The Nature of Tian Fu

In its general description of Tian Fu in the Life Palace the Quan Shu has almost nothing but praise: a square, round face, ruddy complexion and white teeth, gentle and clever, widely learned and adaptable, and finally 「能解一切災厄」. Its transformed qi of the commanding star and its role as master of the Wealth Palace are where later writers' reading of Tian Fu as the treasury, conservative and steady, comes from.

The chapter on what Tian Fu governs says Tian Fu 「能制羊陀為從，能化火鈴為福」 (see the original), close to Zi Wei 'taming Huo Xing and Ling Xing'. On a Xingge chart Tian Fu has no fallen palace; its lowest is De (Gain) in Mao, Si, Shen and Hai.

The segment has two halves. The first: Tian Fu in a Miao or Wang position, liking to see Zi Wei, Wen Chang and Wen Qu, Zuo Fu and You Bi, Lu Cun, Tian Kui and Tian Yue, Hua Quan and Hua Lu, is 「必中高第」, sure to come out high in the examinations. The second: meeting the four malefic stars, the person is crafty; for the reading of the character, see the textual note on this segment.

Tian Fu itself never takes Hua Lu or Hua Quan, only Hua Ke in Ren years, so 'Hua Quan and Hua Lu' here means meeting other stars that take them. Later writers say Tian Fu fears the 'empty treasury' and the 'exposed treasury' and is best with Lu Cun or Hua Lu meeting it, money in the treasury; the 'likes Lu Cun, Hua Quan and Hua Lu' of this segment follows the same line of thought.

The condition is Tian Fu in the Life Palace in one of the six palaces Yin, Wu, Xu, Hai, Mao or Wei, born in a Ji year. In Ji years Wu Qu takes Hua Lu and Lu Cun is in Wu: with Tian Fu in Wu it shares the palace with Wu Qu, and Lu Cun and Hua Lu both sit in the Life Palace; in Yin and Xu, Lu Cun in Wu enters the trine; in Mao, Wu Qu's Hua Lu is in the opposite palace. For Hai and Wei, no direct help from Ji years can be seen, and why the original includes them cannot be explained from the transformations and Lu Cun.

With year-stem lines like these in the Quan Shu, read them through the transformations and Lu Cun where that explains them, and where it does not, record them as they are and keep the doubt.

The first half: Tian Fu in Si, You or Chou is a civil and military wealth and office pattern for people born in Yi, Bing, Wu or Xin years. In Bing and Wu years Lu Cun is in Si, in the Life Palace for Si and in the trine for You and Chou; in Xin years Lu Cun is in You; in Yi years Lu Cun is in Mao, opposite You. All four year stems send Lu Cun into the San Fang Si Zheng of the Si-You-Chou group.

The second half: in Hai, Mao, Wei, Chen or You, people born in Jia or Geng years have no rank, big at first and small later, without an end. In Jia years Qing Yang is in Mao and in Geng years in You, which bears most directly on those two palaces. Star Combinations: Tian Fu also has 「天府戌宮無殺湊，甲己人腰金又且富」, and Xu is not on this 'no rank' list, so the two can be read side by side.

A woman with Tian Fu: pure and clever, helping her husband and benefiting her children; with Zi Wei, Zuo Fu and You Bi in the same palace it is extremely fine, and she is judged a titled lady. Tian Fu shares a palace with Zi Wei only in Yin and Shen, so the fullest form of 「紫微左右同垣」 is Zi Wei and Tian Fu together in Yin or Shen with Zuo Fu and You Bi sitting there too.

The chapter on what Tian Fu governs says a woman with Tian Fu, 「雖見沖破，亦以善論」 (see the original); the Quan Shu's view of Tian Fu in a woman's chart is among the most generous of all fourteen main stars.

In Zi and Wu Tian Fu shares a palace with Wu Qu, with Qi Sha opposite. In Ding years Lu Cun is in Wu; in Ji years Wu Qu takes Hua Lu and Lu Cun is in Wu; in Gui years Lu Cun is in Zi; all three stems put Lu Cun in the Life Palace or shining from opposite, hence blessed.

The Nature of Wu Qu gives the same combination as 「丁己庚生人財官格」: Ding and Ji agree, while one chapter lists Geng and the other Gui. In Geng years Wu Qu takes Hua Quan and Lu Cun is in Shen, in the trine of Zi; in Gui years Lu Cun is in Zi; both versions have grounds.

In Mao and You Tian Fu stands alone, with Wu Qu and Qi Sha opposite. In Yi years Lu Cun is in Mao and in Xin years in You, each sitting in one palace; in Bing years Lu Cun is in Si, in the trine of You; hence a wealth and office pattern.

As the Xingge approach above points out, Tian Fu in Mao is De on the table, not 'in its temple'. Star Combinations: Tian Fu writes Tian Fu as 「地卯巳申亥」, also listing Mao as De, so the 'in its temple' here is an inconsistency within the Quan Shu itself.

In Yin and Shen Tian Fu shares a palace with Zi Wei, the Zi Fu Tong Gong (Zi Wei and Tian Fu in one palace) pattern, with Tian Fu Miao in Yin and De in Shen. In Ding and Ji years Lu Cun is in Wu, in the trine of Yin, and in Ji years Wu Qu's Hua Lu is in the trine too, hence a wealth and office pattern.

The Nature of Zi Wei lists four year stems for the same combination, Jia, Geng, Ding and Ji, adding Jia (Lu Cun in Yin) and Geng (Lu Cun in Shen) to those here. The year stems of both chapters can be explained by Lu Cun; this chapter simply lists fewer.

