XinggeWhat Does Ju Men Govern?
〈問巨門所主若何？〉
The Complete Book of Zi Wei Dou Shu, Volume 1: Rhapsodies, questions on the stars, and chart patterns · Original text with translation
Introduction
This is the Ju Men question in the Zhu Xing Wen Da Lun (Questions and Answers on the Stars) in volume one of the Complete Book of Zi Wei Dou Shu: 「問巨門所主若何？」, what does Ju Men govern? Ju Men belongs to water and metal and is the second star of the Northern Dipper; its transformed qi is darkness. The Quan Shu makes it the star that 「掌執是非」, holds charge of right and wrong, and it is the most negatively judged of the fourteen main stars; the conclusion is 「孤獨之數，刻剝之神」. The chapter is laid out as follows:
- The answer (segments 1 to 2): Ju Men's nature, followed in one breath by its results in all twelve palaces: in the Body or Life Palace, quarrels; in the Siblings Palace, kin who never meet; in the Spouse Palace, separation in life and parting by death; in the Children Palace, loss first and children later; in the Career Palace, flogging; in the Property Palace, a squandered ancestral estate; in the Parents Palace, being abandoned.
- Master Xiyi (segments 3 to 5): Ju Men agrees to your face and condemns behind your back, and gets on with few of the six relations; in Hai, Yin, Si and Shen, even wealth and rank do not last; meeting Tai Yang, good and bad are half and half; Zi Wei restrains its force and Lu Cun relieves its troubles; with Qing Yang and Tuo Luo, men become thieves and women prostitutes; only as a monk, Daoist or practitioner of the nine schools does one escape toil and hardship.
The verdicts are translated literally, without softening. While reading, know that 'An' (darkness) is Ju Men, 'the emperor' is Zi Wei and 'Hao' (drain) is Po Jun; 「徒配」 and 「決配」 are the old punishments of penal servitude and exile.
1答曰：巨門屬水、金。北斗第二星也，為陰精之星，化氣為暗。
TranslationThe answer: Ju Men belongs to water, and to metal. It is the second star of the Northern Dipper, the star of the essence of yin, and its transformed qi is darkness.
- 化氣為暗
- Ju Men's nature transforms into darkness, so the Quan Shu often calls Ju Men 'An' (darkness).
There are two views of Ju Men's element: water, and also metal. Elsewhere the Quan Shu mostly gives water; here metal and water stand side by side, because Ju Men's nature combines water's darkness with metal's sharp tongue and edge. 「陰精之星」 and 「化氣為暗」 are the root of every verdict on Ju Men: darkness is covering, unclarity, doubt.
When reading Ju Men, remember that darkness is not the same as bad. Ju Men also governs eloquence, analysis and getting to the bottom of things, all the positive side of doubt. The Quan Shu's verdict on Ju Men leans negative, yet the Gu Sui Fu's 「子午巨門石中隱玉」 (see Gu Sui Fu) is Ju Men's top pattern, showing that in the right position, with Hua Lu or Hua Quan, the darkness becomes a hidden worth instead.
2在身命一生招口舌之非；在兄弟則骨肉參商；在夫妻主於隔角，生離死別，縱夫妻有對，不免汙名失節；在子息損後方招，雖有而無；在財帛有爭競之意；在疾厄遇刑忌，眼目之災，殺臨主殘疾；在遷移則招是非；在奴僕則多怨逆；在官祿主招刑杖；在田宅則破蕩祖業；在福德其禍稍輕；在父母則遭棄擲。
TranslationIn the Body or Life Palace, one attracts quarrels and disputes all one's life. In the Siblings Palace, flesh and blood are like the stars Shen and Shang, which never meet. In the Spouse Palace, it means the Ge Jiao spirit: separation in life and parting by death; even if husband and wife stay a pair, a stained name and lost chastity cannot be avoided. In the Children Palace, children come only after loss, and though there are some it is as if there were none. In the Wealth Palace, there is rivalry and competition. In the Health Palace, meeting Tian Xing and Hua Ji, disasters of the eyes; with malefic stars, disability. In the Travel Palace, it attracts disputes. In the Friends Palace, much resentment and betrayal. In the Career Palace, it brings punishment by flogging. In the Property Palace, it squanders the ancestral estate. In the Fortune Palace, its harm is slightly lighter. In the Parents Palace, one is abandoned.
