The Nature of Wu Qu

This is the general description of Wu Qu in the Life Palace. 「性剛果決，心直無毒」 sets the keynote of the Quan Shu's Wu Qu; the Xing Xing Fu says 「武曲乃至要至緊之操，心性果決」 (see the original). The build, 「形小聲高而量大」, is almost the same as the description of a fallen Tan Lang, and 'unusual hair' is not explained any further.

Its transformed qi of wealth and its role as master of the Wealth Palace are Wu Qu's most important identity: it is the star of earned wealth, concerned with real money and the drive to get things done. On a Xingge chart Wu Qu has no fallen palace; its weakest is Ping (Average) in Si and Hai.

The reason for 「最喜甲己生人」 lies in the four transformations: in Jia years Wu Qu takes Hua Ke and in Ji years Hua Lu, both falling directly on Wu Qu. The second half is a separate set of conditions: Wu Qu in its temple (Chen, Xu, Chou, Wei) and travelling with Wen Chang and Wen Qu, combining the civil and the military, hence 'a general abroad and a minister at court'.

Wu Qu belongs to metal and is a general star, so military office is its natural colour; with Wen Chang and Wen Qu a scholar too 'learns much and can do much'. Today military office can stand for work that needs decisiveness and execution, such as management, finance, technical fields, the armed forces or the police. The chapter on what Wu Qu governs also says 「甲己生人福厚，出將入相」 (see the original).

The condition is Wu Qu meeting Tan Lang, encountering Huo Xing, and transformed into a lucky star. Wu Qu and Tan Lang share a palace in Chou and Wei and face each other in Chen and Xu; with Wu Qu in Mao, You, Si or Hai, Tan Lang is in its trine as well; only with Wu Qu in Zi, Wu, Yin or Shen is Tan Lang not met. Tan Lang meeting Huo Xing is the Huo Tan pattern, and with Wu Qu added, the wealth star joins the star of sudden fortune.

The second half lists Bing, Ding, Geng, Xin, Ren and Gui as a middle pattern, and the stems left out are exactly Jia, Yi, Wu and Ji. Jia and Ji are the years of Wu Qu's Hua Ke and Hua Lu from the previous segment, and Wu and Ji are the years The Nature of Tan Lang means when it says the Huo Tan pattern 「喜戊己生人合局」. The year stems of the various chapters echo one another here.

Wu Qu meeting Tian Fu, Tian Xiang, Tian Liang, Tai Yin, Lu Cun and Tian Ma means rank. Tian Fu and Tian Xiang often share a palace with Wu Qu or meet it from the San Fang; the chapter on what Wu Qu governs says 「天府、天相為佐貳之星」 (see the original).

「西北生人為福，東南生人平常」 is about the directions of the five elements: Wu Qu belongs to metal, metal belongs to the west, and the northwest is the land of metal and water, where metal produces water and things flow; the southeast is the land of wood and fire, and fire overcomes metal. Judging a life by the direction of birth like this is rarely used today; the original is recorded as it stands.

As the Xingge approach above points out, Wu Qu has no fallen position in the brightness table, so this line's 'fallen position' has nowhere to land on a chart. One can step back and put the weight on the second half: Wu Qu met by Lian Zhen, Po Jun, Qing Yang, Hua Ji, Di Kong and Di Jie clashing and breaking it is a low pattern, ruining the family and the ancestral estate.

Po Jun and Lian Zhen are common companions: Wu Qu shares a palace with Po Jun in Si and Hai, and in Mao and You both Po Jun and Lian Zhen are in its trine. Star Combinations: Wu Qu says 「武曲破軍，破祖破家勞碌」. The chart comparison marks only the part with Qing Yang, Di Kong and Di Jie meeting it.

A woman with Wu Qu in its temple has authority and rank; fallen with killing stars she is alone, harms husband and children, and is not upright. The Quan Shu has always been torn about Wu Qu in a woman's chart: it affirms her ability and worries about her 'hardness'. Star Combinations: Wu Qu puts it most bluntly, 「武曲之星為寡宿」, with a note that only if 「婦奪夫權方免刑剋。若兩剛相敵，必主刑剋生離」.

This reflects the old view of power between husband and wife: two strong people find it hard to live together. Read today, the task for a woman with Wu Qu is to find a division of roles within the relationship, and it need not be taken as a fate of harming one's husband. The fallen position is as in the previous segment: no fallen Wu Qu can be found on the chart.