In Si and Hai Tian Fu is De and stands alone, with Zi Wei and Qi Sha opposite. In Bing and Wu years Lu Cun is in Si, in the Life Palace for Si and shining from opposite for Hai; in Yi years Zi Wei takes Hua Ke, in the opposite palace for those with Tian Fu in Si, while for Hai Lu Cun in Mao enters the trine; in Xin years Lu Cun is in You, in the trine of Si; hence a wealth and office pattern.

Tian Fu and Zi Wei face each other across Si and Hai, with the emperor star's support just as when they share a palace in Yin and Shen, only across the axis. The Women's Gu Sui Fu says 「紫府巳亥相互輔」, exactly this position.

In Chen and Xu Tian Fu is in its temple and shares the palace with Lian Zhen, with Qi Sha opposite. In Jia years Lian Zhen's Hua Lu sits in the Life Palace, in Geng years Wu Qu's Hua Quan enters the trine, and in Ren years Tian Fu's Hua Ke sits in the Life Palace, hence a wealth and office pattern.

Tian Fu can rein in Lian Zhen and, like Tian Xiang, makes a good partner for it. The Gu Sui Fu says 「天府臨戌有星扶腰金衣紫」 (see the original); Tian Fu in Xu is rated very highly in the Quan Shu.

In Chou and Wei Tian Fu is in its temple and stands alone, with Lian Zhen and Qi Sha opposite. The original says only that with lucky stars added it is a wealth and office pattern, and lists no year stems. In Ren years Tian Fu's Hua Ke sits in the Life Palace, the more obvious help in these two palaces.

In the San Fang of Tian Fu in Chou or Wei, Tian Xiang is fixed in a trine position, so the 'Fu Xiang Chao Yuan' (Tian Fu and Tian Xiang facing the Life Palace) combination holds in these two palaces too. Star Combinations: Tian Fu says 「府相朝垣，千鍾食祿」, with a note stressing that it is a top pattern only when Lu and office stars come to face it.

A man with Tian Fu guarding the Life Palace, with Hua Quan and Hua Lu, Tian Kui, Wen Chang, Zuo Fu and You Bi: 「附鳳攀龍上九重」. The verse stresses rising by attaching oneself to the powerful, which fits Tian Fu's identity as the commanding star that assists the emperor: Tian Fu is Zi Wei's second-in-command.

Today it can be taken as getting things done beside large organisations and important people, and being promoted for being steady and reliable. The chart comparison marks a man with Tian Fu in the Life Palace; the lucky stars have to be counted in the San Fang Si Zheng by the reader.

This verse has two bad signs. One is the four malefic stars meeting from the San Fang: crafty, toiling, the same as the second half of segment 2. The other is Di Kong and Di Jie in the same palace, 「只宜空門享福」, which is what later writers call the empty treasury: the treasury hollowed out by Di Kong and Di Jie.

The chapter on what Tian Fu governs says 「若值空亡是為孤立」 (see the original), showing that Tian Fu's fear of emptiness is the Quan Shu's consistent view. The empty treasury today most often shows as earning money but not keeping it, or caring little for material things, with religion, charity or scholarship suiting such a person well.

A woman with Tian Fu in the Life or Body Palace is clever, with a face like a flower, and with Zi Wei shining from the trine as well, 「金冠霞佩受皇封」. The positions of Zi Wei and Tian Fu are fixed: with Tian Fu in Zi, Wu, Chen or Xu, Zi Wei is in the trine; in Yin and Shen they share the palace; in Si and Hai they face each other; so the condition of this verse is met more easily than it sounds.

'The golden crown and rosy cape' were the dress of a titled lady of old, a sign of honours received through her husband or son. Today it can be read as her own standing and dignity, with no need to tie it to marriage.

A woman's Tian Fu with the four malefic stars clashing and meeting: a mediocre nature, much hardship, the six relations turning away, children hard to come by, and the only course to become a nun. This verse is the reverse of the one before, and the dividing line is only the malefic stars.

Compared with the 「雖見沖破，亦以善論」 of segment 5 (from the chapter on what Tian Fu governs), this verse is much heavier in tone. The Quan Shu's verdicts on women often swing between the two extremes, and the conditions should be the guide when reading: only with all four malefic stars meeting is it the case this verse describes.

The luck-period verse: when a luck period meets Tian Fu, it takes charge of income, brings prosperity, adds wealth and joy, is forever without disaster, and 「潤身也潤屋」. Tian Fu is the treasury, and a Tian Fu period is a time of saving, buying property and improving one's life.

The verse in the chapter on what Tian Fu governs says 「天府為祿庫，入命終是富」 (see the original), and Tian Fu in the luck periods carries the same sense of a storehouse. On a Xingge chart, the Decade Luck ages shown in Tian Fu's palace mark this period.

'The honoured star of the Southern Dipper' is Tian Fu. Entering a luck period, plans go as one wishes; with Hua Ke, Hua Quan or Hua Lu as well, 「指日欣然展大材」. Tian Fu itself takes only Hua Ke, in Ren years, so the Hua Ke, Hua Quan and Hua Lu here mostly mean lucky transformations on other stars that meet it.

The mark of a Tian Fu period is steadiness: not necessarily a great rise, but rarely a great fall. Neither of the Quan Shu's two luck-period verses on Tian Fu has a bad version, which makes it one of the few main stars spoken of only well, consistent with segment 1's 「能解一切災厄」.