What is Guan Suo?

"Suo" means rope. Guan Suo was originally the name of a group of stars in the sky, in the Heavenly Market enclosure, which the ancients saw as a celestial prison; the astronomy treatise of the Book of Jin says it "governs the law and restrains the violent and the strong." On the chart, Guan Suo (Binding Rope) is about the feeling of being tied down: promises you can't back out of, favors you owe, responsibilities piling one on another, so that even if you wanted to leave, you couldn't. To find which palace this year's Guan Suo falls in, draw your chart.

What Guan Suo is: fourth of the Twelve Year Gods

Guan Suo belongs to the Twelve Year Gods (Sui Qian) and comes fourth, three palaces on from Sui Jian, after Sang Men and before Guan Fu. In a Zi year Guan Suo is in Mao, in a Chou year in Chen, and so on; in 2027, a Ding Wei year, it's in Xu.

In the Annual Luck it also has a fixed position: Sui Jian sits in the Annual Life Palace, and three palaces on is the Annual Property Palace. Home, the house and long-term commitments are often where Guan Suo ties you down most that year.

The Zi Wei Dou Shu Quan Shu (The Complete Book of Zi Wei Dou Shu) doesn't include Guan Suo. It only gives the placement of four: Sang Men, Diao Ke, Bai Hu and Guan Fu. Guan Suo was added later, when the full set was completed.

What Guan Suo means, in plain words

You tend to get tied up by obligations to people or by responsibilities, unable to get away; let go where you should. Guan Suo isn't a bad thing: being needed is a kind of recognition too. But tied too tight, there's no room left for your own affairs. In that palace this year, first sort out what is truly yours to carry and what you can hand over.

Guan Suo in key palaces

• Life Palace: you tend to take on more for other people this year. Check your schedule before you say yes.
• Wealth Palace: money tends to get tied up in fixed costs, installments or social obligations. List what you have to pay every month.
• Career Palace: work responsibilities keep stacking up and you can't hand them off. Agree the scope with your manager rather than quietly shouldering it.
• Spouse Palace: commitments and expectations between you grow heavier. Lay out what each of you truly wants.
• Property Palace: home and housing matters make it hard to get away: renovations, leases, looking after family.
• Friends Palace: friends ask more favors. Help when you can, and it's fine to say when you can't.

Natal and annual, read separately

The natal Guan Suo is placed by your birth-year branch. Xingge treats it as background, and the palace readings don't cover it separately. The one actually read is the annual Guan Suo: on the first day of each lunar year it moves one palace along with Tai Sui. Switch the chart to an Annual Luck, and the small label in the corner moves to that year's position.

Guan Suo forms one trine with Long De and Bing Fu: what ties you down, who helps you out of it, and the need to rest when you're tired often pull on one another.