Star Combinations: Tian Ji

Tian Ji's transformed qi is 'goodness'; it is the master of the Siblings Palace and governs intelligence, planning and change. This line lists only Miao, Wang and Xian, and 'The Xingge approach' above explains the two differences from Xingge's brightness (Chen and Mao). The fallen positions are Chou and Wei, where Tian Ji sits alone with Tian Liang opposite; for the negative verdict later about Tian Ji in Si and You, note that Tian Ji in Si is only Ping. For Tian Ji's character as a whole, see The Nature of Tian Ji and the Tian Ji star page.

Tian Ji and Tian Liang share a palace only in Chen and Xu; this is Shan Yin Chao Gang (goodness and shelter attending court), Tian Ji's transformed qi being goodness and Tian Liang's shelter. 「善談兵」 appears both in The Nature of Tian Ji and in the nature of Tian Liang, meaning skilled at analysis, planning and argument. The note gives Mencius as an example: his Travel Palace was in Xu with Tian Ji and Tian Liang, which means a Life Palace in Chen borrowing the two stars opposite. Mencius was famous for his eloquence, a neat echo of 'talking strategy'. The ancients' examples of famous people's charts are mostly later attributions, but this one at least fits the character.

Tian Ji and Tian Liang in the Life Palace with lucky stars, rich, noble and kindly; with punishment stars or Hua Ji, a monastic life. These are the two poles of how the Quan Shu reads the pair: both stars lean toward the mind and the spirit, so when things go well the person is a wise elder, and when they do not, the person leaves the world. A modern reading: someone with Tian Ji and Tian Liang in the Life Palace thinks a great deal and holds to principle, and in good conditions easily becomes a respected adviser or teacher; with punishment stars or Hua Ji, the path leans toward solitude, religion or philosophy.

Tian Ji and Tian Liang meeting Di Jie and Di Kong are best suited to the monastic life. The note adds one more case: Tian Ji or Tian Tong alone in the Life or Body Palace and meeting Kong Wang is the same. Di Kong and Di Jie are stars of emptiness, and placed with spiritually inclined stars like Tian Ji and Tian Liang, material achievement easily comes to nothing, so the ancients pushed the person toward the monk's or priest's life. This line differs from the monastic judgment in Essentials of Reading the Stars: that one looks at the palaces of close relatives, this one at the nature of the stars in the Life and Body Palaces themselves. Both routes lead to the same conclusion.

As the note says, Tian Ji and Tian Liang never clash with or meet Qi Sha and Po Jun on a chart. The Women's Gu Sui Fu has an almost identical version: 「天機七殺破梁同，羽客僧流命所逢，更若太陽兼帝座，伶仃孤剋命方終」 (segment 46). There, adding Tai Yang and the Emperor's Seat means loneliness and loss to the end of life; here the note says that the Emperor's Seat with Tai Yang added is lucky, the opposite conclusion. The Quan Shu does not say which is right; it is enough to know these are two transmitted versions of the same verse.

The line comes from the Gu Sui Fu's 「機月同梁作吏人」 (segment 29), and the note in this chapter gives a full grading: judge so only with the Life Palace in Yin or Shen; with lucky stars the person is more than a clerk; with neither lucky nor malefic stars, an ordinary person; with malefic stars, Di Kong, Di Jie or Hua Ji, a low pattern. This is far more detailed than the original line, and shows that 'making clerks' is a neutral baseline, not a put-down. The Tian Liang page of this chapter says of the same combination 「一生利業聰明」; see Star Combinations: Tian Liang. The modern counterparts are civil servants, salaried employees and professional staff, people who work within organisations.

This line puts Tan Lang into the Ji Yue Tong Liang group, but on a chart Tan Lang never meets Tian Ji, Tai Yin, Tian Tong or Tian Liang in the San Fang Si Zheng; the two sets of stars belong to different systems. So 「機梁貪月同機會」 can only be read as a verse-style combination, not a gathering that can be seen on one chart. The meaning, though, is clear: Ji Yue Tong Liang are stars of diligent work, and with Tan Lang's appetite and sociability added, the person does business day and night and never sleeps soundly; meeting malefic stars, even more rushing about.

Tian Ji sharing a palace with Qing Yang, Tuo Luo, Huo Xing or Ling Xing is judged a petty thief. Tian Ji's transformed qi is goodness, and it is clever and nimble by nature; meeting malefic stars, it turns its cleverness down crooked paths, the Quan Shu's consistent logic about Tian Ji. The Tai Wei Fu's 「終身鼠竊」 is said of Tan Lang; here it is applied to Tian Ji. As written, it is a very heavy verdict on character. Read now, it can be understood as cleverness without restraint, prone to taking shortcuts; whether the person actually breaks the law depends on the Career and Travel Palaces and on how severe the malefic stars are, and no one should be judged on one malefic star.

Tian Ji in Si is only Ping, with Tai Yin opposite; in You it shares the palace with Ju Men, Wang but with Ju Men's nature of quarrels and gossip. The Quan Shu says fond of drink, leaving the clan, treacherous and cunning; 'leaving the clan' means leaving one's kin, tied to Tian Ji's nature of change and restlessness in its place. The line adds no malefic stars at all and delivers its heavy verdict on the palace alone, one of the Quan Shu's more arbitrary kind. In practice, take lucky stars such as Zuo Fu and You Bi, Tian Kui and Tian Yue and Hua Lu into account before judging.

'The Xingge approach' above has explained that 「巨陷天機」 is unclear. In volume two, Stars in Fallen Positions: Broken Patterns has the line 「申宮機巨為破格」, also placing Tian Ji and Ju Men in Shen, which likewise does not fit the chart (Tian Ji and Ju Men share a palace only in Mao and You); so this is a verse tradition consistent within the Quan Shu but at odds with the rules of chart construction. The corresponding standard pattern is Ju Ji Tong Lin (Ju Men and Tian Ji together), usually regarded as a good pattern in Mao and You. The note's verdict on women is very harsh and is kept as written.