What Does Tai Yang Govern?

The first segment of the Tai Yang chapter settles two principles: Tai Yang's fortune depends on whether it has light, and on its tie to office. The 'dark stars' of 「處黑星則勞心費力」 are, judging from what follows, the positions where Tai Yang loses its light, the night-time, fallen palaces. So the first thing in reading Tai Yang is always its brightness: on a Xingge chart, Tai Yang is mostly Wang or Miao from Yin to Wu, De in Wei and Shen, Ping in You, Bu in Xu and Chou, and Xian in Hai and Zi.

'Transformed into nobility' is Tai Yang's transformed qi, and 'transforms to Lu' refers to Tai Yang's Hua Lu in Geng years. 「男作父星，女為夫主」 is Tai Yang's fixed correspondence among the six relations, and the later verdicts about harming the father or an unfortunate husband star all come from here. It is a projection of a family centred on men; today it reads better as one's relationship with a father, a partner, or the older men in one's life.

This passage jumps between three places: the Body, Spouse and Children Palaces. 「更得太陰同照」 is the sun and moon shining on each other: Tai Yang and Tai Yin share a palace in Chou and Wei, and on some charts face each other across the chart or sit in trine, but on about a third of charts neither is in the other's San Fang Si Zheng.

「貴人門下客，否則公卿走卒」 stretches Tai Yang in the Body Palace across a wide range: with lucky stars gathered, an aide to a person of rank; without them, someone who runs errands for the powerful. What the two share is that both are close to power, differing only in height, which is exactly Tai Yang's nature as the key to office. The 'Ba Zuo' in the Children Palace is a minor star, shown among the small stars in the palace on a Xingge chart.

For Tai Yang in the Wealth Palace, 「不怕巨門纏」 stands out, because in segment 6 Master Xiyi says plainly that Tai Yang 「所忌者，巨暗遭逢」. Read together, the key is the strong position: when Tai Yang is bright enough, it can light up Ju Men's darkness. The Quan Shu's Gu Sui Fu also says 「巨日同宮官封三代」 (see Gu Sui Fu). Tai Yang and Ju Men share a palace in Yin and Shen; in Yin Tai Yang is Wang, in Shen only De, and the usual view is that Yin is good and Shen less so.

「若限不扶，不可以三合論議」 is a point of method: however good the natal trine, it does not come true if the luck periods do not cooperate. It reminds the reader not to judge from the natal chart alone, but to read it together with the Decade Luck.

This passage covers four cases of Tai Yang meeting bad stars in a luck period, sorted quite finely: Ling Xing, Tian Xing and Hua Ji together mean immediate worry or harm to the parents; Tian Xing and malefic stars gathered mean an official losing his post or an ordinary person facing lawsuits; Qing Yang and Tuo Luo mean illness; Huo Xing and Ling Xing mean suffering. Tai Yang is the father star, so harm to the parents is singled out; Tai Yang also governs the eyes, which is where the eye troubles later in the chapter come from.

The verdict on the Travel Palace is a separate matter: Tai Yang in the Travel Palace means 「移根換葉，出祖為家」, leaving one's birthplace to make one's way. In old times this was negative (hard to inherit the ancestral estate); today it is mostly neutral or even positive, such as studying away from home or working in another city or abroad. With Tai Yang in the Travel Palace, the Life Palace looks at the light coming in from the opposite palace, so whether Tai Yang is bright directly affects the Life Palace.

The subject of 「女命逢之不吉」 is unclear. From the context, coming right after the Travel Palace, it may mean that Tai Yang in the Travel Palace is unlucky for a woman; or it may speak generally of a woman meeting Tai Yang, since Tai Yang is the husband star in a woman's chart and the old writers saw the husband star in an outward palace as a husband who is not at her side. Both readings work here.

The verdict on the Parents Palace agrees with the Parents Palace chapter: 「太陽在陷宮主先剋父」 (see Parents Palace). 「有輝則吉，無輝剋父」 depends entirely on brightness. A modern reading is closer to the strength of the bond with one's father, the father's health, or how much support he can give, rather than literally causing his death.

Master Xiyi's four contrasts are easy to remember: it likes Zuo Fu and You Bi, likes Lu Cun, dreads Ju Men, and delights in a strong Tai Yin. Tai Yang is an image of the ruler, so like Zi Wei it needs Zuo Fu and You Bi; Ju Men's transformed qi is darkness, and darkness is exactly what blocks sunlight; a strong Tai Yin means sun and moon both bright, see Ri Yue Bing Ming (sun and moon both bright).

「守人身命，主人忠鯁，不較是非」 is Tai Yang's basic character: frank, warm-hearted and not one to hold grudges. In the last line, 「若居廟旺，化祿化權，允為貴論」, Tai Yang takes Hua Lu in Geng years, Hua Quan in Xin years and Hua Ji in Jia years; on a Xingge chart, look at the transformation mark beside Tai Yang. Note that the 'nobility' here is mainly name and position; Tai Yang has always been read as bringing more fame than profit, see Tai Yang Hua Lu.

This passage places the lucky stars in 「財官二宮」: the Life Palace's trine is the Wealth and Career Palaces, so 'embracing the Wealth and Career Palaces from the trine' in practice means lucky stars across the Life Palace's San Fang. With all six auspicious stars, Zuo Fu and You Bi, Wen Chang and Wen Qu, Tian Kui and Tian Yue, it is 「富貴極品」; add the four malefic stars and it drops to being well fed and warm. This way of writing, first the ceiling, then the discount, is just like segment 17 of the Zi Wei chapter.

