The Nature of Tian Xiang

The three labels at the start are the keys to Tian Xiang: water, Southern Dipper, the seal. A seal is what an office stamps documents with; it gives no orders itself but endorses and executes for those above, so the Quan Shu calls it 「為官祿主」, and What Does Tian Xiang Govern? calls it 「佐帝之位」. 'Likes wine and food, ample food and income' speaks of a settled life, not great riches.

Today the reading leans toward roles such as adviser, manager or coordinator: the person does best with rules to follow and someone to assist. On a Xingge chart Tian Xiang never takes any of the four transformations, so its strength has to be judged from the major star sharing its palace and the two palaces on either side.

This line lists Tian Xiang's ideal team: Zi Wei and Tian Fu are the emperor and the treasury, Zuo Fu and You Bi are aides, Wen Chang and Wen Qu are documents, the sun and moon are light. Tian Xiang is the seal, and a seal needs someone to use it and something to stamp, so the fuller the lucky stars, the more 'wealth and office are both fine'.

One structural fact on the chart: Tian Xiang's trine always holds Tian Fu, and its opposite palace is always Po Jun. So Tian Fu is all but standard equipment for Tian Xiang, and what matters is whether Zuo Fu and You Bi, Wen Chang and Wen Qu, or the sun and moon enter the San Fang Si Zheng. On your own chart, check whether these stars sit in the San Fang Si Zheng of Tian Xiang's palace. 'The Three Excellencies' was the top of the old court; today it reads as reaching the top of an organisation, without having to be an official.

The line has three layers: Wu Qu, Po Jun, Qing Yang and Tuo Luo first, with the verdict 'craftsman'; add Huo Xing, Ling Xing, Ju Men and Tian Ji and it rises to 「傷刑不善終」; the last sentence turns back to Tian Xiang's strength. Note that Po Jun is always opposite Tian Xiang, so 'Po Jun' is nearly always present; the real watershed is Wu Qu in the same palace (Yin or Shen) or meeting from the San Fang, plus Qing Yang and Tuo Luo. What Does Tian Xiang Govern? says much the same: 「陷地貪廉武破羊陀殺湊，巧藝安身」.

A 'craftsman' in old times was an artisan, ranked below the scholar-officials; technical jobs, engineering and hand-made trades are no lower today, and it is enough to read it as standing on a specialist skill. On 'transforming Lian Zhen's malice', see The Nature of Lian Zhen: it means Lian Zhen and Tian Xiang sharing a palace in Zi or Wu.

This line on women gives only one condition: in its temple. By the Quan Shu's and Xingge's brightness table, Tian Xiang is in its temple in Zi, Wu, Chou, Yin and Shen, fallen in Mao and You, and has its place (De) everywhere else. 'Gentle, with food and income to her heart's content' is the same solid, steady temperament of segment 1, said of a woman. The Xiyi passage in What Does Tian Xiang Govern? says such a woman is 「聰明端莊，志過丈夫」, a stronger tone than here; read the two together: gentle outside, decided inside.

The half-sentence about monks and Daoists is covered in the collation: for a person in religious life, Tian Xiang in its temple is also lucky. There is no need to read the gentleness as passive. It is the gentleness of a coordinator, and it rests on having rules to work by.

With Lian Zhen and Tian Xiang together in Zi or Wu, each of the four stems has its reason: in Jia years Lian Zhen's Hua Lu is right in the palace; in Ding and Ji years Lu Cun is in Wu; in Gui years Lu Cun is in Zi and Po Jun's Hua Lu shines in from opposite. Broadly, the list is the years when Lu enters the palace itself or the one opposite, on top of segment 3's point that Tian Xiang transforms Lian Zhen's malice, the seal holding down Lian Zhen's 'prisoner' nature.

On a Xingge chart: the Life Palace in Zi or Wu with Lian Zhen and Tian Xiang side by side, then look for a Lu Cun or Hua Lu mark in that palace or opposite. Conversely, in Jia years Qing Yang is in Mao and in Ding and Ji years in Wei, neither in Zi nor Wu, which is one more reason the list holds.

Mao and You are Tian Xiang's only fallen positions, marked Xian on a Xingge chart, with Lian Zhen and Po Jun in the opposite palace. The year stems split neatly: in Yi years Lu Cun is in Mao and in Xin years in You, Lu sitting right in the Life Palace, hence good fortune; in Jia years Qing Yang is in Mao and in Geng years in You, the ram's blade in the Life Palace, hence hardship.

