XinggeWhat Does Wen Qu Govern?
〈問文曲星所主若何？〉
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 Wen Qu 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: 「問文曲星所主若何？」, what does Wen Qu govern? Wen Qu belongs to water and is the fourth star of the Northern Dipper. Like Wen Chang it 「主科甲」, governs success in the exams, but the Quan Shu's verdicts on Wen Qu are more mixed than on Wen Chang. On the good side: 「桃花浪暖，入仕無疑」, and in the Career Palace it 「面君顏而執政」. On the bad side: alone in the Body or Life Palace and meeting malefic stars it is 「無名舌辯之徒」, travelling with Tai Yin it makes a fortune-teller of the nine trades, and a woman is 「水性楊花」. The chapter falls into:
- The answer (segments 1 to 2): Wen Qu works with Wen Chang; together with Lian Zhen it makes a clerk; it fears Po Jun, which brings disaster near water, and dislikes Tan Lang, which turns affairs of office upside down; it should not enter the earth palaces; with Lu Cun or Hua Lu it is not judged bad.
- Master Xiyi (segments 3 to 4, broken mid-sentence in the base text): in Si, You and Chou one ranks as a marquis or earl, and Wu Qu and Tan Lang in its trine make a pattern for generals and ministers; fallen in Wu or Xu and meeting Ju Men, Qing Yang and Tuo Luo, there is death, early death and great danger from water; in its strong places Hai, Mao and Wei, meeting Tian Liang and Tian Xiang, the person is clever and learned; a woman with it fallen and broken is lewd and base.
The 'earth palaces' are Chen, Xu, Chou and Wei, and 囚 (the prisoner) is Lian Zhen.
1答曰：文曲屬水，北斗第四星也，主科甲文車之宿。其象屬水，與文昌同協，吉數最為祥，臨身命中作科第之客。桃花浪暖，入仕無疑。於官祿面君顏而執政。單居身命，吏逢凶曜，亦作無名舌辯之徒。與廉貞共處必作公吏官。
TranslationThe answer: Wen Qu belongs to water. It is the fourth star of the Northern Dipper, the lodge that governs exam degrees and literary writing. Its image is water; it works together with Wen Chang and is the most auspicious of lucky numbers. In the Body or Life Palace it makes a candidate who passes the exams. When the peach-blossom waters are warm, there is no doubt he will enter office. In the Career Palace he sees the ruler's face and runs affairs of state. Alone in the Body or Life Palace and also meeting malefic stars, he is only a nameless talker and debater. Together with Lian Zhen, he is sure to be a clerk in a government office.
- 文車
- Meaning unclear; probably literary writing or documents.
- 桃花浪暖
- Peach-blossom waters warm: in the third month, when the peach-blossom floods rise, the carp leaps the Dragon Gate; a figure for passing the exams.
- 吏逢凶曜
- The character 吏 makes no sense here; it is probably 更, so the phrase means 'also meeting malefic stars'.
- 公吏
- A clerk working in a government office.
Textual note: In 「吏逢凶曜」 the character 吏 (clerk) is probably an error for 更 (also).
Wen Qu and Wen Chang are a pair, but different in nature: Wen Chang leans toward orthodox learning, while Wen Qu, belonging to water, leans toward eloquence, the arts and adaptability. This passage gives Wen Qu a wide range of outcomes. At its best it is 「科第之客」 and 「面君顏而執政」; alone and meeting malefic stars, it is 「無名舌辯之徒」, someone who lives by talking but has no recognised standing.
「與廉貞共處必作公吏官」 is much like the Zi Wei chapter's line about Zi Wei 「與囚同居」 making a petty clerk: in the Quan Shu, Lian Zhen often pulls a scholar toward the role of a low-level clerk. The Gu Sui Fu is far harsher: 「文昌文曲會廉貞，喪命天年」 (Gu Sui Fu). The same Wen Chang or Wen Qu with Lian Zhen makes only a clerk here but costs a life there, which shows the Quan Shu weighs this pairing unevenly; it depends on whether other malefic stars are present.
2身與太陰同行，定係九流術士。怕逢破軍恐臨水以生災；嫌遇貪狼蒞政事而顛倒。逢七殺刑忌囚及諸惡曜，詐偽莫逃。逢巨門共其度，和而喪志。女命不宜於逢，水性楊花。忌入土宮，限臨蹭蹬。若祿存、化祿來纏，不可以為凶論。
TranslationIf the Body Palace travels together with Tai Yin, he is sure to be a practitioner of the nine trades. It fears meeting Po Jun, which may bring disaster near water; it dislikes meeting Tan Lang, which turns the affairs of office upside down. Meeting Qi Sha, Tian Xing, Hua Ji, Lian Zhen (the prisoner) and all the evil stars, he cannot escape deceit and falsehood. Sharing a degree with Ju Men, he is agreeable and loses his ambition. A woman's chart should not meet it: she is fickle as water and willow catkins. It should not enter the earth palaces; when a luck period comes there, he stumbles and fails. If Lu Cun or Hua Lu come to entwine it, it must not be judged as bad.
- 九流術士
- Practitioners of the nine trades: people who live by arts such as medicine, divination, astrology and physiognomy.
- 水性楊花
- Flowing like water, light as willow catkins: a woman inconstant in love.
- 土宮
- The palaces of the earth element: Chen, Xu, Chou and Wei.
- 蹭蹬
- Frustrated, out of luck.