On women: in Miao or Wang she helps her husband and benefits her children; with Hua Quan or Hua Lu she receives honours; with malefic stars, an ordinary life. 'Honours' were the titles a woman received in old times because her husband or son held office; today this can be read as a partner or children who achieve something, and recognition she gains through them. Note that here malefic stars mean only 'ordinary', a much lighter verdict than the Tian Ji chapter's 「落局羊陀火忌沖破，主下賤」 for women.

Like the Zi Wei chapter, the verse opens by naming Tai Yang a 'career star' too. The Quan Shu has two masters of the Career Palace: Zi Wei, the emperor's seat, and Tai Yang, the noble star; the difference is that Zi Wei governs power and Tai Yang governs reputation.

「慈愛量寬大，福壽享遐齡」 is the most typical description of Tai Yang in the Life Palace: generous, warm-hearted and willing to give. These lines attach no brightness condition, but from the chapter as a whole they mean a Tai Yang that has light; with a lightless Tai Yang, the same warmth often turns into giving much and getting little back, the 「勞心費力」 of segment 1.

「若與太陰會，驟發貴無倫」 is the highest praise for the sun and moon meeting. Whether they can meet depends on where Zi Wei is: the sun and moon share a palace in Chou and Wei, face each other across Chen and Xu, or sit in each other's trine. On a Xingge chart, select Tai Yang's palace and see whether its San Fang Si Zheng lines pass through Tai Yin.

「巨門不相犯，升殿承君恩」 again stresses that Ju Men is Tai Yang's great dread, which seems to contradict segment 3's 「不怕巨門纏」. A reasonable way to reconcile them: when Tai Yang is strong and Ju Men is strong too, Ju Men's eloquence is lit up by the sun and brings fame; when Tai Yang is weak, Ju Men becomes a cover. The Gu Sui Fu's 「日月並明，佐九重於堯殿」 (see Gu Sui Fu) gives the same kind of praise.

Master Yuchan defines 'slanting' in segment 13 as Wei and Shen. Under the placement rules, when Tai Yang is in Wei, Ju Men does not enter its San Fang Si Zheng; only with Tai Yang in Shen does it share a palace with Ju Men. So the actual chart behind this line is Tai Yang and Ju Men sitting together in Shen. Compare the Tai Yang and Ju Men in Yin, praised as 'office conferred for three generations': the same pair of stars, differing only in whether the sun is rising or setting, and the gap between noble and lowly is huge. This is the clearest example in the Quan Shu of brightness deciding everything.

「男人必剋父，女命夫不全」 extends Tai Yang's meaning among the six relations. 「羊陀眼目昏」 applies Tai Yang's rule over the eyes; the Health Palace chapter also says that Tai Yang in a fallen palace 「主目疾欠光明」. Read today, it is a health reminder about the eyes and eyesight, and a tendency toward harder relationships with a father or partner.

This line follows from the last segment: when a luck period reaches a Tai Yang that is 'slanting and meeting the dark', or lightless and meeting malefic stars, it means selling fields and gardens. In old times fields and gardens were the family property, and selling them meant losing wealth and the family's decline.

In practice this is a period of heavy financial pressure, prone to selling assets, moving or changing where one lives. This is a tendency of the luck period; one has to see whether the natal Wealth and Property Palaces give support, and look at the annual transformations, rather than judging bankruptcy just because the Decade Luck reaches this palace.

Master Yuchan divides Tai Yang's day into stages, the Quan Shu's most complete 'timetable of the sun': first rising in Yin and Mao, ascending the hall in Chen and Si, the sun at mid-heaven in Wu, slanting in Wei and Shen, setting in the west in You, and losing its light in Xu, Hai and Zi. The brightness table Xingge uses roughly agrees, with one difference: the table marks Mao as Miao and Wu as Wang, yet Master Yuchan rates Wu highest. So Miao does not always mean the Quan Shu's highest praise; Jin Can Guang Hui (golden radiance, Tai Yang in Wu) is the pattern the whole book agrees is top grade, and the Tai Wei Fu also says 「太陽居午，謂之日麗中天，有專權之貴，敵國之富」 (see Tai Wei Fu).

「遇天刑為武」 is interesting: Tai Yang leans to the civil by nature, but with Tian Xing's discipline and punishment added it turns toward military or legal work. 「貴而不顯，秀而不實」 describes Tai Yang in You vividly: talent and reputation, but always a step short of realising them.

This passage adds a few details. 「與人寡合招非」 follows from a lightless Tai Yang meeting Ju Men: a sun with no light and covered over as well finds its warmth often misunderstood. For a woman, the husband star is not good, and 「遇耗則非禮成婚」; the draining star may be Po Jun or the minor star Da Hao. In old times it meant marrying without the rites of matchmaker and betrothal; today that is not necessarily negative, only a marriage that does not follow traditional form.

「與祿存同宮，雖主財帛，亦辛苦不閑」 shows that Lu Cun's wealth is the guarded, hard-earned kind, which does not sit easily with Tai Yang's outgoing nature. Sharing a palace with Zuo Fu and You Bi is judged noble, echoing segment 6's 「喜輔弼而佐君象」. The last two lines restate that Tai Yang is the father star for a man and the husband star for a woman, closing the chapter.