What the Metal 4 · Tan Lang type is like
They have seen it all and tried it all, and kept only the few things that are truly the best: that is a Metal 4 Tan Lang's shopping basket, and also how they choose work and friends. Their appetite has not shrunk. It has picked up a measuring stick.
Tan Lang meets the Metal 4 Bureau
A pruned Tan Lang is the best way to describe this type. Its qi belongs to wood and its body to water, and the Metal 4 Bureau is Metal, which cuts both ways. Metal produces Water, nourishing the body; Metal also cuts Wood, trimming the qi. After the pruning the passion is intact, but it is clear about what is worth it and what is not. In charts of this type Tan Lang most often sits in Yin or Zi, about 27% each, then Chen at 20% and Xu at 13%, with Shen and Wu at about 7% each. Temple (Miao), Prosperous (Wang) and Average (Ping) brightness each take about 33%: Chen and Xu are Temple, Zi and Wu Prosperous, Yin and Shen Average. Since the commonest positions are Average Yin and Prosperous Zi, this bureau tends to produce two versions: one built on a foundation of taste and craft, and one that is simply easy to like.
Work and money
They do not leap at every new thing. They look, compare, and only then commit, and when they do commit they usually choose well. The Complete Book says Tan Lang “loves loud chanting and loose living, and spoils things by being too clever.” A Metal 4 Tan Lang is unusually aware of that risk, which is why they care so much about detail and finish. With money they will pay for quality but do not spend loosely: buy one good thing and use it for ten years. Buying and merchandising, branding, design, appraisal and investments that need a good eye are all their territory.
Love and getting along
They choose people carefully too, and rarely drift into a relationship. Once they are in, they put real care into it: every anniversary remembered, every gift researched. Outsiders find them a little hard to approach, but they are only observing. The right partner does not mind being held to a standard and can appreciate the details. In an argument their words can be sharp. Taking a little of it back afterwards, a simple “that came out harsher than I meant,” is worth more than any bouquet.
When things get stuck
A blade honed too fine can cut the hand that holds it. When the standard is too high, nothing starts, and “I have not found the best one yet” becomes the reason never to act. Or they are too hard on themselves, and the work always falls one step short. The way out is a deadline for “good enough, ship it.” Metal's edge is a gift when it is used to choose, and a drain when it is turned on themselves. Lending that eye to others, helping a friend pick something out, often brings the fun back.
The rhythm of the 10-year periods
For a Metal 4 Tan Lang, each change of period, starting from the Life Palace at age 4 (counted the traditional way) and then at 14, 24 and 34, is a little like clearing out a wardrobe: some old standards stay and some go. Around a change is often when they most want to sort things out, and work, belongings and friendships may all get sifted. There is no need to rush to fill the gaps; it helps to look first at what they have kept. Nothing they let go is wasted. Each thing discarded makes it clearer what they want, and the measuring stick is not something they were born with. It is honed one cut at a time.
For the full picture of this persona, see Tan Lang · The Virtuoso.
Where it comes from in Purple Star Astrology
In this type Tan Lang leads the Life Palace. The Life Palace is the one of twelve that says who you are, and its main star sets your base color; when two main stars share it, the first one counts.
The bureau is the Metal 4 Bureau. The Five Elements Bureau comes from the Nayin of your Life Palace stem and branch; it places the Zi Wei star on the chart and sets the age your first 10-year period starts, which is 4 for this bureau. No bureau is better than another; Xingge reads it as a flavour of the same persona.
Across 2,222 charts of this type:
- Life Palace branch
- Yin 26.6%, Zi 26.6%, Chen 20%, Xu 13.3%, Shen 6.7%, Wu 6.7%
- Star brightness
- Ping (Average) 33.3%, Wang (Prosperous) 33.3%, Miao (Temple) 33.3%
- Elements
- Tan Lang: Wood in spirit, Water in body; the Metal 4 Bureau is Metal
What is the Five Elements Bureau ›Find my bureau ›Tan Lang ›
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Tan Lang in the other bureaus
Other personas in the Metal 4 Bureau
Famous people of the Tan Lang persona
FAQ
Is the Metal in Metal 4 the same as Wu Qu's Metal?
No. The Metal 4 Bureau comes from the Nayin element of the Life Palace stem and branch and sets the pace and undertone of the whole chart. Wu Qu being Metal describes the nature of one star. The stars sit in fixed positions relative to each other: when Tan Lang is in Chen or Xu, Wu Qu is always opposite in the Travel Palace, about 33% of this type; when Tan Lang is in Zi, Yin, Wu or Shen, Wu Qu is not in the San Fang Si Zheng at all. But that is a star's position, not the bureau's Metal.
A Metal 4 Tan Lang seems so picky. Are they hard to get along with?
They are picky about things, not people. They hold high standards for quality and are generous with friends, often the one who chooses the restaurant, the gift and the hotel for everyone. The trick is to say what you like. What they dread is “anything is fine.” Give them a direction and they can often find you the best one there is.
How common is the Metal 4 · Tan Lang type?
Out of 262,980 charts cast for every day and every two-hour period from 1950–2009, 2,222 have Tan Lang leading the Life Palace and the Metal 4 Bureau: about 0.8%, roughly 1 in 118 people. Every day and hour is counted equally, so this is not the actual birth distribution of a population.
Why can two people born on the same day be different types?
Where your Life Palace falls depends on your birth month and birth hour, and your Five Elements Bureau comes from the stem and branch of that palace. So on the same day, one two-hour period later moves the Life Palace by one, and the main star and bureau can both change. The twelve hours of a single day usually produce several different types.
What is the Five Elements Bureau?
The Five Elements Bureau is the Nayin element of your Life Palace stem and branch: Water 2, Wood 3, Metal 4, Earth 5 or Fire 6. The number places the Zi Wei star on the chart and is also the age your first 10-year period begins (2 for Water, 6 for Fire). A bigger number is not better or worse; Xingge reads the element as a flavour of the same persona.
How is this different from MBTI?
MBTI comes from a questionnaire about how you see yourself. An Xingge type comes from your birth date and time, with nothing to answer, and the same birth details always give the same type. They work well side by side: MBTI describes your current habits, the chart describes your underlying nature and the rhythm of your life.
Which type do I get if my Life Palace has two main stars?
When two main stars share the Life Palace, the one listed first (in the order of the Zi Wei and Tian Fu star groups) sets the persona, the same as on your chart page. A Life Palace with no main star is the Empty Palace: the Traveler.
A type looks only at the Life Palace and the bureau: the roughest outline of a chart. People of the same type differ in the Body Palace, the surrounding palaces and the transformations.