What is Lin Guan?

Lin Guan (Taking Office) is the fourth of the Twelve Life Stages (Chang Sheng). In old China, a grown person who went out to serve as an official and took up a post of their own was said to "take office." The San Ming Tong Hui, a Ming-dynasty classic of Bazi (Four Pillars), puts it as "all things having flourished and borne fruit, like a person taking office." Whichever palace has Lin Guan, its affairs come easily to you and you have confidence there. Take one more step while things are going your way, and it often pays off. Lin Guan and the next stage, Di Wang (Peak), are the two strongest stages in the set. To see which palace your Lin Guan is in, draw your chart.

How Lin Guan is placed

First find Chang Sheng from the Five Elements Bureau, then count three palaces on, by yin or yang and gender, and that is Lin Guan:

Whichever way you count, Lin Guan lands in one of Yin, Shen, Si or Hai, just like Chang Sheng. The original text in volume two of the Zi Wei Dou Shu Quan Shu (The Complete Book of Zi Wei Dou Shu) says "count forward for men, backward for women." Xingge sets the direction by yin or yang and gender, so for people born in a yin year it runs opposite to the original text. People who study Bazi will notice that Bazi's twelve life stages also include Lin Guan, and there Lin Guan is the Lu (salary) position; the San Ming Tong Hui writes "reaching Yin, it takes office and returns to Lu." On the Zi Wei side, Lin Guan only says how smoothly a palace's energy runs.

What Lin Guan means: standing in the right place

Lin Guan's strength comes from familiarity: no longer a beginner, not yet at the very peak, and at your most efficient. The difference from Di Wang is that Di Wang has the most drive and the strongest opinions, while Lin Guan is steadier, willing to go step by step, and open to other people's views. Where it tends to get stuck is that when things go smoothly you stop wanting to change. Once a familiar way of doing things has been in use for a while, check now and then whether it still fits.

In a few key palaces

• Life Palace: confident and quick to pick things up, you tend to be put in charge. Go with the momentum, and don't be afraid to take on a bit more.
• Wealth Palace: you know your way around earning, and income is fairly steady. When money is flowing, that's the right moment to put extra aside for later.
• Career Palace: this is where you're most sure of yourself at work. Your expertise gets noticed, and promotions and new projects come smoothly. Use the momentum to widen your influence.
• Spouse Palace: a stable relationship with good understanding, and you each have your own place. Don't let familiarity make you less attentive.
• Health Palace: plenty of energy and stamina. This is the best time to turn good routines into habits.

Lin Guan, the Career Palace and the two Guan Fu are different

Their names all contain the word guan (office), but they are four different things. The Career Palace is one of the twelve palaces and is about work. Lin Guan is a stage name in the Twelve Life Stages, and any palace can be Lin Guan. Guan Fu (Officials) in the Twelve Erudite Gods (Bo Shi) and Guan Fu (Official Tally) in the Twelve Year Gods (Sui Qian), written with a different character, belong to two other sets, and are about doing things by the rules and making things clear. They have nothing to do with Lin Guan's "easy and confident."

The Chong Bu Dou Shu Gou Lü section in volume one of the Quan Shu has the line "Lin Guan holding a literary star is called wearing brocade and drawing heavenly fragrance," describing a literary star at the Lin Guan position as very honorable. The original text doesn't say which kind of Lin Guan it means, so Xingge doesn't base any judgment on it, and treats it only as an example of the ancients also valuing this position.

Natal only, unchanged in each year

The Twelve Life Stages are a single natal set that never moves; when you switch to an Annual Luck, it is the Jiang Qian and Sui Qian sets that change. For the full placement method, see the Twelve Life Stages overview.