The Nature of Lu Cun

Lu Cun is placed by the birth-year stem: Jia in Yin, Yi in Mao, Bing and Wu in Si, Ding and Ji in Wu, Geng in Shen, Xin in You, Ren in Hai, Gui in Zi; so the four palaces Chen, Xu, Chou and Wei never hold Lu Cun. Qing Yang always sits one palace after it and Tuo Luo one palace before it, the structure of Qing Yang and Tuo Luo flanking Lu Cun. The character sketch, 'mature and steady, kind-hearted and upright', fits Lu Cun's conservative, holding-on nature. 「逢諸殺棄祖重拜父母」 is the old language of adoption and fostering: a Lu Cun chart heavy with malefic stars cannot hold the blessings of the birth family and must rely on another household. In a modern life this may mean leaving home early, being raised by others, or finding support outside the family one was born into.

These are Lu Cun's two most famous lines. First, it likes to share a palace with Zi Wei, Tian Fu, Tian Xiang, Tian Tong, Tian Liang, the sun and moon or Wu Qu: wealth needs a main star to put it to use. Second, 「單守命身，看財之奴」; What Does Lu Cun Govern? has 「若獨守命而無吉化，乃看財奴耳」 (What Does Lu Cun Govern?), adding the condition 'with no lucky transformation'. A slave guarding wealth is a miser: money without the ability to use it. The second half says it fears Di Kong, Di Jie, Huo Xing and Ling Xing clashing with it, and that a fallen position reduces its blessings; but Lu Cun has no brightness in the Quan Shu's tables or on Xingge, and Star Combinations even says 「祿存 十二宮中皆入廟」 (Star Combinations: Kui Yue, Zuo Fu, You Bi and Lu Cun), so the 'fallen position' here more likely means the main star in the same palace is fallen, or Lu Cun meets Kong Wang (the void).

Lu Cun is a blessing in the Life, Career and Property Palaces. What Does Lu Cun Govern? lists 「身命、田宅、財帛為要」, with the Wealth Palace where this has the Career Palace, so the two passages differ a little. Taken together, Lu Cun suits the palaces that have to do with keeping: keeping the self, the family property, the career. For a woman, 「清白秀麗，有男子之志」; What Does Lu Cun Govern? has 「女人清淑機巧能幹能為，有君子之志」. Women with Lu Cun come across as practical and capable, good at running a household and managing money, and not dependent on others.

A man meeting Lu Cun is 'firm and strong, and everything succeeds'. This seems to contradict the 'kind-hearted' of segment 1, but these are two sides of Lu Cun: generous to others, unbending about its own principles and money. In 「官員遷兮昌曲會」, Lu Cun with Wen Chang and Wen Qu is wealth plus letters, and together with Tai Yang and Tian Liang it becomes Yang Liang Chang Lu (Tai Yang, Tian Liang, Wen Chang and Lu). Star Combinations says 「昌曲祿存猶為奇特」, in the same direction. On a Xingge chart, just check whether Wen Chang and Wen Qu are in the San Fang Si Zheng of Lu Cun's palace.

With Lu Cun guarding the Life Palace, avoid clashes: Tuo Luo and Huo Xing crossing it leave blessings incomplete, and Tian Ji, Di Kong, Di Jie and Hua Ji meeting it leave only the gate of emptiness. One structural point is worth knowing: Tuo Luo always sits right next to Lu Cun, so 'Tuo' is nearly always close by, and the real condition here is Tuo Luo and Huo Xing 'crossing' together, for instance when an annual Tuo Luo or Huo Xing is stacked on top. Tian Ji may appear here because its transformed qi is goodness and it governs change, and with Di Kong and Di Jie it leans towards leaving the world. For a person built to hold on to things, when too much change and loss arrives, the best way out is often a quiet place away from competition.

A woman's Lu Cun with Zi Wei and Tian Fu: everything peaceful; with Tian Tong and Lian Zhen too, 「必然注定是夫人」. What Does Lu Cun Govern? says 「紫府廉同會合，作祿存上局」 (What Does Lu Cun Govern?), the same verdict. Of these four main stars, Zi Wei, Lian Zhen and Tian Tong belong to the Zi Wei group and Tian Fu heads the Tian Fu group; whether all of them can enter Lu Cun's San Fang depends on which palace Lu Cun falls in. A 'titled lady' was a woman given rank by the court, the highest honour open to women in old China. For a woman today it suggests someone who understands money and has a solid family or career to rely on, living a settled life.

This verse has Lu Cun entering the Life Palace in a 'fallen palace', but Lu Cun itself has no brightness, so it reads more sensibly as the Life Palace's main star being fallen. The conditions are Di Kong, Di Jie, Huo Xing and Ling Xing with no lucky stars, and the result is husband and wife parting in discord. Lu Cun governs keeping; clashed by Di Kong and Di Jie, what cannot be kept is not only money but the home. This echoes segment 1, where a Lu Cun chart leaves home young: when Lu Cun meets malefic stars, family life is hit first. Marriages under this verse tend to break over money pressure or clashing values, so a couple's financial arrangements need to be especially clear.

Lu Cun governing the luck period is best: affairs go well, officials change posts, commoners have money and grain enough. Lu Cun's natal position is fixed by the year stem, but the Decade Luck moves one palace every ten years, so everyone has one or two decades that pass through Lu Cun's palace or its San Fang. On Xingge, take that Decade Luck's Life Palace and see whether Lu Cun is in its San Fang Si Zheng, or whether the decade's stem turns some star into Hua Lu. Such a period brings steady income and easy saving: ten years for laying foundations.

