XinggeStar Combinations: Tian Xiang
〈論諸星同垣：天相〉
The Complete Book of Zi Wei Dou Shu, Volume 3: Reading a life and its luck periods · Original text with translation
Introduction
This page is the Tian Xiang part of the star-combination chapter in volume three of the Complete Book of Zi Wei Dou Shu, only four lines long.
The first line gives the brightness: Tian Xiang is Miao in Zi, Wu, Chou, Yin and Shen, De in Chen, Xu, Si, Hai and Wei, and Xian in Mao and You. This matches Xingge's brightness for Tian Xiang.
The second line is a malefic pattern: Tian Xiang meeting Lian Zhen and Qing Yang 「多招刑杖難逃」, cannot escape punishment and beating, and the note says the whole life is unfavourable, sudden calamity comes, and the person is fit only to be a monk or Daoist; this is what later writers call Xing Qiu Jia Yin (punishment and prisoner flanking the seal). The last two lines concern women's charts: a woman with Tian Xiang in the Life Palace will surely have noble children and a worthy husband, with noble patterns set by birth-year stem and palace; You Bi with Tian Xiang 「福來臨」, blessings arrive, though Chou, Wei and Hai are not noble and Zi, Wu, Mao and You have little blessing.
The note to the last line first calls Zi with a Gui-year birth a noble pattern, then says Zi, Wu, Mao and You all have little blessing; the two do not agree, and the translation follows the original as it stands. The base text's 丑末 is a slip for 丑未.
1天相 廟子午丑寅申 地辰戌巳亥未 陷卯酉
TranslationTian Xiang's brightness: Miao in Zi, Wu, Chou, Yin and Shen; De in Chen, Xu, Si, Hai and Wei; Xian in Mao and You.
- 廟
- Miao (Temple): the position where a star works best.
- 陷
- Xian (Fallen): a position where the star has no strength.
Tian Xiang's brightness table agrees completely with the one Xingge uses: Miao in Zi, Wu, Chou, Yin and Shen, De in Chen, Xu, Si, Hai and Wei, Xian in Mao and You. Mao and You are Tian Xiang's only fallen positions; there it sits alone, with Lian Zhen and Po Jun opposite, struck head-on by the wasting star and the prisoner star. Tian Xiang's transformed qi is 'the seal'; it governs seals of office and assistance, and what it fears most is being hemmed in by the punishment star and the prisoner star, which is the pattern of the next line. For Tian Xiang's character as a whole, see The Nature of Tian Xiang and the Tian Xiang star page.
2天相廉貞擎羊來多招刑杖難逃 終身不美招橫禍，只宜僧道。
TranslationTian Xiang with Lian Zhen and Qing Yang coming: much punishment and beating is invited, hard to escape. (Note) The whole life is unfavourable, sudden calamity is invited; fit only for a monk or Daoist.
- 刑杖
- Punishment and beating with the rod.
This is Xing Qiu Jia Yin (punishment and prisoner flanking the seal): Tian Xiang is the seal, Lian Zhen's transformed qi is the prisoner, and Qing Yang is punishment; when the three come together, the seal is held down by punishment and prisoner, hence 「刑杖難逃」. The original derives from the Tai Wei Fu's 「刑囚夾印，刑杖惟司」 (segment 22). Lian Zhen and Tian Xiang share a palace only in Zi and Wu; Qing Yang falls in Zi in a Ren year and in Wu in a Bing or Wu year, so the pattern depends on the birth-year stem. The punishment and beating of old times correspond today to lawsuits, legal disputes and disciplinary action; the original note's 'fit only for a monk or Daoist' reflects the old belief that only by withdrawing from the world could one avoid the calamity.
3天相之星女命纏必當子貴及夫賢 女命己生子宮，甲生午宮，庚生辰宮，俱是貴格。
TranslationA woman's chart with the star Tian Xiang lodged in the Life Palace will surely have noble children and a worthy husband. (Note) A woman born in a Ji year with it in the Zi palace, in a Jia year in the Wu palace, or in a Geng year in the Chen palace: all are noble patterns.
The original comes from the Women's Gu Sui Fu, 「府相之星女命躔，必當子貴與夫賢」 (segment 1); this chapter replaces Tian Fu with Tian Xiang and adds three pairings of stem and palace. Taken apart: Tian Xiang in Zi (sharing the palace with Lian Zhen), in a Ji year Lu Cun is opposite in Wu; Tian Xiang in Wu, in a Jia year Lian Zhen's Hua Lu is in the palace itself, Po Jun's Hua Quan opposite, and Wu Qu's Hua Ke and Lu Cun in the trine; Tian Xiang in Chen (sharing the palace with Zi Wei), in a Geng year Lu Cun is in Shen in the trine and Wu Qu's Hua Quan in Zi in the trine. Every pairing brings Lu, or Quan and Ke, into the San Fang Si Zheng.
4右弼天相福來臨 女命天相、右弼，諸宮吉。子宮癸生人，寅宮癸己生人，申宮甲庚癸生人，俱是貴格，丑末亥宮不貴，子午卯酉皆少福。
TranslationYou Bi with Tian Xiang: blessings arrive. (Note) In a woman's chart, Tian Xiang with You Bi is lucky in every palace. In the Zi palace for those born in Gui years, in the Yin palace for those born in Gui and Ji years, in the Shen palace for those born in Jia, Geng and Gui years: all are noble patterns. In the Chou, Wei and Hai palaces it is not noble; in Zi, Wu, Mao and You there is little blessing in every case.
Textual note: The 末 in 「丑末」 should be 未. The note first calls the Zi palace with a Gui-year birth a noble pattern, then says Zi, Wu, Mao and You all have little blessing; the two do not agree, and the text is kept as it stands.
The noble stems in the note can also be explained by Lu Cun and the four transformations. Tian Xiang in Yin or Shen always shares the palace with Wu Qu: in Yin, Wu Qu is Hua Lu in a Ji year, and in a Gui year Po Jun's Hua Lu is opposite; in Shen, Wu Qu is Hua Ke in a Jia year, Lu Cun shares the palace in a Geng year, and in a Gui year Lu Cun is in Zi, in the trine. As the textual note points out, the noble pattern for the Zi palace is then contradicted by 「子午卯酉皆少福」, an inconsistency within the note itself. What the ancients valued in You Bi with Tian Xiang is an auxiliary star joined to the seal star: someone to help, and a sense of proportion in getting things done. The line speaks only of women's charts, and the Quan Shu does not say whether it applies equally to men.
Base text (Wikisource, partly in simplified Chinese)
FAQ
In which palaces is Tian Xiang bright?
Volume three of the Quan Shu says Tian Xiang is Miao in Zi, Wu, Chou, Yin and Shen, De in Chen, Xu, Si, Hai and Wei, and Xian in Mao and You, the same as Xingge's brightness table.
What pattern is Tian Xiang with Lian Zhen and Qing Yang?
The Quan Shu says 「天相廉貞擎羊來，多招刑杖難逃」: the whole life is unfavourable, sudden calamity comes, and the person is fit only to be a monk or Daoist. Later writers call it Xing Qiu Jia Yin (Lian Zhen's transformed qi is 'prisoner', Qing Yang is 'punishment' and Tian Xiang is 'the seal').
Is Tian Xiang in the Life Palace good for a woman?
The Quan Shu says 「天相之星女命纏，必當子貴及夫賢」, and gives as noble patterns a woman born in a Ji year with it in the Zi palace, in a Jia year in the Wu palace, and in a Geng year in the Chen palace.
Main stars in this section