XinggeChildren's Charts
〈論小兒命〉
The Complete Book of Zi Wei Dou Shu, Volume 3: Reading a life and its luck periods · Original text with translation
Introduction
Children's Charts (論小兒命), in volume three of the Complete Book of Zi Wei Dou Shu, is about reading the chart of a newborn. The first paragraph is unusual: it uses the twelve Bo Shi spirits and the spirits counted from the year (Bo Shi, Li Shi, Qing Long, Jiang Jun, Da Hao, Bing Fu, Guan Fu, Zou Shu, Bai Hu, Tai Sui) to describe what the baby looks like: short above and long below, small cheeks and a round head, an upturned nose and drawn-in lips, a loud, high cry, or even 「落地無聲」, silent at birth. It ends by saying that one must look at how the elements generate, overcome and control each other, at the hour's Lu and the places of decline, and then at the child's 'barriers', before knowing whether the life will be long or short, poor or prosperous.
The second paragraph is more direct: a newborn has not yet entered the Decade or Minor Luck, so if the Life Palace's stars are Miao or Wang there will be few disasters, the child is easy to raise and does not harm the parents; if the Life Palace holds vicious killing stars or a weak, fallen position, there are many disasters, the child is hard to raise and harms the parents.
The base text breaks the line in the middle of the word 「惡殺」, so 「若命坐惡殺及纏陷弱之地」 is in fact one sentence split across two segments; the translation reads it as one.
1小兒博士力士上短下長，青龍將軍腮小頭圓。大耗鼻仰唇縮，死符病符聲高性雄。官府奏書逢惡曜落地無聲，白虎太歲遇七殺幼弱遭傷。須分生剋制化之垣，更看時祿衰敗之地，後觀關殺方知壽夭窮通。
TranslationIn a child's chart, Bo Shi and Li Shi: short above and long below. Qing Long and Jiang Jun: small cheeks and a round head. Da Hao: an upturned nose and drawn-in lips. Si Fu and Bing Fu: a loud, high cry and a bold temper. Guan Fu and Zou Shu meeting vicious stars: silent at birth. Bai Hu and Tai Sui meeting Qi Sha: weak when young and suffering injury. One must distinguish the palaces where the elements generate, overcome and control each other, and further look at the places where the hour's Lu declines and fails; then look at the barriers, and only then can one know whether the life will be long or short, poor or prosperous.
- 博士力士
- Bo Shi and Li Shi: two of the twelve Bo Shi spirits, laid out starting from Lu Cun.
- 關殺
- A child's 'barriers': critical points at particular times that the ancients believed infants had to pass.
- 窮通
- Poverty and prosperity, being stuck or getting through.
This passage reads a child's looks and temper from the twelve Bo Shi spirits and the twelve spirits counted from the year. Bo Shi, Li Shi, Qing Long, Jiang Jun, Da Hao, Bing Fu, Guan Fu and Zou Shu belong to the Bo Shi series, laid out from Lu Cun's position; Bai Hu and Tai Sui belong to the series counted from the year, laid out from the birth-year branch. Xingge's detailed chart lists the twelve Bo Shi spirits for every palace, and the year series too, where Tai Sui is written Sui Jian; the name Si Fu does not appear in Xingge's lists. The ancients reading looks from spirit stars, such as Bo Shi and Li Shi meaning 「上短下長」, is a lore of experience, and nothing else on the chart can confirm it. The second half says that the generating and overcoming of the palaces, the hour's Lu in decline and the barriers must all be checked before deciding on long or short life, which puts the focus of a child's chart on whether the child will grow up at all.
2小兒初生，命中星辰廟旺，大小二限未行，斷其災少，易養，父母無剋。若命坐惡
TranslationWhen a child is just born, if the stars of the Life Palace are Miao or Wang and the Decade and Minor Luck have not yet begun, judge that there will be few disasters, the child is easy to raise, and there is no harm to the parents. If the Life Palace holds vicious (continued in the next segment)
Textual note: The base text breaks the line at 「若命坐惡」, and the next segment, 「殺及纏陷弱之地」, continues the same sentence; it was originally one: 「若命坐惡殺及纏陷弱之地」.
This line has to be read with the next segment, since the base text breaks it mid-sentence. The conditions are that the child's Life Palace main star is Miao or Wang, and that neither the Decade Luck nor the Minor Luck has begun. The ancients held that before the luck periods start, a child's fortunes rest entirely on the natal chart, so the Life Palace's brightness directly decides whether the child is easy to raise. On Xingge the Decade Luck starts at the Life Palace itself, and the first one begins at the age given by the Five Elements Bureau (age two for Water 2); before that the chart has no Decade Luck. The Quan Shu starts the luck from the palace next to the Life Palace instead; see Fortune and Misfortune in the Decade Luck. Xingge lays out the Minor Luck from age one.
3殺及纏陷弱之地，大小二限未行，斷其災多，難養，刑剋父母。
Translation(continued) killing stars, or lodges in a weak, fallen position, and the Decade and Minor Luck have not yet begun, judge that there will be many disasters, the child is hard to raise, and harms the parents.
- 纏
- Used for 躔: where a star lodges.
Continuing: the Life Palace holding vicious killing stars, its main star in a weak, fallen position, and the luck periods not yet begun, means many disasters, a hard child to raise, and harm to the parents. Infant mortality was high in the old days, and 'hard to raise' was a very practical worry; 'harming the parents' reflects the old idea linking a child's fate to the parents' fortunes. Read today, it can mean a delicate constitution in early childhood or a hard family situation; it should not be taken to mean that the child will hurt its parents. On the chart, this is the case where the Life Palace's star is Xian and Qing Yang, Tuo Luo, Huo Xing or Ling Xing share its palace; the stars of the Parents Palace itself should be read too, and the Quan Shu's Parents Palace chapter covers that in full.
Base text (Wikisource, partly in simplified Chinese)
FAQ
How does Zi Wei Dou Shu tell whether a child will be easy to raise?
Children's Charts says that when a child is newborn and has not yet entered the Decade or Minor Luck, Life Palace stars in Miao or Wang mean few disasters, an easy child to raise, and no harm to the parents; a Life Palace with vicious killing stars or in a weak, fallen position means many disasters, a hard child to raise, and harm to the parents.
What are Bo Shi, Qing Long and Bai Hu in a child's chart?
Bo Shi, Li Shi, Qing Long, Jiang Jun, Da Hao, Bing Fu, Guan Fu and Zou Shu belong to the twelve Bo Shi spirits; Bai Hu and Tai Sui belong to the spirits counted from the year. The Quan Shu uses them to describe a baby's build, looks and cry: with Bo Shi and Li Shi, 「上短下長」, short above and long below; with Qing Long and Jiang Jun, 「腮小頭圓」, small cheeks and a round head.
Main stars in this section