This passage lines Wen Qu up against other stars: with Tai Yin in the Body Palace it makes a fortune-teller of the nine trades; meeting Po Jun, disaster near water; meeting Tan Lang, affairs of office turned upside down; meeting Qi Sha, Tian Xing, Hua Ji and Lian Zhen, deceit; sharing a degree with Ju Men, agreeable but without ambition. Wen Qu belongs to water, so 「臨水以生災」 and 「水性楊花」 both come from the image of water.
The last line matters most: 「若祿存、化祿來纏，不可以為凶論」. Most of Wen Qu's bad signs have to do with its flexibility and talkativeness, and a wealth star steadies it. 「忌入土宮」 is because earth overcomes water, so Wen Qu has little strength in Chen, Xu, Chou and Wei; yet on the brightness table Wen Qu is Miao in Chou, De in Chen and Wang in Wei, and Xian only in Xu, another case of five-element theory and the brightness table going separate ways. 「水性楊花」 in a woman's chart means inconstant in love as written; a modern reading is someone with rich feelings who is easily attracted.
3希夷先生曰：文曲守身命，居巳酉丑宮居侯伯。武貪三合同垣，將相之格，文昌遇合亦然。若陷宮
TranslationMaster Xiyi said: Wen Qu guarding the Body or Life Palace, in Si, You or Chou, ranks as a marquis or earl. With Wu Qu and Tan Lang in the same trine, it is a pattern for generals and ministers; meeting Wen Chang it is the same. If it is in a fallen palace,
- 侯伯
- Marquis and earl: nobles holding hereditary titles.
- 同垣
- In the same palace; 'in the same trine' here means meeting from trine positions.
Master Xiyi puts Wen Qu among marquises and earls in Si, You and Chou, which agrees completely with the brightness table Xingge uses: Wen Qu is Miao in all three. It also matches the Star Combinations chapter's 「文曲 廟巳酉丑」 (Star Combinations: Wen Chang and Wen Qu). Si, You and Chou form the metal trine, and metal produces water, so Wen Qu is nourished there.
「武貪三合同垣，將相之格」: Wu Qu and Tan Lang govern wealth, desire and action, and paired with Wen Qu's eloquence and strategy they make a general or minister able in both civil and military affairs. Meeting Wen Chang works the same way. The original breaks off after 「若陷宮」 and runs on into the next segment's 「午戌之地」; read the two together.
4午戌之地，巨門羊陀沖破，喪命夭折，水大驚險。若亥卯未旺地，與天梁天相會主聰明博學，殺沖破只宜僧道。若女命值之清秀聰明主貴，若陷地沖破淫而且賤。
Translationin Wu or Xu, with Ju Men, Qing Yang and Tuo Luo clashing and breaking it, there is death and early death, and great danger from water. If it is in its strong places Hai, Mao or Wei and meets Tian Liang and Tian Xiang, it means intelligence and wide learning; with malefic stars clashing and breaking it, the person is fit only to be a monk or Daoist priest. If a woman's chart has it, she is handsome, clever and noble; if it is in a fallen place and clashed and broken, she is lewd and base as well.
- 夭折
- Dying young.
Continuing the last segment: Wen Qu in its fallen palaces Wu and Xu, clashed and broken by Ju Men, Qing Yang and Tuo Luo, means death, early death and danger from water. On a Xingge chart Wen Qu is Xian in both Wu and Xu, matching the original. The Star Combinations chapter gives 「陷寅午戌」, but on the brightness table Wen Qu in Yin is Ping, not Xian, so the two disagree on that one palace.
「亥卯未旺地，與天梁天相會主聰明博學」: Hai, Mao and Wei form the wood trine, and water produces wood, so Wen Qu can show what it has there; the brightness table marks it Wang in all three. This passage draws a clear line between Wen Qu's good and bad sides: Miao or Wang with lucky stars means intelligence and learning, fallen with malefic stars means danger. For a woman, 「清秀聰明主貴」 stands next to 「陷地沖破淫而且賤」; as written, the condition for the second is a fallen place plus clashing and breaking.
Base text (Wikisource, partly in simplified Chinese)
FAQ
What does Wen Qu govern in the Complete Book of Zi Wei Dou Shu?
The Quan Shu says Wen Qu belongs to water, is the fourth star of the Northern Dipper and governs success in the exams, working together with Wen Chang. In the Body or Life Palace it makes a person who passes the exams, 「桃花浪暖，入仕無疑」, and in the Career Palace one who sees the ruler's face and runs affairs of state. But alone in the Body or Life Palace and meeting malefic stars, it makes only a nameless talker and debater.
What does the Quan Shu say about Wen Qu with Tai Yin?
The answer says of Wen Qu: 「身與太陰同行，定係九流術士」, meaning a practitioner of the arts such as medicine, divination, astrology and physiognomy. The Tai Yin chapter likewise says Tai Yin 「與文曲同居身命，定是九流術士」.
What does the Quan Shu say about Wen Qu in a woman's chart?
The answer says 「女命不宜於逢，水性楊花」. Master Xiyi says a woman with Wen Qu is handsome, clever and noble, but if it is in a fallen place and clashed and broken, she is 「淫而且賤」.
In which palaces is Wen Qu good?
Master Xiyi says that in Si, You and Chou Wen Qu 'ranks as a marquis or earl'; Hai, Mao and Wei are its strong places, and meeting Tian Liang and Tian Xiang there it means intelligence and learning; Wu and Xu are its fallen palaces, and meeting Ju Men, Qing Yang and Tuo Luo clashing and breaking it there, it means death, early death and great danger from water. The answer also says Wen Qu should not enter the earth palaces (Chen, Xu, Chou and Wei).
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