In Zi and Wu Wu Qu shares a palace with Tian Fu, with Qi Sha in the opposite palace. In Ding years Lu Cun is in Wu; in Ji years Wu Qu takes Hua Lu and Lu Cun is also in Wu; in Geng years Wu Qu takes Hua Quan and Lu Cun is in Shen, in the trine of Zi; so these three years make a wealth and office pattern. Ren years, when Tian Fu takes Hua Ke but Wu Qu takes Hua Ji and Qing Yang is in Zi, are not listed.

Later writers see Wu Qu with Tian Fu as the wealth star sitting with the treasury; Star Combinations: Tian Fu says 「天府武曲居財宅，更兼權祿富奢翁」, meaning it is better still in the Wealth or Property Palace.

In Mao and You Wu Qu shares a palace with Qi Sha, with Tian Fu opposite. In Yi years Lu Cun is in Mao and in Xin years in You, each in the Life Palace or shining from opposite, hence a wealth and office pattern.

Worth setting beside this is another line in the Quan Shu, 「武曲破貞於卯地，木壓雷驚」 (see Star Combinations: Wu Qu), and the chapter on what Wu Qu governs also says that when fierce killing stars meet in the Zhen palace (Mao), 「必見木壓雷震」. With Wu Qu and Qi Sha in Mao, Po Jun and Lian Zhen are fixed in the trine, so the combination of that line always holds for Wu Qu and Qi Sha in Mao; the dividing line between good and bad is whether fierce killing stars are present: with Lu Cun and lucky transformations it is a wealth and office pattern, with malefic stars it is accidental disaster.

In Yin and Shen Wu Qu shares a palace with Tian Xiang, with Po Jun in the opposite palace. In Jia years Wu Qu takes Hua Ke and Lu Cun is in Yin, with Po Jun's Hua Quan opposite; in Geng years Wu Qu takes Hua Quan and Lu Cun is in Shen; in Ding and Ji years Lu Cun is in Wu, in the trine of Yin, and in Ji years Wu Qu takes Hua Lu; so these four years make a wealth and office pattern.

Star Combinations: Wu Qu says 「武曲相遇昌曲逢，聰明巧藝定無窮」, which means Wu Qu and Tian Xiang together meeting Wen Chang and Wen Qu as well. Tian Xiang's transformed qi is the seal, and Wu Qu with a seal means the wealth has somewhere to settle, a steady combination.

In Si and Hai Wu Qu shares a palace with Po Jun, with Tian Xiang opposite. In Wu years Lu Cun is in Si and Tan Lang's Hua Lu enters the trine; in Ren years Lu Cun is in Hai, but Wu Qu's Hua Ji sits in the Life Palace the same year, and it is still listed as a wealth and office pattern, which is the questionable point of this segment.

The Quan Shu rates Wu Qu with Po Jun low on the whole: 「武曲破軍，破祖破家勞碌」 (Star Combinations), and the chapter on what Wu Qu governs says 「破軍同財鄉，財到手而成空」 (see the original). Granting a wealth and office pattern only to Ren and Wu years shows it is a conditional exception.

In Chen and Xu Wu Qu is in its temple, standing alone, with Tan Lang in the opposite palace, so this is one form of 'meeting Tan Lang' in segment 3. In Jia years Wu Qu takes Hua Ke and Lian Zhen's Hua Lu enters the trine; in Yi years Zi Wei's Hua Ke enters the trine; hence a wealth and office pattern.

Star Combinations: Wu Qu says 「武曲廟垣，威名赫奕」, with a note singling out 「辰戍丑未生人安命在辰戍宮為四墓」 (戍 here is the base text's miswriting of 戌, Xu), holding Chen and Xu to be better than Chou and Wei.

In Chou and Wei Wu Qu shares a palace with Tan Lang, the Tan Wu Tong Xing (Tan Lang and Wu Qu travelling together) pattern. In Wu years Tan Lang's Hua Lu sits in the Life Palace and Lu Cun is in Si, in the trine of Chou; in Xin years Lu Cun is in You, in the trine of Chou; hence high rank.

