What is Twelve Erudite Gods (Bo Shi)?
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Draw your chart and open the detailed view to find Twelve Erudite Gods (Bo Shi)
The small names in the corners of your chart's palaces, such as Bo Shi, Qing Long, Zou Shu and Fu Bing, belong to the Twelve Erudite Gods (Bo Shi). It is a natal set, placed starting from Lu Cun, and it never changes in your lifetime. It describes the small personality of how each palace gets things done. To see where your Bo Shi gods sit, draw your chart.
The twelve gods in order
Volume two of the Zi Wei Dou Shu Quan Shu (The Complete Book of Zi Wei Dou Shu), in the An Shi Er Gong Tai Sui Sha Lu Jue section, first lists the order in one line:
Bo Shi, Li Shi, then Qing Long; Xiao Hao, Jiang Jun and Zou Shu; Fei Lian, Xi Shen, Bing Fu recorded; Tian Hao, Fu Bing, on to Guan Fu.
The book writes three of the names with older or variant characters. Its Fei Lian uses a different first character, its Tian Hao is today's Da Hao, and its Guan Fu uses a homophone. The twelve, in order:
- Bo Shi (Erudite): works by brains and insight; always in the same palace as Lu Cun.
- Li Shi (Strongman): can carry the weight and make the call; strength and authority.
- Qing Long (Azure Dragon): good news and unexpected gains.
- Xiao Hao (Minor Drain): small, scattered losses of time, energy and pocket money.
- Jiang Jun (General): decisive, with presence.
- Zou Shu (Memorial): documents and good news; what you put in writing works especially well.
- Fei Lian (Wind Spirit): the classics say it "rules solitude"; you often feel you are fighting alone.
- Xi Shen (Joy Spirit): happy energy; good things come from here.
- Bing Fu (Illness Charm): you tire easily here; a reminder to look after your routine.
- Da Hao (Major Drain): more goes out than comes in; think before you spend.
- Fu Bing (Hidden Troops): resistance you didn't see coming, or talk behind your back.
- Guan Fu (Officials): rules and disputes; follow the rules and say things clearly.
How the Bo Shi set is placed
The same section goes on:
Know that for men and women alike, you start from Lu Cun. Yang men and yin women count forward around the wheel; yin men and yang women run backward.
First find Lu Cun. Lu Cun goes by the stem of your birth year: Jia in Yin, Yi in Mao, Bing or Wu in Si, Ding or Ji in Wu, Geng in Shen, Xin in You, Ren in Hai, Gui in Zi. Bo Shi goes in the Lu Cun palace. Then gender and the yin or yang of the year stem set the direction: men born in Jia, Bing, Wu, Geng or Ren years and women born in Yi, Ding, Ji, Xin or Gui years count forward; everyone else counts backward, one god per palace, through to Guan Fu.
An example: a man born in a Jia year has Lu Cun in Yin, so Bo Shi is also in Yin, Li Shi in Mao, Qing Long in Chen, and so on forward until Guan Fu lands in Chou.
Because Qing Yang and Tuo Luo always sit on either side of Lu Cun, you'll find that Li Shi and Guan Fu always share a palace with one of these two. Counting forward, Li Shi sits with Qing Yang and Guan Fu with Tuo Luo; counting backward, it's the other way round. The opposite pairs are fixed too: Bo Shi faces Fei Lian, Li Shi faces Xi Shen, Qing Long faces Bing Fu, Xiao Hao faces Da Hao, Jiang Jun faces Fu Bing, and Zou Shu faces Guan Fu.
How the classics gave each one a character
The verse in the An Shi Er Gong Tai Sui Sha Lu Jue section gives each god only two or three words:
Bo Shi is clever, Li Shi has power, Qing Long brings joy, Xiao Hao is money; Jiang Jun is martial, Zou Shu is blessing, Fei Lian rules solitude, Xi Shen prolongs;Bing Fu brings illness, Hao wastes the inheritance, Fu Bing and Guan Fu bring entangling talk. The twelve gods by birth year guard the palaces; only then dare you judge the source of a person's fortune.
