Star Combinations: Tai Yin (with Sun and Moon)

The Miao, Wang and Xian listed here match Xingge's brightness table; Xingge also grades Wu and Wei as Bu and Shen as Li. Tai Yin's brightness runs opposite to Tai Yang's and follows the night: brightest from You (sunset) to Chou, darkest in Mao, Chen and Si (morning to late morning). That is why nearly every verdict on Tai Yin comes with the condition 'born at night', mirroring Tai Yang's 'born by day'. The title of this page adds 'sun and moon', and the second half deals with reading Tai Yang and Tai Yin together. For Tai Yin's character as a whole, see The Nature of Tai Yin and the Tai Yin star page.

The original is the Tai Wei Fu's 「太陰居子，號曰水澄桂萼，得清要之職，忠諫之材」 (segment 27), the pattern Shui Cheng Gui E (cassia blossoms in clear water). In Zi, Tai Yin shares the palace with Tian Tong, and both are bright. A Ding year is the best case: Tai Yin has Hua Lu and Tian Tong Hua Quan in the palace itself, and Lu Cun sits opposite in Wu. In a Bing year Tian Tong's Hua Lu is also in the palace, but Qing Yang is in Wu and clashes in from the opposite palace, a difference the original does not draw. The note's 'born at night' is the condition for Tai Yin being in its season; the birth hour on the chart tells day from night.

The note already says that Tai Yin and Wu Qu never meet. One more point: Tai Yin belongs to the Ji Yue Tong Liang group and Wu Qu to the Zi Wei and Tian Fu group, and stars of the two groups always sit in different San Fang. So whenever the Quan Shu forces a Ji Yue Tong Liang star together with a Zi Fu Wu Xiang Lian or Sha Po Lang star, the line usually cannot happen on a chart, as with 「梁武陰鈴」 on the Tian Liang page of this chapter. Lines of this kind should be read as a pile of favourable conditions, not as a combination that actually occurs.

The original is the Tai Wei Fu's 「太陰會文曲於妻宮，蟾宮折桂，文章全盛」 (segment 35). Curiously, it is the Spouse Palace, not the Life or Career Palace, that decides examination success. The usual explanation is that the Spouse Palace sits opposite the Career Palace, so its stars shine on the Career Palace; Tai Yin is the moon and Wen Qu a literary star, and breaking the cassia in the moon is passing the exams. The note adds that the same combination in the Life or Body Palace makes a person of skilled crafts, a lower verdict. On a chart, look for Tai Yin with Wen Chang or Wen Qu in the Spouse Palace; that palace's San Fang Si Zheng includes the Career Palace.

Qing Yang and Tuo Luo always sit on either side of Lu Cun, so Tai Yin can never share a palace with both at once; 'Qing Yang and Tuo Luo' here should be read as one of them in the same palace, or meeting from the San Fang. Tai Yin governs money and also older female relatives and the household; meeting these harmful stars, the family breaks apart and money scatters. The Quan Shu uses the same phrase for a collapsing luck period in Poor First, Rich Later, which shows it is a set formula for misfortune. In practice, family relationships or finances are prone to splitting apart through conflict.

Yue Lang Tian Men (the moon bright over Heaven's Gate) appears in the Gu Sui Fu as 「月朗天門進爵封侯」 (segment 32), and the Patterns of Rank call it the moon setting in Hai. Hai is Heaven's Gate; Tai Yin there is Miao, and a night birth fits the pattern. The note's 'a person born in a Zi year' is puzzling: read as a Zi birth year, it merely neighbours the Hai palace, and it may be a copying error. What is certain is the night-birth condition: Tai Yin is in its season at night and weaker for a day birth. 'Holding great power' can be taken as a key post managing money or resources within an organisation.

The original comes from the Women's Gu Sui Fu, and the same line also appears on the Tian Liang page of this chapter. The notes in the two places argue from different stars: there, Tian Liang in Si or Hai and Tai Yin in Yin or Shen; here, Tai Yin in Yin, Shen or Si. Tai Yin is Xian in Si but Wang in Yin and Li in Shen, so Yin and Shen are not fallen positions, and the verdict is hard to explain from brightness. The second half of the note offers a remedy: with Tan Lang, Wen Chang and Wen Qu in the Spouse Palace, she is matched with a worthy, wise husband instead.

