The Nature of Tan Lang

This is the general description of Tan Lang in the Life Palace, and the Quan Shu does not hold back: changeable, calculating, hasty, clumsy when clever, fond of gambling, flowers and wine. The transformed qi, 'peach-blossom killer', is the key to Tan Lang: peach blossom is desire and charm, the killer is excess. In looks, the temple position is tall and big and the fallen palace small; 「形小聲高而量大」 is the same wording the Quan Shu uses for Wu Qu.

The modern picture of Tan Lang as versatile, sociable, quick to learn and strong in desire stretches 'peach blossom' toward its good side. The Quan Shu's own chapter What Does Tan Lang Govern? says 「遇吉則主富貴，遇凶則主虛浮」: the star is neither lucky nor unlucky in itself, it depends on what meets it. On a Xingge chart Tan Lang is Xian (Fallen) in Si and Hai and Miao (Temple) in Chen, Xu, Chou and Wei.

The segment has two halves. First: fallen (Si or Hai), with Qing Yang, Tuo Luo and Hua Ji, it means loneliness, poverty, a marred face, disability and marks on the body. Second: in its temple the person is often in the martial arts, and meeting Huo Xing or Ling Xing favours people born in Wu or Ji years. That is the Huo Tan pattern and the Ling Tan pattern. In Wu years Tan Lang takes Hua Lu and in Ji years Hua Quan; Huo Tan with a lucky transformation on top fits the pattern.

「不喜六癸生人」 because in Gui years Tan Lang takes Hua Ji, which cuts off the sudden rise that Huo Tan brings, so it 「不耐久長」. The chapter on what Tan Lang governs also says 「惟會火鈴能富貴」: Huo Xing and Ling Xing with Tan Lang are one of the few cases where the Quan Shu speaks well of malefic stars.

A woman's Tan Lang is ordinary; fallen, she harms her husband and children, is not upright and 「大多為娼婢」, and even if she leaves the household life she is not clean. This is translated literally from the original. The Quan Shu's whole line on Tan Lang in women's charts rests on 'peach blossom': What Does Tan Lang Govern? says 「貪狼入廟必為娼」, which does not spare even the temple position and is harsher than this segment.

Behind it is the old view that counted any desire or charm in a woman as unchastity. Tan Lang in a woman's chart is better read today as sociable, attractive and broad in interests; the fallen position raises questions about feelings and boundaries, and should not be taken literally as a verdict on character.

In Zi and Wu Tan Lang is Wang and stands alone, with Zi Wei in the opposite palace. In Ding years Lu Cun is in Wu; in Ji years Tan Lang takes Hua Quan and Lu Cun is also in Wu; hence rich blessings. In Bing and Wu years Qing Yang is in Wu, sitting in the Life Palace for someone with the Life Palace in Wu, hence the low pattern. The ground for Geng years makes more sense for Zi (Lu Cun is in Shen, in the trine of Zi); for Wu it is hard to see where the harm lies.

The Quan Shu has a much heavier line in Star Combinations: 「貪狠子午卯酉鼠竊狗偷之輩」 (the base text miswrites Tan Lang's name here), which the note limits to people born in certain year branches (see Star Combinations: Tan Lang). It runs opposite to the rich blessings here, so the conditions have to be read with care.

In Mao and You Tan Lang shares a palace with Zi Wei, and seeing Huo Xing brings rank. In Yi years Lu Cun is in Mao and Zi Wei takes Hua Ke; in Xin years Lu Cun is in You; in Ji years Tan Lang takes Hua Quan; hence a wealth and office pattern.

Compare The Nature of Zi Wei: for the same Zi Wei and Tan Lang in Mao or You it says 「乙辛甲庚生人貴不耐久」, and its verse adds 「為臣失義」 (The Nature of Zi Wei). Both chapters list Yi and Xin, one calling it a wealth and office pattern and the other rank that does not last. Read together: Zi Wei with Tan Lang in Mao or You can bring rank, the key being Huo Xing, but it is hard to keep.