This verse builds on the last: with Hua Ke, Hua Quan, Zuo Fu and You Bi, the granary chests are full (the original writes 「富倉廂」; see the collation note). Lu Cun with Hua Ke and Hua Quan belongs to what later writers call the 'three marvels' of Lu, Quan and Ke; Zuo Fu and You Bi are the helpers. The Quan Shu treats Lu Cun and Hua Lu as two kinds of Lu, and when both appear it calls them double Lu; Star Combinations has 「雙祿重返終身富貴」 (Star Combinations: Kui Yue, Zuo Fu, You Bi and Lu Cun), where the base text's 返 stands for 逢: the two Lu meeting. Such a decade brings not just steady income but reputation and control as well, a good time to enlarge a business.

This verse ties Lu Cun to marriage and heirs: 「婚姻嫁娶添嗣續」. Lu governs blessings, and in old China the concrete content of blessings was setting up a household, having sons and having money. In 「更兼科祿又同宮」, Hua Lu shares the palace with Lu Cun and Hua Ke is added: double Lu plus Ke, even richer blessings. Lu Cun's luck periods are not only about money but a good time to settle down and build a career; buying a home, marrying and having children often happen in such periods. On Xingge it shows most clearly when the Decade Luck's Lu Cun and the Annual Luck's Hua Lu stack in the same palace.

Lu Cun sharing a palace with or meeting Tian Ma is Lu Ma Jiao Chi (Lu and Ma galloping together), normally a good pattern. Yet this verse says that when a luck period meets it, what it fears most is Di Kong and Di Jie together, and with Tai Sui's evil stars clashing as well, 「其年入墓中」. It is typical of how the Quan Shu reads luck periods: the better the pattern, the worse it is when broken. Lu meeting Di Kong and Di Jie is the later Lu Feng Kong Jie (Lu meeting Kong and Jie), a broken pattern. In practice: at the very moment things look smoothest and most promising, if large investments, long journeys or partnerships come up at the same time as Di Kong and Di Jie, that is exactly when to be most conservative.

From this segment the original moves on to Tian Kui and Tian Yue, which the Quan Shu attaches to the end of the Lu Cun chapter. Kui and Yue are placed by the year stem; Tian Kui is the yang helper and Tian Yue the yin helper, together the Tian Yi noble helpers. The condition is meeting them in the Body or Life Palace, plus the lucky stars and lucky stars guarding from the trine, and the result is passing the examinations young. Star Combinations says 「魁鉞夾命為奇格」 (Star Combinations: Kui Yue, Zuo Fu, You Bi and Lu Cun) and 「魁鉞命身多折桂」 (Star Combinations: Kui Yue, Zuo Fu, You Bi and Lu Cun). Later writers have the patterns Zuo Gui Xiang Gui (sitting with a helper, facing a helper) and Kui Yue Jia (flanked by Kui and Yue). In examinations, selections and recommendations, these people often find someone to help them.

Kui and Yue meeting unlucky stars and Hua Ji: not a scholar of letters, but still a teacher; met in a luck period, loftiness and both fame and profit. This follows almost the same sentence pattern as the Quan Shu's verdict on Hua Ke: What Does Hua Ke Govern? says 「如逢惡曜亦為文章秀士，可作群英師範」 (What Does Hua Ke Govern?), and even its line for women, 「雖四殺沖破，亦為富貴」, matches segment 18 here. In the Quan Shu, then, Kui and Yue and Hua Ke are both stars of 'being seen and recognised'; malefic stars lower the grade but do not cancel them. 「可為弟子之師」 is a very concrete way out: one need not hold office to be a teacher. Scholarship, education, training and consulting are the steadiest directions when Kui and Yue meet malefic stars.

Kui and Yue in the Body or Life Palace: even without wealth and rank, intelligent, fine-looking and clean-living, 「有威可畏，有儀可象」. This is the most basic character sketch of Kui and Yue: poise and a sense of measure that earn respect. 「有威可畏，有儀可象」 comes from the discussion of dignity and bearing in the Zuo Zhuan, words used of a gentleman. Kui and Yue are fixed by the year stem to certain branches: Tian Kui is only ever in Zi, Chou, Mao, Wu or Hai, and Tian Yue only in Yin, Si, Wei, Shen or You; Chen and Xu never hold either, a structure that can be checked on the Xingge chart.

A woman's Kui and Yue with lucky stars is often a chief minister's wife, and even with unlucky and malefic stars, wealth and rank. This line is rare: for women the Quan Shu usually gives a negative verdict when malefic stars appear, yet here it says wealth and rank even with unlucky stars. It is the same logic as segment 16's 'teacher even with unlucky stars and Hua Ji': Kui and Yue are helper stars, and malefic stars cannot take away their rank. What Do Tian Kui and Tian Yue Govern? calls them 「上界和合之神」. Women with Kui and Yue are often lifted up by someone at the decisive moment and hold a stable social position.

Kui and Yue in the Life or Body Palace or the luck period, meeting Wen Chang: ordinary people have money and grain enough, officials are promoted high, 「當年面帝王」. Kui and Yue are noble helpers and Wen Chang is examinations and documents; together they mean being noticed by the examiners and summoned by those above. What Do Wen Chang and Wen Qu Mean in the Annual Luck? says 「小限太歲逢魁鉞、左右、臺座、日月、科權祿馬三方拱照，決然高中」 (What Do Wen Chang and Wen Qu Mean in the Annual Luck?). Job interviews, promotion reviews, awards and being singled out by a boss are what this combination corresponds to in a luck period.