Zi Wei Dou Shu (7) - 三方四正

The term 三方四正 (three directions and four proper) is explained in almost all Zi Wei Dou Shu books as the combination of the three palaces (Shen, Zi and Chen), (Yin, Wu and Xu), (Si, You and Chou), (Hai, Mao and Wei) together with the opposite palace to form the four proper directions. Well, this is not convincing as it is awkward. The first part explaining the three directions as one of the four triangular combinations of branches is alright. The second part adding the opposite direction to form the four proper directions is simply awkward.

In fact, the second part when writtin in traditional vertical way has been mistaken as two characters. It is just one character 罡. This character has several meanings. |One meaning is the handle of the Big Dipper. Another meaing is from Daoist belief. There are 36 important stars collectively known as the thirty-six Tian Gang Xing 三十六天罡星. Now 三方四正 should be 三方罡 meaning the stars of the three palaces forming a triangular combination. Since the three palaces are very intimate because of the triangular combination, the stars in these three palaces affect each other much more than stars from other palaces. They should be considered relatives of the same big family. Then what about the opposite palace? Yes, it is very influential but it should be looked at from another angle. It has great impact on the palace considered. The force is direct and powerful.

Examine the pairs:

Life Palace and Travel Palace
Parents Palace and Health Palace
Happiness Palace and Wealth Palace
Properties Palace and Children Palace
Career Palace and Marriage Palace
Friends Palace and Brothers Palace

You will find that they are wonderfully connected. For example, most of our health conditions are inherited from our parents. On the other hand, our parents are most concerned and worried about our health. Right? A palace and its opposite are most affectionately affecting each other. You should see how cleverly the design of the Zi Wei Dou Shu chart was invented.

JY

Zi Wei Dou Shu (6) - Clarity School 明澄派

Zi Wei Dou Shu was exported to Japan under the name "Purple Multiflora Rose Astrology 紫薇斗數". It was introduced as a kind of astrological divination based on purple multiflora rose - 一種紫色蔷薇的星占.

According to this school, it began with the last emperor of Shang Dynasty - Shang Zhou Wang 商纣王. The novel Feng Shen Yan Yi  封神演義 is one of the most popular novels in China. Some of the important figures in this novel were picked with the soul brought to reside on the stars to become the souls of the stars. For example, the tyrant Zhou Wang 纣王 was brought to the star Tan Lang 貪狼 and the star adopts the personality of Zhou Wang. It is a clever way to introduce Zi Wei Dou Shu as it is interesting and considering the stars used as some kind of living spirit that can influence the human mind is quite correct. This was why I wrote several episodes of "Waltzing with the Stars". The series stopped as I found that there could not be a full correspondence between a man in history and a star used in Zi Wei Dou Shu.

The school was brought back to Taiwan with the name Tou Pai 透派 (Transparent School) or Ming Cheng Pai  明澄派 (Clarity School). The worst part of this school is to divide stars into auspicious stars and evil stars:

Auspicious stars:
1. Zi Wei Star 紫薇星 - virtuous and dignity
2. Tai Yang Xing 太陽星 - benevolence and brilliance
3. Tian Fu Xing 天府星 - charity and capability
4. Tian Tong Xing 天同星 - peace and harmony
5. Tian Xiang Xing 天相星 - service and romance
6. Tai Yin Xing 太陰星 - residence and purity
7. Tian Liang Xing 天梁星 - leadership and stability

Neutral stars:
8. Wu Qu Xing 武曲星 - wealth and bravery
9. Tian Ji Xing 天機星 - alertness and wisdom

Evil stars:
10. Tan Lang Xing 貪狼星 - materialism and desire
11. Lian Zhen Xing 廉貞星 - evil and twisting
12. Qi Sha Xing 七殺星 - violence and solemnity
13. Ju Men Xing 巨門星 - suspicion and gossip
14. Po Jun Xing 破軍星 - exhaustion and destruction

Then it gives a description of what one can expect when the Ming Palace is occupied by one or two of these major stars. There follows a description one can expect when the other palaces are occupied by the stars.
Everything becomes rigid and it is easy to computerize the system to give out written reports.

The essence of astrology is totally lost and twisted. Unfortunately most people, including a lot of others who do not follow the Clarity School, also treat Zi Wei Dou Shu with this approach.

JY

Zi Wei Dou Shu (5) - Zi Wei and Zi Ping systems

There are only two important books both claiming to be written by Chen Xi Yi.

(1) The Complete Zi Wei Dou Shui Book 紫微斗數全書
(2) 18 Flying Stars Riding on Heaven - Zi Wei Dou Shu Anthology 十八飛星策天  紫微斗數全集

In the second book, the introductory chapter begins with:

o On time sequence 論次序
o Examine Ba Zi (Eight characters) 看八字
o Establish the type and the useful god 立格用神
o Determine whether the life is full or empty 看命空貴
o Whether relatives are numerous or scarce 六親多寡
o To see the ups and downs of luck cycles 行運興衰
o To see the auspiciousness and inauspiciousness of current year 流年吉凶

This is followed by the methods of charting the stars with 12 palaces and then analysis of each palace etc. The interesting thing is that the analysis of the Four Pillars precedes the establishment of the Zi Wei chart and subsequent analysis. It shows that the inventor of Zi Wei Dou Shu actually knew Zi Ping method very well. The invention indicates the short-coming of Ba Zi system but serves a very good introduction to life reading. Well, to most people, Ba Zi is too abstract and philosophical. Zi Wei, on the other hand, presents a movie in front of you with you as the hero of the story. A good director of the movie will help the actor to perform well with a satisfactory ending.