In Yin and Shen Tan Lang is moderate and stands alone, with Lian Zhen in the opposite palace. In Geng years Lu Cun is in Shen, sitting in the Life Palace for Shen and shining from opposite for Yin, hence a wealth and office pattern.

Tan Lang in Yin or Shen also has a combination the Quan Shu names specially: 「貪狼陀羅在寅宮，號曰風流彩杖」 (see Star Combinations: Tan Lang). Tuo Luo is in Yin in Yi years, and Tan Lang with Tuo Luo in one palace means romance that brings trouble.

In Si and Hai Tan Lang is fallen and shares a palace with Lian Zhen. In Bing and Wu years Lu Cun is in Si and in Ren years in Hai, so Lu Cun enters the Life-Travel axis, hence blessings; but blessings in a fallen position do not last.

The Nature of Lian Zhen gives the same combination as 「甲己丙戊生人福不耐久」. The two chapters agree on Bing and Wu and differ on the rest, and both conclude 'does not last'. Star Combinations also says 「貪狠巳亥加殺不為屠戶亦遭刑」 (with the same misprint of Tan Lang's name): Lian Zhen and Tan Lang in Si or Hai with malefic stars is one of the Quan Shu's harshest combinations.

In Chen and Xu Tan Lang is in its temple and stands alone, with Wu Qu in the opposite palace, so this too is a kind of Wu Qu with Tan Lang, facing each other. In Wu years Tan Lang takes Hua Lu; in Ji years Tan Lang takes Hua Quan and Wu Qu's Hua Lu is in the opposite palace; hence a wealth and office pattern.

Star Combinations says 「貪狼遇鈴火四墓宮，豪富家資侯伯貴」, with the note 「辰戌宮佳，丑未宮次之」 (see Star Combinations: Tan Lang). Among the four tomb palaces, Chen and Xu are the Quan Shu's best for Tan Lang.

In Chou and Wei Tan Lang is in its temple and shares a palace with Wu Qu, the Tan Wu Tong Xing (Tan Lang and Wu Qu travelling together), here with Huo Xing as well. In Wu years Tan Lang takes Hua Lu; in Ji years Wu Qu takes Hua Lu and Tan Lang Hua Quan; in Geng years Wu Qu takes Hua Quan; hence a pattern of rank.

The Nature of Wu Qu gives the same combination as 「戊辛生人大貴」. Both chapters include Wu years; one adds Ji and Geng, the other Xin. Ji and Geng are easier to follow because their transformations fall right on Wu Qu and Tan Lang; Xin also makes sense, since Lu Cun is then in You, in the trine of Chou.

The condition is a man's Tan Lang in one of the four tomb palaces, Chen, Xu, Chou or Wei, with Huo Xing meeting from the trine. The verdict, leading troops, merit on the frontier, fame among foreign peoples, a title, is the old version of the Huo Tan pattern: martial merit and war honours.

Today Huo Tan is usually read as bursts of energy, sudden chances and big success in a short time, sudden wealth in business included. Huo Xing 'meeting from the trine' need not share the palace; anywhere in the San Fang Si Zheng counts. On your own chart, look for Huo Xing in the San Fang Si Zheng of Tan Lang's palace.

Tan Lang guarding the Life Palace meets Qing Yang, with Tuo Luo and killing stars piling on: sure poverty. Add Wu Qu, Po Jun and Lian Zhen with killing stars and Di Jie, and the person can only get by on a hundred crafts. The verse names many stars; the core is Qing Yang and Tuo Luo, and the killing stars with Di Jie.

Of the three, only Po Jun stands in a fixed relation to Tan Lang: it is always in its trine. Wu Qu shares Tan Lang's palace in Chou and Wei and faces it in Chen and Xu; Lian Zhen shares it in Si and Hai and faces it in Yin and Shen; elsewhere their positions vary. The Gu Sui Fu says 「貪狼陷地作屠人」 (see the original). In old times 'butcher' and 'a hundred crafts' both meant living by one's hands; today it reads as earning a living through specialist skills.