- 參商
- The stars Shen and Shang, one in the east and one in the west, never seen at the same time: a figure for kin who are at odds and never meet.
- 隔角
- Ge Jiao, an old spirit star that separates kin and spouses.
- 損後方招
- Losing children first, and only then having them.
- 棄擲
- Abandoned, cast away.
This passage lists Ju Men's results in each of the twelve palaces, and almost every palace is bad. The core is quarrels and separation: siblings who never meet, spouses parted by life or death, children lost before they come, resentful servants, abandonment by parents. Ju Men's darkness projected onto the six relations means people who cannot see each other clearly or talk things through.
The 'Ge Jiao' in the Spouse Palace is an old spirit star that does not appear on a Xingge chart; for the condition, Ju Men itself is enough. 「縱夫妻有對，不免汙名失節」 is a very heavy verdict; today it can be read as poor communication and mutual suspicion in a marriage, or gossip from outsiders. The only slightly better place is the Fortune Palace, 「其禍稍輕」: Ju Men's influence on the inner life is overthinking and worry, not the actual conflicts it stirs up in the outward palaces. This passage is Ju Men's 'default setting'; the next two segments say straight away that meeting Tai Yang, Zi Wei or Lu Cun can change it.
3希夷先生曰：巨門在天，司品萬物。在數則掌執是非，主於暗昧，疑是多非，欺瞞天地，進退兩難。其性則面是背非，六親寡合，交人初善終惡。十二宮中若無廟樂照臨，到處為災，奔波勞碌。至亥寅巳申，雖富貴亦不耐久。
TranslationMaster Xiyi said: Ju Men in heaven governs the grading of all things. In a fate it holds charge of right and wrong, and stands for obscurity: suspicious and full of disputes, deceiving heaven and earth, caught between advancing and retreating. Its nature is to agree to your face and condemn behind your back; it gets on with few of the six relations, and with people it is friendly at first and hostile in the end. In the twelve palaces, if there is no Miao or joyful place shining on it, there is disaster everywhere, rushing about and toiling. In Hai, Yin, Si and Shen, even wealth and rank do not last.
- 暗昧
- Dark and obscure.
- 面是背非
- Saying yes to your face and no behind your back.
- 耐久
- To last.
Master Xiyi describes Ju Men's character very sharply: 「面是背非」, 「交人初善終惡」. This is darkness showing in relationships: guarded speech and thoughts kept deep, so that others cannot tell what is really meant, and over time misunderstandings grow.
「至亥寅巳申，雖富貴亦不耐久」 does not agree with the brightness table Xingge uses: Ju Men is Miao in Yin and Shen and Wang in Si and Hai, not weak in any of the four. A gap between the Quan Shu's verse and its brightness table also appeared in the Tian Ji chapter. A reasonable reading: the four 'horse' positions (Yin, Shen, Si, Hai) stand for movement, and Ju Men there, even when it gains wealth and rank, is liable to change through quarrels and disputes, regardless of brightness. Ju Men shares a palace with Tai Yang in Yin and Shen, which is judged by a different standard; see the next segment.
4會太陽則吉凶相半，逢七殺則主殺傷。貪耗同行，因好徒配。遇帝座則制其強。逢祿存則解其厄，值羊陀男盜女娼。對宮遇火鈴、白虎，無帝壓制，決配千里。三合殺湊，必遭火厄，此乃孤獨之數，刻剝之神。
TranslationMeeting Tai Yang, good and bad are half and half; meeting Qi Sha, it means killing and wounding. Travelling with Tan Lang and Hao (Po Jun), one is sentenced to penal servitude and exile because of one's appetites. Meeting the emperor's seat, its force is restrained. Meeting Lu Cun, its troubles are relieved; with Qing Yang and Tuo Luo, men become thieves and women prostitutes. If the opposite palace meets Huo Xing, Ling Xing and Bai Hu, with no emperor to hold it down, one is sure to be exiled a thousand li. If malefic stars gather in the trine, there is sure to be disaster by fire. This is a fate of loneliness, a spirit of harshness and exploitation.
- 貪耗
- Tan Lang and Po Jun (whose transformed qi is drain).
- 徒配
- Penal servitude and exile.
- 決配千里
- Sentenced to exile a thousand li away.