So a fallen Tian Xiang is not unusable, but it depends heavily on whether Lu or Qing Yang comes into its palace. With the Life Palace in Mao or You, find where Lu Cun and Qing Yang sit first; that tells more than the brightness alone. In Jia years Lian Zhen's Hua Lu is also in the opposite palace and the Quan Shu still says hardship, which shows it weighs Qing Yang above a Hua Lu from opposite.

Zi Wei and Tian Xiang share a palace in Chen or Xu, with Po Jun opposite; later writers call this 'Zi Xiang'. The Quan Shu has the same line in The Nature of Zi Wei, listing five year stems, Yi, Ji, Jia, Geng and Gui, from Zi Wei's side; here no stems are given, only 'wealth and office pattern', so the two passages complete each other.

Life Master, Body Master and Notes on Chart Setup also says 「天相在辰戌為閑宮」, a different tone from 'having its place, a wealth and office pattern' here, one of the Quan Shu's internal inconsistencies. A reasonable reading: Tian Xiang alone in Chen or Xu only has its place, and it is Zi Wei in the same palace that lifts it to a wealth and office pattern; if Zi Wei has no Zuo Fu or You Bi to assist, the pattern carries little weight.

In Chou and Wei Tian Xiang sits alone, with Zi Wei and Po Jun opposite. This line lists no year stems but says it is a wealth and office pattern only 'with lucky stars added', a looser and vaguer condition than in Zi, Wu, Yin or Shen. Lucky stars usually means Zuo Fu and You Bi, Wen Chang and Wen Qu, Tian Kui and Tian Yue, in the Life Palace or its San Fang Si Zheng.

Tian Xiang never transforms, and when it sits alone its fortune depends especially on its neighbours. The two palaces beside it always hold Ju Men and Tian Liang: Ju Men with Hua Lu can make Cai Yin Jia Yin (wealth and shelter flanking the seal), while Ju Men with Hua Ji plus Qing Yang makes Xing Ji Jia Yin (punishment and obstruction flanking the seal). So when reading Tian Xiang in Chou or Wei, look for lucky stars and also for transformation marks in the two palaces beside it.

Wu Qu and Tian Xiang share a palace in Yin or Shen, with Po Jun alone opposite. The three stems: in Jia years Lu Cun is in Yin and Wu Qu takes Hua Ke; in Geng years Lu Cun is in Shen and Wu Qu takes Hua Quan; in Ding years Lu Cun is in Wu, right in the trine of Yin. The Nature of Wu Qu lists Ding, Ji, Jia and Geng for the same combination, adding Ji (Wu Qu's Hua Lu); comparing the two shows that the Quan Shu lists the transformations of whichever star it starts from.

Remember segment 3: Tian Xiang meeting Wu Qu, Po Jun, Qing Yang and Tuo Luo is a craftsman. In Yin or Shen Wu Qu is already in the palace and Po Jun opposite, so if Qing Yang or Tuo Luo comes too, the wealth and office pattern slides toward 'craft'. One palace, two outcomes, and the difference is the malefic stars.

In Si and Hai Tian Xiang sits alone and has its place, with Wu Qu and Po Jun opposite. In Bing and Wu years Lu Cun is in Si and in Ren years in Hai: all three stems are years when Lu Cun sits in Si or Hai. Here it says only 'blessings', not a wealth and office pattern, one grade lower.

The other side is Wu Qu and Po Jun clashing from opposite: half of segment 3's 'Wu Qu and Po Jun' condition is met here from birth, so with Qing Yang or Tuo Luo it slides toward craft more easily. Stars in Strong Positions: Fitting Patterns also speaks of Tian Xiang in Si with 「巳位天機天相臨」, worth reading alongside.

This verse lifts Tian Xiang very high: 'first among chief ministers'. The key words are 'shining on or guarding the Body and Life Palaces' and 'met in the trine': Tian Xiang need not sit in the Life Palace, and shining on it from the San Fang counts too. That fits the seal's nature: a seal is something to be used, and it works just as well from the trine.

People with Tian Xiang in the San Fang Si Zheng of the Life Palace are often put in roles of coordination, general affairs or process management, where being trusted is the first step. The verse is rhetoric that exaggerates; read it with the malefic-star conditions of segment 3, not on its own.

