition is Wen Chang or Wen Qu fallen in the natal Friends Palace. The note then adds Di Jie, Di Kong, Qing Yang and Tuo Luo in the Life Palace, the luck reaching Qi Sha, and Qing Yang and Tuo Luo stacked, an extremely strict set of conditions. The Tai Wei Fu has 「殺居絕地，天年夭似顏回」 (segment 38); both use Yan Hui for an early death, under different conditions.

What the three stems share: in a Ji year Wen Qu has Hua Ji, in a Xin year Wen Chang has Hua Ji, and in a Ren year Lu Cun is in Hai with Tuo Luo in Xu. A luck period meeting Chen or Xu walks into the Net of Heaven and Earth, hence the fear of drowning. The note says even a Miao star counts only when both the Decade and the Minor Luck arrive, a tighter condition. The Gu Sui Fu also has 「鈴昌羅武限至投河」 (segment 52), likewise Wen Chang with malefic stars when the luck arrives. On a chart, a birth-year Hua Ji on Wen Chang or Wen Qu is the premise of this line.

Lian Zhen in Si or Hai always shares the palace with Tan Lang, and both are Xian, so the note's 'with Tan Lang, often doing things upside down' is not an extra condition but something this position always has. Lian Zhen's transformed qi is imprisonment; add Tan Lang and the literary stars, and the person has talent but behaves badly and boasts, at worst ending in punishment. The note says Zi and Shen are noble: Lian Zhen in Shen is Miao and alone, in Zi it shares the palace with Tian Xiang, both far better than Si or Hai. The line shows how the same stars can earn the opposite verdict in a different palace.

Wen Chang and Wen Qu with Lu Cun are 「猶為奇特」, better than the pair alone: literary talent plus income. Qing Yang and Tuo Luo always sit on either side of Lu Cun, so when the pair shares a palace with Lu Cun, that palace is always flanked by Qing Yang and Tuo Luo; the Quan Shu deducts nothing for it here. Here expertise turns straight into income, as in writing, teaching or consulting, work that earns from knowledge.

The note says Tiger and Rabbit are Yin and Mao. Po Jun is De in Yin, and in Mao shares the palace with Lian Zhen and is Xian; Wen Chang is Xian in Yin and Wen Qu Ping. So this is a combination where the literary stars lack strength and the wasting star is not in a strong place either; broken by Qi Sha and Qing Yang, the person rushes about all their life. The modern equivalent is talent that never finds its outlet and frequent changes of work. On a chart, check for a Life Palace in Yin or Mao with Wen Chang or Wen Qu and Po Jun, and whether Qi Sha or Qing Yang is in the opposite palace.

The Quan Shu also says of Wen Qu in the Xing Xing Fu, 「在廟定生異痣」 (segment 9), and the Ju Men page of this chapter says Ju Men with Tuo Luo brings an unusual mole, so 'unusual moles' is a fixed item when the Quan Shu describes appearance. Verdicts of this kind are about physical features; readers can check them against their own bodies, but they are no basis for deciding whether a chart is correct.

The Quan Shu is often guarded about women's talent, holding that a gifted woman is easily drawn into affairs, an old-time view; the Women's Gu Sui Fu says much the same. The verdict is kept as written. Read now, it can mean talent, charm and an active social life, with many chances at romance; whether that becomes a problem depends on the Spouse and Fortune Palaces, not on the presence of Wen Chang and Wen Qu alone.