A subheading: the lines below deal with Tai Yang and Tai Yin shining on the Life Palace from its San Fang. Their relative positions are fixed: once Zi Wei's palace is known, the sun and moon are placed, so there are only a few ways for them to embrace the Life Palace, and the Quan Shu lists them one by one. This section is also the source of later patterns such as Ri Yue Bing Ming (sun and moon both bright) and the pearl rising from the sea.

Tai Yang in Si and Tai Yin in You are both Wang, and sit exactly on two corners of the Si-You-Chou trine, so a Life Palace in Chou is embraced by the sun and moon from its trines. By the chart rules, whenever this layout occurs, the star in Chou is Tian Liang (Wang). The full chart, then, is Tian Liang in the Life Palace in Chou, Tai Yang in Si in the Career Palace, and Tai Yin in You in the Wealth Palace. Tian Liang, the sheltering star, lit by the sun and moon is a combination for study and success in the examinations. 「步蟾宮」 here and 「折桂」 in the next line are both figures for passing the exams.

This is Ming Zhu Chu Hai (the pearl rising from the sea): Tai Yang in Mao (Miao) and Tai Yin in Hai (Miao), with the Life Palace in Wei embraced by the sun and moon from the two trine corners Mao and Hai. By the chart rules, whenever this layout occurs, Wei is an empty palace, with Tian Tong and Ju Men opposite in Chou; so the Life Palace of this pattern always has no major star and is held up by the sun and moon in its trines. It bears out the principle in Essentials of Reading the Stars: 「若命宮無正曜者，財官二宮有吉星拱照，富貴全美」, no major star in the Life Palace, but lucky stars embracing it from the Wealth and Career Palaces, means full wealth and rank.

The sun and moon share a palace only in Chou and Wei. In this line they are together in Wei and the Life Palace is in Chou, which is then empty and borrows the sun and moon from the opposite palace. The Gu Sui Fu says 「日月同臨官居侯伯」 (segment 22). Note that by Xingge's brightness, in Wei Tai Yang is De and Tai Yin is Bu, not especially bright; what the Quan Shu values here is probably the structure of the sun and moon shining together rather than their brightness. Compare the next line: with the sun and moon sitting in the Life Palace in Chou or Wei, and no lucky stars in the San Fang, the outcome is unlucky; with the sun and moon shining in from the opposite palace, the verdict is higher.

With the sun and moon in the Life Palace in Chou or Wei, one is bright and one dim: in Chou Tai Yin is Miao and Tai Yang Bu, in Wei Tai Yang is De and Tai Yin Bu. So without lucky stars in the San Fang the result turns unlucky. The note's 'Zi, Wu, Chen or Xu are better' refers to the sun and moon in separate palaces, each in the Life or Body Palace: Tai Yang in Chen and Tai Yin in Xu, for instance, both Wang. The thinking is the same as the next line's 「日月守命不如照合」: the sun and moon together in one palace are not as good as apart, each shining from its own side.

The original is the Tai Wei Fu's 「日月守不如照合」 (segment 29), the pattern Ri Yue Bing Ming. The reasoning is that Tai Yang and Tai Yin are opposite in nature, so when they sit in one palace one of them is always out of season; better to have them in the San Fang, each shining in from a bright position. The note says that when they guard the Life Palace, the balance of lucky and malefic stars decides, and few lucky stars is not fine either. On a chart, check whether Tai Yang and Tai Yin sit in separate palaces within the Life Palace's San Fang Si Zheng, and whether both are graded Wang or Miao.

