The Nature of Zuo Fu

Zuo Fu's whole identity lies in the three characters 「佐帝令」: it is Zi Wei's left hand, and of all the main stars the emperor star needs it most. A verse in What Does You Bi Govern? puts it more bluntly: 「失君為無用，三合宜見君」 (What Does You Bi Govern?); the assistants come into play only when they see Zi Wei. Zuo Fu is placed by birth month, counting forward from Chen for the first month, with nothing to do with the day or hour, so everyone born in the same month has Zuo Fu in the same palace. On the Xingge chart neither Zuo Fu nor You Bi carries a brightness mark; the 'Wang palace' and 'fallen position' this chapter and its neighbours mention cannot be seen on the chart, so all one can read is which stars it shares a palace with or meets.

The condition has two layers: first meeting Tian Fu, Tian Xiang, Tian Ji, Wen Chang, Tan Lang and Wu Qu, then You Bi in the same palace. Zuo Fu counts forward from Chen and You Bi backward from Xu, so the two share a palace only in Chou and Wei (people born in the fourth or tenth lunar month), which later writers call Zuo You Tong Gong (Zuo Fu and You Bi in one palace). Elsewhere the Quan Shu says 「左右同宮，披羅衣紫」 (Star Combinations: Kui Yue, Zuo Fu, You Bi and Lu Cun). They can also flank the Life Palace without sharing one, the pattern called Zuo You Jia (flanked by Zuo Fu and You Bi). In today's terms Zuo Fu stands for peers, colleagues and steady support; add You Bi and both hands have someone in them, so a career grows large more easily.

This line sorts Zuo Fu meeting malefic stars into two grades: seeing Qing Yang, Tuo Luo, Huo Xing and Hua Ji is a 'middling pattern'; the malefic stars in a fallen position, with Ju Men, Qi Sha and Tian Ji added, is a 'low pattern'. Zuo Fu is a lucky star, and malefic stars only pull it down from high to middling, which shows the ancients thought an assisting star could cushion malefic force. But the second grade names a 'fallen position', and Zuo Fu has no brightness either on the Xingge chart or in the volume three brightness table, so the fallen position here probably means the main star of the Life Palace is fallen. The 'hidden mole' resembles what the Wen Chang and Wen Qu chapters say. What Does Zuo Fu Govern? also says 「火忌沖破，以中局斷之」 (What Does Zuo Fu Govern?), the same verdict.

A woman's Zuo Fu meeting lucky stars brings prosperity to her husband and benefits her children; for monks and Daoists, purity. The line is short and matches the woman's line in the You Bi chapter character for character. The Quan Shu is consistently kind to Zuo Fu in women's charts, with none of the heavy negative verdicts it gives Wen Chang, Wen Qu or Qi Sha, perhaps because Zuo Fu is 'warm-hearted', a temperament that fit what the ancients expected of women. Put in present-day terms: capable and reliable, a steady support at home and at work, well liked and helped by others.

The verse first describes Zuo Fu's character: warm-hearted, versed in past and present, a learned and dependable person. The condition is meeting Zi Wei and Tian Fu, Hua Lu and Hua Quan, Tan Lang and Wu Qu; the result is pure nobility in civil or military office alike. What Does Zuo Fu Govern? says 「紫府祿權若得三合沖照，主文武大貴」 (What Does Zuo Fu Govern?), the same idea. To match this verse on a Xingge chart, find Zuo Fu in the Life Palace or its San Fang, then check whether Zi Wei and Tian Fu are in the San Fang Si Zheng and whether Hua Lu or Hua Quan is marked there.

This verse gives Zuo Fu's other face: with Qing Yang, Tuo Luo, Huo Xing and Ling Xing in the San Fang, wealth and office are no good omen; add Lian Zhen, Po Jun and Ju Men clashing, and it is maiming or early death. Notice how the conditions escalate: the four malefic stars alone are merely 'no lucky sign', and only with Lian Zhen, Po Jun and Ju Men added does it become maiming or early death. The Quan Shu often treats Lian Zhen, Po Jun and Ju Men as main stars of a harsher nature, and once they gather with malefic stars, Zuo Fu's goodness cannot hold them back. A verse in What Does You Bi Govern? says 「若與廉貞並，惡賤遭鉗髡」 (What Does You Bi Govern?), the same line of thought.

A woman's Zuo Fu is 'worthy and bold', a capable woman of some spirit, and joined with Zi Wei and Tian Fu she receives conferred titles. The condition is more specific than in segment 4: Zi Wei and Tian Fu. In old China the 'golden crown and conferred titles' were honours the court gave a wife or mother because her husband or son held office, so a woman's rank was still measured through her family. A modern reading: a capable woman with solid resources behind her, holding a place of standing both at home and at work. Women with Zi Wei sharing a palace with Zuo Fu or meeting it are often the ones a team or family leans on.

This is the unlucky side of a woman's Zuo Fu: meeting Huo Xing and Tuo Luo is not good, Qi Sha and Po Jun mean a short life, and only as a secondary wife is she well off. The line 「只可偏房方富足」 is unusual: it does not say being a secondary wife is bad, but that only as a secondary wife is she well off, meaning the road of principal wife is closed to her while the secondary position brings money. This belongs to the marriage system of old China, and its meaning is kept as written. Seen today: a marriage that may take an untraditional form, or an informal place in a relationship, but no shortage of money. Zuo Fu is placed by birth month and has no fixed relation to Qi Sha or Po Jun, so whether they meet depends on the actual chart.

With Zuo Fu in the luck period, ordinary people are well off, and officials who also get Hua Ke and Hua Quan shining on them are promoted. The verse is written like the other luck verses for lucky stars, first ordinary people and then officials, a fixed format in the Quan Shu. Zuo Fu is placed by month and its natal position does not move, but the Decade Luck moves one palace every ten years, so whichever decade has Zuo Fu in its San Fang is a ten years with plenty of help. On Xingge, take that Decade Luck's Life Palace and look for Zuo Fu in its San Fang Si Zheng; if it is there, it is a good time to ask for help, cooperate and find partners.

The opposite of the previous verse: Zuo Fu in the luck period meeting malefic stars, Huo Xing, Ling Xing, Di Kong and Di Jie, brings lost money, death and grief in everything. The Quan Shu's luck verses often make a lucky star's bad side as heavy as a malefic star's, because when a lucky star is clashed and broken the people one relied on become a burden instead. Di Kong and Di Jie are named here, alongside Qing Yang, Tuo Luo, Huo Xing and Ling Xing in the previous verses, which makes up the Quan Shu's full list of six malefic stars. For such a period, the thing to guard against is cooperation going wrong and helpers turning into trouble; contracts, partnerships and loans all call for care.