Tan Lang in a tomb palace is in its temple (it is Miao in all of Chen, Xu, Chou and Wei); with Zuo Fu and You Bi it makes a wealthy man, and with Hua Ke, Hua Quan or Hua Lu as well, great deeds in civil or military life. Tan Lang takes Hua Lu in Wu years and Hua Quan in Ji years and never takes Hua Ke itself, so 'Hua Ke' must mean some other star meeting it that takes Hua Ke.

Read with segment 11, Tan Lang in a tomb palace has two roads to a great pattern: Huo Xing (Huo Tan), or Zuo Fu and You Bi with lucky transformations. Either can bring wealth and rank.

A woman's Tan Lang in a tomb palace is mostly lucky, and noble with Zuo Fu and You Bi too: ample income, prosperity for her husband, firm and ambitious. This is one of the Quan Shu's rare favourable words on Tan Lang in a woman's chart, and the condition is Tan Lang in its temple in a tomb palace.

「性格剛強多志氣」 was not wholly praise in an old woman's chart, but the verse as a whole is lucky. Set beside segment 3, the Quan Shu's judgment of a woman's Tan Lang turns entirely on temple or fallen: lucky in its temple in a tomb palace, unlucky when fallen.

A woman's Tan Lang fallen (Si or Hai): food and clothing are plentiful but it is still not good; she harms husband and children and is left a widow. The condition is the same as in segment 3, but this verse does not say 「娼婢」; it speaks only of harm and loneliness.

Star Combinations says 「女命貪狼多嫉妒」, with the note 「在亥子，遇羊陀嫉妒之流」 (see Star Combinations: Tan Lang), yet another version. The Quan Shu's verdicts on a woman's Tan Lang are scattered over several chapters and vary in weight; the conditions are what to go by.

Tan Lang of the Northern Dipper entering a luck period: in its temple, affairs go smoothly; with Hua Ke or Hua Quan, success in office; and 「當年發橫財」. Tan Lang's luck period is one of the few in the Quan Shu said outright to bring a windfall, the same idea as the sudden rise of Huo Tan.

On a Xingge chart, this period is the Decade Luck ages shown in Tan Lang's palace. If Tan Lang carries Hua Lu (Wu years) or Hua Quan (Ji years), or the decade's stem turns Tan Lang to Lu or Quan, the effect is stronger.

Tan Lang ruling a luck period in a tomb palace, better still if the person was born in a Chen, Xu, Chou or Wei year; with Huo Xing, much sudden fortune. This is the luck-period version of the Huo Tan verse in segment 11, with the added condition of a tomb-year birth. That condition appears only here in the Quan Shu, and no reason is given.

Star Combinations also says Wu Qu with Tan Lang 「三十年後發財」 (see Star Combinations: Tan Lang). Tan Lang's sudden rise in the Quan Shu often comes with timing attached, mostly showing in luck periods from middle age on.

A luck period reaching Tan Lang fallen is not good: restrain desire to avoid disaster, for gambling, dissipation and romance waste money; lucky stars in the San Fang can avert disaster. The verse spells out the trouble with fallen Tan Lang concretely: desire, gambling and romance all drain money.

「只宜節欲息災傷」 is a rare advisory tone in the Quan Shu, telling the reader what to do in such a period. The reminder holds just as well now: in these years, speculate less and indulge less.

A woman's luck period meeting Tan Lang goes badly: 「宜懷六甲免災殃」, pregnancy averts the disaster; without lucky stars she goes down to the Yellow Springs, that is, dies. This is a rare line in the Quan Shu that treats pregnancy as a remedy. The ancients' logic may have been that Tan Lang governs desire and peach blossom, and pregnancy channels that force onto a proper path.

「一命入黃泉」 is an extremely heavy verdict, with three conditions: a Tan Lang period, a woman's chart, and no lucky stars. Today it is better taken as a call for special care in love and health during that period, not as a literal threat.