Tai Yang in Chen (Wang) and Tai Yin in Xu (Wang) face each other, each in its own place of light, which is what 「並爭耀」 means. By the chart rules, sun in Chen and moon in Xu always occur together and are exactly opposite, so with the Life Palace in Chen or Xu, the other star is in the opposite palace. Reversed, sun in Xu and moon in Chen is the back-to-back layout of segment 16: the same facing pair, with bright and dark completely swapped. Read together, these two lines show better than anything how much the brightness of the sun and moon matters.

The original is the Tai Wei Fu's 「日月夾財，不權則富」 (segment 20). By the chart rules, Tai Yang and Tai Yin are never in neighbouring palaces (they are always 0, 2, 4 or 6 palaces apart); when they sit with one palace between them, the palace they flank is always Chou or Wei, and the star in between is either Tian Fu or Wu Qu with Tan Lang. The Patterns of Wealth line 「武守命日月來夾」 is exactly the case of Wu Qu and Tan Lang in Chou or Wei. So with the sun and moon flanking the Life Palace, the Life Palace must be in Chou or Wei; flanking the Wealth Palace, the Wealth Palace is in Chou or Wei. The note's 'with Qing Yang and Tuo Luo clashing or guarding, suited to be a monk' means the flanking strength is broken by the punishing stars.

Ri Yue Fan Bei (sun and moon back to back): Tai Yang in a night palace and Tai Yin in a day palace, both without light. The Tai Wei Fu says 「日月最嫌反背」 (segment 12). The textual note suspects 「子月午」 should read sun in Zi, moon in Wu; but by the chart rules, when Tai Yang is in Zi Tai Yin is in Yin, and when Tai Yin is in Wu Tai Yang is in Shen, so the two never occur together, and the phrase can only be read as Tai Yang in Zi, or Tai Yin in Wu, each back to back on its own. The note's last sentence matters most: leaving home and the clan is lucky too, so do not judge it as back to back across the board. The Quan Shu itself leaves a way out of this unlucky pattern.

The original is the Gu Sui Fu's 「陰陽左右最慈祥」 (segment 74); this chapter keeps only the gist, 'good'. Zuo Fu and You Bi are helpers, the sun and moon are rank and wealth, and together they are light with people to support it. Zuo Fu and You Bi are placed by birth month and share a palace only in Chou and Wei, and the sun and moon also share a palace only in Chou and Wei, so charts with all four stars in one palace do exist, though they are not common; most often Zuo Fu and You Bi shine in from the San Fang.

Broken down: Tai Yang is Xian in Hai and Zi, Tai Yin is Xian in Mao, Chen and Si, and the vicious malefic stars are Qing Yang, Tuo Luo, Huo Xing and Ling Xing. The sun and moon stand for light and resources; fallen, resources are short, and with malefic stars the person has to run about on their own account. This means having to put in more effort than others for the same result, which is not the same as failing.

Tai Yang stands for the father and Tai Yin for the mother; this is the Quan Shu's basic rule for reading parents, and the Parents Palace page says a fallen Tai Yang harms the father first and a fallen Tai Yin the mother first. The sun and moon meeting Qing Yang and Tuo Luo means the parent stars are wounded, hence harm to relatives. Taken literally, a parent suffers injury or the bond is thin; in today's terms, it may mean a more distant relationship with the parents, or upheaval in the family in early years. In practice, the stars of the Parents Palace itself still decide.

The note already says the sun and moon never meet Tan Lang or Qi Sha. The line can be understood this way: the sun and moon are open and upright by nature, and mixed with the nature of the desire star (Tan Lang) and the killing star (Qi Sha), they tilt toward treachery, theft and lust. The Quan Shu has a similar phrase, 「男為奸盜女淫娼」, on The Nature of the Four Transformations. The harsh words are kept as written, but since this combination cannot be found on any chart, it should not be used to judge a real one.

In Zi Wei Dou Shu Tai Yang and Tai Yin correspond to the left and right eyes, and Kong Wang is emptiness, so their light being blotted out means eye disease. What the ancients called Kong Wang appears on a Xingge chart as several minor stars, Jie Lu, Kong Wang and Xun Kong. The Health Palace verdict keeps the old names of illness as written; read now, it points to the eyes and spine as areas to watch, not to an illness that must come.