Xing Yuan Lun

The Xing Yuan Lun opens by returning to Zi Wei: the imperial seat needs Zuo Fu and You Bi as deputies to be the 「有用之源」 of a main star. This means the same as the Tai Wei Fu's 「紫微天府全依輔弼之功」 (Tai Wei Fu), which shows how often the Quan Shu insists that Zi Wei should not sit alone. The second half says the Southern and Northern Dipper stars together make up Dou Shu, setting out the structure of the art: the Northern Dipper is led by Zi Wei, the Southern by Tian Fu, and the two groups complement each other. When reading a chart with Zi Wei in the Life Palace, first look for Zuo Fu and You Bi in the Life Palace or its San Fang Si Zheng; without them, it is what the Quan Shu calls a lone ruler, and the emperor star's power is discounted.

This passage is the theoretical basis of the piece: water and fire must balance. Water stands for yin and fire for yang; 「水盛陽傷，火盛陰滅」, neither side may go too far, and holding the middle is what is fine. This is the principle of balance in the traditional Chinese view of the Five Elements. Applied to Dou Shu, it means a chart's stars should not lean all one way: all fire stars (Lian Zhen, Huo Xing, Tai Yang) make for restlessness, all water stars (Tai Yin, Po Jun, Wen Qu, Tian Tong) for coldness. When reading a chart, notice whether the elements of the stars in the Life Palace and its San Fang Si Zheng lean heavily to one side; when they do, the Quan Shu's approach is to look for stars on the other side to balance them, and that is the line of thought behind the palace-by-palace analysis in the segments that follow.

This passage uses the Five Elements to explain the wood palaces Yin and Mao: Tian Xiang and Ju Men are water, water generates wood, and so in Yin and Mao they are prosperous and flow freely; wood needs earth to cultivate it and water to irrigate it, so meeting Lu Cun (earth), Wen Qu and Po Jun (water) is best. In an actual chart, Tian Xiang in Yin always shares the palace with Wu Qu, and Ju Men in Mao always shares the palace with Tian Ji. Note that this passage does not agree with the Miao and Wang tables in volume three: here Tan Lang and Tian Ji are said to be 「廟樂」 in Yin and Mao, but the table in Star Combinations: Tian Ji lists Tian Ji as Miao only in Zi and Wu and Wang in Chen and You, and the table in Star Combinations: Tan Lang likewise gives Miao in Chen, Xu, Chou and Wei. Xingge's brightness table has Tian Ji De in Yin and Wang in Mao, and Tan Lang Ping in Yin and Li in Mao, closer to the volume three tables.

This passage is about the four tomb palaces of earth. Tuo Luo and Qing Yang are metal, and earth is metal's tomb store and also generates metal, so Qing Yang and Tuo Luo in Chen, Xu, Chou and Wei instead flow freely without congealing (「金通不凝」); this is 「金趁土肥」. The volume three table also gives Qing Yang Miao in Chen, Xu, Chou and Wei, and on Xingge's brightness table Qing Yang and Tuo Luo are Miao in all four tomb palaces, so the three agree. Ju Men in Chou always shares the palace with Tian Tong, while Tian Liang in Wei sits alone. Note that this piece says 「天同金」, unlike the usual view that Tian Tong is water, as the note explains; if Tian Tong really were metal, then Tian Tong with Ju Men in Chou would be metal generating water, which may be why the author wrote this line. In today's terms, Qing Yang or Tuo Luo in a tomb palace turns harshness into drive and the ability to get things done.

This is the hardest passage in the piece, explaining the Si and Wu palaces through the birth and extinction positions of fire and earth. It reaches three conclusions: Lian Zhen is fire and is well placed in Si and Wu; Wen Qu is in its temple in Wu; meeting Zi Wei and Tian Fu from Wu is 「魁星拱斗」. Two of these contradict other parts of the Quan Shu. First, the table in Star Combinations: Wen Chang and Wen Qu says Wen Qu is Xian in Yin, Wu and Xu, so Wu is a fallen position, and Xingge's brightness table also has it Xian. Second, the volume three table says Lian Zhen is Xian in Si and Hai. In other words, the Miao and Wang that this piece derives from the Five Elements differ from the volume three tables, and each has its own source. When reading a chart, it is better to go by the brightness table and use this piece as a guide to the logic of the Five Elements.

Shen and You are metal, the qi of Tai Bai in the west. Wu Qu is itself metal and in Shen is supported by its own kind, so it 「好生」, likes to generate; Qing Yang is metal and in You metal qi is heaviest, so it 「用殺」, deals in killing, with its harshness at its strongest. Add Ju Men, Lu Cun and Tuo Luo and 「助之愈急」, it grows fiercer still and must meet benign stars to resolve it. On a Xingge chart, Wu Qu in Shen always shares the palace with Tian Xiang and its brightness is De; Qing Yang in You is Xian, and the volume three table also says Qing Yang is Xian in Zi, Wu, Mao and You. So the 'killing' in this passage is not a good thing; it is a warning about an excess of metal qi. For a modern reader, Qing Yang in You in the Life Palace makes for a sharp personality prone to conflict, which needs mild stars such as Tian Liang, Tian Tong and Tian Xiang to balance it.

Hai and Zi are water. Wen Qu and Po Jun are water, and in Hai they have a 「要地」, a key position, cultured, pure and lofty; Po Jun in Zi is in its place of prosperity, like the waves of a great sea, to be admired from afar but not leaned on. The second half says that if Po Jun is overcome by the four tombs (earth), it needs Wu Qu (metal) to generate it so its stream never runs dry. One fact about the chart can be added: Po Jun in Si or Hai always shares the palace with Wu Qu, so in the Hai palace, 'Po Jun having Wu Qu's metal' holds on every chart. Po Jun in Zi sits alone and is Miao, and the volume three table also says Po Jun is Miao in Zi and Wu. 「可遠觀而不可近倚」 is a very vivid description: people with Po Jun in the Life Palace have great energy, which others admire, but they are not easy to get close to or lean on.

The close says that all the other stars are worked out from the Life and Body Palaces, and can be applied everywhere. The point is that this piece gives only a few examples, and readers should carry the same Five Elements logic to other stars and other palaces themselves. This is a method, not a verdict: whether the elements of star and palace generate, overcome or support each other decides whether the star has strength there. Reading a chart today, you can look directly at the brightness shown on a Xingge chart, which already takes considerations like these into account; but understanding how this piece reasons helps explain why the same star behaves differently in different palaces, and shows the logic behind the brightness table.