In the printed text the word for "solitude" is a misprint of a similar-looking character. Where volume two lists each star's element, it writes "Fei Lian is Fire and rules solitude," so solitude is the intended reading. The Tai Wei Fu also treats a few of them as good helpers:
Zou Shu, Bo Shi and the transiting Lu are all auspicious. Li Shi and Jiang Jun with Qing Long display power and influence.
The classics count Bo Shi and Zou Shu as auspicious, and Li Shi, Jiang Jun and Qing Long as signs of power. Xiao Hao, Da Hao, Bing Fu, Fu Bing and Guan Fu are the places to watch. Read for today, Xingge treats these last few as reminders: watch the small money, look after your routine, think one step further, say things clearly. They don't mean trouble is coming for you.
How much weight the set carries
The Bo Shi gods are lighter than even the minor stars. When reading a palace, they come after the main stars, the Four Transformations, the Six Auspicious and Six Malefic Stars, and the minor stars. The main star says what kind of matter this palace is about; the Bo Shi god adds a line about your small working habits. With Zou Shu in the Life Palace, you may tend to write things down before you act; with Jiang Jun, you'd rather go straight at it. The Bo Shi, Jiang Qian and Sui Qian lesson has examples from your own chart.
How it differs from the other three sets
There are four sets of twelve gods on the chart, each with its own starting point and use:
- Twelve Life Stages (Chang Sheng): placed by the Five Elements Bureau and yin-yang and gender; shows which stage each palace's energy is in. Also natal.
- Twelve Erudite Gods (Bo Shi): placed from Lu Cun; shows the small personality of how each palace works. Natal.
- Twelve General Gods (Jiang Qian): placed from the Jiang Xing position of your birth-year branch's trine; shows a year's momentum. Re-placed each year.
- Twelve Year Gods (Sui Qian): placed from Sui Jian at the year branch; shows a year's atmosphere. Re-placed each year.
The Bo Shi and Sui Qian sets both contain a Xiao Hao, a Da Hao and a Bing Fu. Same names, different placement: the Bo Shi three follow Lu Cun and never move, while the Sui Qian three follow Tai Sui and shift one palace every year. The Sui Qian set also has a Guan Fu, written with a different character from the Bo Shi Guan Fu.
Natal chart and Annual Luck
On the Xingge chart, the Bo Shi set is placed for the natal chart only; the sets that change with the year are Jiang Qian and Sui Qian. Some teachers (Wang Tingzhi, for example) also place an annual Bo Shi set starting from the annual Lu Cun; Xingge does not. When reading, as the Decade Luck or Annual Luck reaches a palace, the Bo Shi god sitting there comes forward more. If the Annual Luck reaches the palace with Zou Shu, for example, documents and records are more useful that year.
FAQ
How is the Bo Shi set placed?
Find Lu Cun from the stem of your birth year and put Bo Shi in that palace. Men born in yang years and women born in yin years count forward; men born in yin years and women born in yang years count backward. The order is Bo Shi, Li Shi, Qing Long, Xiao Hao, Jiang Jun, Zou Shu, Fei Lian, Xi Shen, Bing Fu, Da Hao, Fu Bing, Guan Fu.
Does the Bo Shi set change with the Annual Luck?
Not on the Xingge chart. The Bo Shi set is natal. It follows your birth-year Lu Cun and stays put for life. The sets that change each year are the Twelve General Gods (Jiang Qian) and the Twelve Year Gods (Sui Qian).
Are names like Xiao Hao, Bing Fu and Fu Bing bad?
The names don't sound great, but the Bo Shi gods carry very little weight. Xingge reads them as reminders: Xiao Hao is small spending, Bing Fu is your routine, Fu Bing is thinking one step further, Guan Fu is saying things clearly. They only mean something when read with the main stars and the Four Transformations.
Is the Bo Shi Fei Lian the same as the minor star Fei Lian?
No. In this set the Quan Shu writes Fei Lian with an older character; it follows Lu Cun and rules solitude. Xingge's chart uses the common spelling. There is also a minor star Fei Lian, placed by birth-year branch, which the Quan Shu does not include; the common reading links it to gossip and rumors. Read the two separately.
Each of the Twelve Erudite Gods (Bo Shi)
This is the general reading. On your own chart it shifts with the stars' brightness, the San Fang Si Zheng and the year you are in.
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