'Much given to self-restraint' is the phrase to notice: Tian Xiang's nobility comes not from expansion but from measure and restraint. What Does Tian Xiang Govern? says it 「不隨惡而變志，不因殺而改移」, the same steadiness. 'His power overtops his contemporaries' looks like a contradiction but is the power of the seal: one does not act oneself, yet once the stamp comes down, it counts.

In a modern workplace the match is the people who sign off: legal, audit, administrative heads. Self-restraint has its price too; Tian Xiang is often said to care too much about appearances and to find it hard to say no, two sides of one temperament.

This verse is segment 3 in verse form: with Wu Qu and Po Jun, and the four malefic stars, it is worse, and the way out is technical work or trade. But the third line says 'may be', and the fourth says that in religious life he enjoys abundant blessings, a milder tone than the prose 「傷刑不善終」, and it offers another road.

'Technicians and merchants' ranked near the bottom of the old order of scholars, farmers, artisans and merchants; that is a social value judgment, not a judgment of ability, and specialist skills or running one's own business are nothing bad today. As for 'blessings in the gate of emptiness', old books often steered heavily afflicted charts toward religious life; today it can be read as: stepping out of competition for power and concentrating on one's own field is the steadier course.

「旺夫貴子顯門庭」 in the women's verse is the old yardstick for a woman's chart: good or bad was measured by husband and sons. The first two lines, intelligent, at peace in all things, abundant food and income, are the ones about her. Star Combinations says 「天相之星女命纏，必當子貴及夫賢」 and lists people born in Ji years in Zi, Jia years in Wu and Geng years in Chen as noble patterns (see Star Combinations: Tian Xiang), more concrete than this verse.

Read today, a woman with Tian Xiang is someone who keeps a household or a team running; 'prospering her husband' can be read as real help to a partner's career, but it need not be the measure of her.

The condition has a blind spot on the chart: Tian Xiang's opposite palace is always Po Jun, so 'Po Jun comes to meet it' holds for everyone with Tian Xiang in the Life Palace, while Qi Sha never appears in Tian Xiang's San Fang Si Zheng (Qi Sha always sits two palaces away from Tian Xiang, with one palace between), except through borrowed stars or the luck periods. So the real test in this verse is the second line: Qing Yang, Tuo Luo, Huo Xing and Ling Xing.

「只可偏房與侍婢」 is a harsh old verdict on women's charts, kept with its original meaning. A modern reading: in marriage she may end up in an unequal or unacknowledged position, with little help from her kin, and must rely on herself. Whether it holds still depends on whether the malefic stars really enter the Life Palace and its San Fang.

The 'two luck periods' in the luck-period verses are the Decade Luck and the Minor Luck. Tian Xiang shining on the luck palace means no disaster and plans that succeed, in line with 「限步逢之，富不可量」 in What Does Tian Xiang Govern?. When reading the Decade Luck on Xingge, switch to that ten-year period and see whether Tian Xiang is in the decade's Life Palace or its San Fang Si Zheng.

This verse and the next two form a set: the first gives the normal case, the other two the exceptions. So 'no disaster at all' assumes no malefic stars in the San Fang and should not be quoted alone.

This verse spells out the exceptions: what Tian Xiang fears is not one or two malefic stars but Qing Yang, Tuo Luo, Di Kong and Di Jie 'meeting in layers', several malefic stars stacked in the San Fang Si Zheng. The result, 'quarrels and lawsuits', ties in with Tian Xiang as the seal: when a seal goes wrong, it is usually documents, contracts, signatures or guarantees.

In concrete modern terms: in such a period, take special care when standing guarantor, signing contracts or handling shared funds. On the chart, look at Qing Yang and Tuo Luo in the natal chart and the Decade Luck together, with the annual Qing Yang and Tuo Luo on top in the Annual Luck, before calling it 'layered'.

This is the heaviest verse: a luck period with Qing Yang is already hard to withstand, and with Huo Xing, Ling Xing and other malefic stars gathered, 「一命入泉鄉」. The ancients saw a Tian Xiang period meeting the ram's blade as extremely dangerous, the same thinking as Xing Qiu Jia Yin (punishment and the prisoner flanking the seal): the seal star fears punishment most. Star Combinations also says 「天相廉貞擎羊來，多招刑杖難逃」 (see Star Combinations: Tian Xiang).

Verdicts of death like this are mostly warnings attached to extreme combinations in the old books. A real judgment has to see whether the natal chart, the Decade Luck and the Annual Luck are all triggered at once, not rest on one Qing Yang; but the Quan Shu's meaning is plainly grave and should not be read lightly.