- 刻剝
- Harsh and exploitative.
- 逢七殺
- Under the standard placement method, Ju Men and Qi Sha never meet in the same palace or the San Fang Si Zheng; the Your chart check does not mark this line.
This passage lists what various stars do to Ju Men. 「會太陽則吉凶相半」: Tai Yang can light up Ju Men's darkness, but Ju Men also blocks Tai Yang's light; when they share a palace in Yin or Shen it is the Ju Ri Tong Gong (Ju Men and the sun in the same palace) pattern, with Yin better and Shen less so. 「逢祿存則解其厄」: Lu Cun is a steady blessing that eases Ju Men's disputes.
Some lines cannot be completed on a chart: under the placement rules, Zi Wei, Qi Sha, Tan Lang and Po Jun never fall in Ju Men's San Fang Si Zheng. So 「遇帝座則制其強」, 「逢七殺則主殺傷」 and 「貪耗同行」 can only be understood through luck-period charts, or as descriptions of nature: Ju Men meeting a strong star is held down, and meeting a malefic star becomes fiercer. What can actually be checked is Tai Yang, Lu Cun, Qing Yang and Tuo Luo, and Huo Xing and Ling Xing. 「值羊陀男盜女娼」, taken as written, requires Ju Men in the same palace as Qing Yang or Tuo Luo; the Ju Men nature chapter also says that Ju Men guarding the Life Palace and meeting Qing Yang, Huo Xing and Ling Xing makes one 「為人性急多顛倒」.
5除為僧道九流，方免勞神偃蹇，限逢凶曜災難不輕。
TranslationOnly by becoming a monk, a Daoist priest or a practitioner of the nine schools does one escape weary toil and hardship. When a luck period meets malefic stars, the disaster is not light.
- 九流
- The nine schools: the miscellaneous arts such as medicine, divination, astrology and physiognomy.
- 偃蹇
- Hardship, things going badly.
The close says that only 「為僧道九流」 lets Ju Men escape toil and hardship. The nine schools are specialist arts such as medicine, divination, astrology and physiognomy, which suit Ju Men's eloquent, analytical, investigative character; today they can be read as work that uses the mouth and the mind, such as law, teaching, consulting, research and media.
「限逢凶曜災難不輕」 is a reminder about luck periods. Ju Men in a luck period, with malefic stars and Hua Ji added, often comes true as quarrels, lawsuits and contract disputes. Read as a whole, the Quan Shu's verdict on Ju Men leans bad, but that reflects old values that prized harmony and looked down on argument; many modern jobs that call for questioning and speaking out are exactly where Ju Men is strong.
FAQ
What does Ju Men govern in the Complete Book of Zi Wei Dou Shu?
The Quan Shu says Ju Men belongs to water and metal and is the second star of the Northern Dipper; its transformed qi is darkness. In a fate it holds charge of right and wrong and stands for obscurity; it is suspicious and full of disputes, caught between advancing and retreating. The person agrees to your face and condemns behind your back, gets on with few of the six relations, and is friendly at first with people but hostile in the end. It is 「孤獨之數，刻剝之神」.
What does Ju Men mean in each of the twelve palaces?
The answer goes palace by palace: in the Body or Life Palace, a lifetime of quarrels; Siblings, kin who never meet; Spouse, separation in life and parting by death, with a stained name and lost chastity; Children, loss first and children later; Wealth, competition; Health, with Tian Xing or Hua Ji, eye disease; Travel, disputes; Friends, much resentment and betrayal; Career, flogging; Property, a squandered ancestral estate; Fortune, slightly lighter harm; Parents, being abandoned.
What does the Quan Shu say about Ju Men meeting Qing Yang and Tuo Luo?
Master Xiyi says Ju Men 「值羊陀男盜女娼」: when Ju Men meets Qing Yang and Tuo Luo, men become thieves and women prostitutes. He also says that meeting Zi Wei restrains its force, and meeting Lu Cun relieves its troubles.
Is Ju Men with Tai Yang good or bad?
This chapter says Ju Men 「會太陽則吉凶相半」, good and bad half and half. The Tai Yang chapter says from Tai Yang's side 「所忌者，巨暗遭逢」, that what it dreads is meeting Ju Men. Later writers call Tai Yang and Ju Men together in Yin or Shen the Ju Ri Tong Gong pattern.
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