What the Metal 4 · Wu Qu type is like
Metal on Metal: an ingot still cooling, hard and pure, its value only showing with time.
Wu Qu meets the Metal 4 Bureau
Wu Qu is Metal and so is the Metal 4 Bureau. Two layers of metal: this Wu Qu is single-minded and practical. Among the pairings Wu Qu with Tan Lang leads at about 19%, around 70% of those in Chou; Wu Qu with Qi Sha, with Tian Fu, with Tian Xiang and alone are about 17% each, and with Po Jun about 14%. The Zi, Chou and Yin branches are the most frequent. Temple (Miao) is about 36%, from Wu Qu alone in Chen or Xu and Wu Qu with Tan Lang in Chou or Wei; Profit (Li), Prosperous (Wang) and Gain (De) are about 17% each, and Average (Ping) about 14%.
Work and money
The many Tan Lang pairings define this type. Wu Qu and Tan Lang together in the Life Palace in Chou or Wei is marked on the Xingge chart as Tan Wu Tong Xing (Wolf and Military Travel Together), and a rhyme in the Complete Book says “Poor first and rich later: Wu Qu and Tan Lang together in the Body or Life Palace.” What the old writers saw was a late-ripening kind of wealth: Tan Lang's desire and Wu Qu's drive need time to fall into step. People with Metal on Metal are single-minded and stay the course once they choose, which suits fields that reward long accumulation: precision manufacturing, finance, technical consulting, metalwork and jewellery. With money they can both hold and stake; the rhythm the old writers saw was grind first, gather later, and when the gathering comes depends on the whole chart.
Love and getting along
In love they are faithful and quiet, and a promise once spoken rarely changes. The hardness of Metal on Metal also means they are not good at softening up to comfort someone; they show they care by putting you into the long-term plan: a fund saved together, a flat viewed together. A partner who needs tenderness in the moment can show them directly what that looks like. They learn slowly, and once they have learned, they remember.
When things get stuck
A cooling ingot fears nothing more than being struck: when early effort shows no immediate result, they wonder whether they chose wrong and want to start over, and those with Tan Lang alongside get especially restless in this stretch. What helps is a record. Write down what each year taught and built; visible progress carries them through the years when the returns are not yet visible.
The rhythm of the 10-year periods
A Metal 4 Wu Qu's first 10-year period runs from age 4 to 13 (counted the traditional way) and falls right on the Life Palace. With the first period on their own palace, that decade is about getting to know the metal they are made of: many learn early that they are won over by kindness, not force, or that numbers suit them better than words. The periods move on at 14, 24 and 34. Read in a Metal-on-Metal bureau, Master Xiyi's line “with Tan Lang, no rise for the young man” sounds like annealing: two layers of metal cool slowly and harden slowly, and hammering too soon makes them crack. The old book's words are a caution, not a timetable.
For the full picture of this persona, see Wu Qu · The Financier.
Where it comes from in Purple Star Astrology
In this type Wu Qu 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 4,377 charts of this type:
- Life Palace branch
- Yin 13.5%, Chou 13.5%, Zi 13.5%, Xu 10.1%, Hai 10.1%, Mao 10.1%
- Star brightness
- Miao (Temple) 35.7%, Li (Profit) 17%, Wang (Prosperous) 16.9%, De (Gain) 16.9%, Ping (Average) 13.5%
- Life Palace stars
- Wu Qu + Tan Lang 18.8%, Wu Qu + Qi Sha 17%, Wu Qu + Tian Fu 16.9%, Wu Qu + Tian Xiang 16.9%, Wu Qu alone 16.9%, Wu Qu + Po Jun 13.5%
- Elements
- Wu Qu is Metal; the Metal 4 Bureau is Metal
Draw your chart to see your type
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Wu Qu in the other bureaus
Other personas in the Metal 4 Bureau
Famous people of the Wu Qu persona
FAQ
Does Tan Wu Tong Xing mean nothing happens until thirty?
On the Xingge chart, Wu Qu and Tan Lang together in the Life Palace in Chou or Wei is marked Tan Wu Tong Xing (Wolf and Military Travel Together). A rhyme in the Complete Book says “Tan Lang and Wu Qu in a tomb palace: blessings come only at thirty,” and volume three says “Tan Lang and Wu Qu: poor first and rich later.” The old writers saw a rhythm of training first and reaping later. Thirty is the old book's phrasing, not a set age and not a promise; when the harvest begins depends on the whole chart and on what you have built. About 19% of Metal 4 Wu Qu have this pairing, mostly in Chou. The chart marks only the same-palace case in Chou or Wei; the old books also read Wu Qu and Tan Lang facing each other across Chen and Xu, which you need to check yourself.
Is Metal on Metal too hard to get along with?
That is a common misreading. Metal on Metal means a pure nature and clear principles, not coldness. Once this type trusts you, they are utterly dependable; what they are bad at is polite small talk. Be clear about what you need and by when, and their response is usually the most solid you will get.
How common is the Metal 4 · Wu Qu type?
Out of 262,980 charts cast for every day and every two-hour period from 1950–2009, 4,377 have Wu Qu leading the Life Palace and the Metal 4 Bureau: about 1.7%, roughly 1 in 60 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.