The Quan Shu's view of Tan Lang with Wu Qu carries a condition of time: 「貪武先貧而後富」, and the chapter on what Wu Qu governs goes further, 「武曲守命福非輕，貪狼不發少年郎」 (see the original), while Star Combinations notes 'wealth comes after thirty'. So this high-ranking pattern mostly shows only from middle age on.

The condition is a man with Wu Qu guarding the Life Palace and taking Hua Quan. Wu Qu takes Hua Quan only in Geng years. 「志氣崢嶸」 and 「超凡入聖向人前」 are the highest praise for Wu Qu with Hua Quan: the wealth star gains power, with both drive and results.

On a Xingge chart, if the transformation mark beside Wu Qu is Quan, this is the case the verse describes; then look for lucky stars such as Zuo Fu and You Bi, Wen Chang and Wen Qu, Tian Kui and Tian Yue in the San Fang. For the nature of this transformation see Wu Qu Hua Quan.

Wu Qu guarding the Life Palace needs lucky stars guarding and shining on it to flourish; with wasting and killing stars clashing and breaking it, 「任是財多畢竟空」. 'Wasting' means Po Jun and Da Hao and Xiao Hao, 'killing' the four malefic stars. This matches segment 10's view of Wu Qu with Po Jun: when the wealth star meets the wasting star, money comes and goes.

Wu Qu is the star of earned wealth, so what the Quan Shu fears most for it is 'much wealth, yet empty'. Read today, it is a warning of large cash flow that cannot be held; people who also have Tian Fu or Lu Cun meeting it hold on better.

A woman's Wu Qu with Tian Fu added means Wu Qu and Tian Fu together in Zi or Wu, or Tian Fu in the trine from other palaces. With Zuo Fu and You Bi and Lu Cun gathering there are both wealth and rank. This verse is wholly favourable to Wu Qu in a woman's chart, in contrast with segment 18.

Tian Fu is the treasury and the commanding star, and it softens Wu Qu's hardness; the chapter on what Wu Qu governs says 「與天府同宮有壽」 (see the original), and the pairing of Wu Qu and Tian Fu has always been well regarded.

'The general star' is Wu Qu. This verse says a woman with Wu Qu is unusually hard by nature, and though food and income are plentiful there is ruin in the end, or else a short life or a violent death. The verdict is translated literally from the original.

It follows the same logic as segment 6: women in old times were expected to be gentle and yielding, and Wu Qu's hardness was seen as ill-omened. 「武曲之星為寡宿」 in Star Combinations: Wu Qu is the same judgment. Strong-minded women are common today at work and at home, and this verse can be understood as a vivid personality who acts decisively, who should guard against rashness and accidents when a Decade Luck turns bad; it should not be taken as fate.

The luck-period verse: when the Decade or Minor Luck meets Wu Qu in its temple, wealth flourishes; with Wen Chang, Zuo Fu and You Bi too, blessings and income are complete. Wu Qu is in its temple in the four palaces Chen, Xu, Chou and Wei.

On a Xingge chart, find the Decade Luck ages shown in Wu Qu's palace: those ten years are the time when 'the wealth star is in charge'; if Wu Qu also carries a Hua Lu or Hua Quan from the birth year or from the Decade Luck, the effect is more marked.

Wu Qu reaching a luck period with Hua Quan is 「最利求謀」. This verse has the same condition as segment 14, only moved from the Life Palace to the luck periods: a person born in a Geng year whose Decade Luck reaches Wu Qu, or a Decade Luck whose heavenly stem is Geng and so turns Wu Qu into Hua Quan.

「文人名顯庶人興」 shows that Hua Quan works regardless of station: scholars gain a name and commoners gain profit. The transformations of the luck periods are marked separately when switching to a Decade Luck or Annual Luck on the Xingge chart.

This verse is the dark side of Wu Qu in a luck period: it governs lawsuits, runners suffer the rod, commoners fall into debt, officials are alarmed. Wu Qu is the wealth star, yet in a luck period it governs lawsuits because it belongs to metal: metal governs severity and punishment, the same logic as Qing Yang belonging to metal and governing punishment.

The Quan Shu gives no condition for this verse; set against the two before it, it should be the case of Wu Qu not in its temple, without lucky stars and meeting malefic stars and Hua Ji. Read today, bad Wu Qu periods mostly concern money: debts, contract disputes, lawsuits over money; 「武曲劫殺會擎羊，因財持刀」 in Star Combinations: Wu Qu is the most extreme example.