JY

Zi Wei Dou Shu (4) - The influence of Indian astrology

The four residue stars in Qi Zheng Si Yu are obviously borrowed from Indian astrology. For example,
【羅睺】 – Fire Residue is directly taken from Rahu and
【計都】 – Earth Residue is Ketu.
These are the meeting points of the solar path and the lunar path as seen from earth.

Even Qi Zheng Si Yu has undergone a lot of changes and improvements to become what some scholars consider authentic Chinese astrology. The astronomical flavour is very strong and the projected results are statistically oriented. Famous astrologer Wu Shi Qing 吴師青who was active in Hong Kong in the early 20th century has published a book called Heaven Luck Astrology 天運占星學. In the preface of this book, he quoted Han Shu 漢書: "Huang Di 黄帝 ordered three scholars one to divine the sun, the second one to divine the moon and the third one to divine the stars." He tried to shake off the Indian flavour in Qi Zheng Si Yu and studied extensively the eight planets (Pluto was not included). All the stars on the sky provide the background for these planets to act on. The idea is like using the stars as body and the planets as application. No Indian names are used.

Chinese astrology is actually deeply astronomical influenced. The accuracy of the chart is extremely important. Wu Shi Qing was an astronomist himself and he communicated with other top astronomists in China frequently to make sure the charts he drew were accurate. The exclusion of Pluto from the planets in his book is not without grounds.

Other people who were not astronomists followed a different path. Both Zi Ping 子平and Zi Wei 紫微 are much more an art than a science. The astrologer is like a photographer who has an unusual camera eye and can see what common people cannot see. In Zi Wei Dou Shu, although the names of the stars can be associated with the real stars on the sky, the way of charting does not justify the association. It is just like how Pablo Picasso paints a portrait of his love.

It is most likely that when Zi Wei Dou Shu was invented, Buddhism was most influencial in China. Therefore, the names of the stars are from the translated Buddhist writings. To most people the association of astrology with religion makes destiny analysis more credible. Unfortunately, there were some obvious mistakes in assigning the names.

Tan Lang 貪狼 literally means a greedy wolf. No matter whether it is used in Feng Shui or Zi Wei Dou Shu, we cannot associate this name with the personality of the star.

Lian Zhen 廉貞 literally means clean (opposite to corrupt) chastity. Whether it is in Feng Shui or Zi Wei Dou Shu, this star has an evil nature that most people fear.

However, a name is just a name and it does not alter the nature of the star. We can see the importance of fully understanding the nature and personality of the stars before we can use Zi Wei Dou Shu to study destiny.

JY

Zi Wei Dou Shu (3) - Stars

The first system of astrology in China was known as “Five-Star System – Wu Xing Shu 五星術”. It uses the five planets:

Jupiter 【歳星】 – Wood Star

Mars 【荧惑】 – Fire Star

Saturn 【鎮星】 – Earth Star

Venus 【太白】 – Gold Star

Mercury 【辰星】 – Water Star

Later, the Sun 【Tai Yang 太陽】 and the Moon 【Tai Yin 太陰】 were included.

These were real heavenly bodies and astronomical calculations were used to locate them for astrological purposes.

There were four other heavenly bodies introduced:

【紫氣】 – Wood Residue

【月孛】 – Water Residue

【羅睺】 – Fire Residue

【計都】 – Earth Residue

The system is now known as Seven Proper and Four Residues (七政四餘).

The four residues are speculatively associated with Neptune, Uranus, Pluto and a Comet.

Both Zi Ping Shu (子平術) and Zi Wei Dou Shu (紫微斗數) were inventions to replace Qi Zheng Si Yu. They both gave up using real astronomy to do the charting. Zi Ping Shu or Four Pillars Destiny Analysis (四柱命理學) uses the ten stems and twelve branches but some special combinations owe their origin to Qi Zheng Si Yu. For example, stars used in Zi Ping Shu like Hong Luan 红鸞, Tian Yi Gui Ren 天乙貴人 have the corresponding stars in Qi Zhen Si Yu. Likewise, they also appear in Zi Wei Dou Shu.

The stars we use in Zi Wei Dou Shu have a lot in common with the real stars in Qi Zheng Si Yu. However, it is interesting to note that the names of some major stars are based on names derived from Buddhism. For example:

The Chinese names of the stars in the Big Dipper are:

(1)Tian Shu 天樞 (2) Tian Xuan 天璇 (3) Tian Ji 天璣 (4) Tian Quan 天權 (5) Yu Heng 玉衡 (6) Kai Yang 開陽 (7) Yao Guang 摇光

The corresponding names used in Zi Wei Dou Shu are:

(1)Tan Lang 貪狼 (2) Ju Men 巨門 (3) Lu Cun 祿存 (4) Wen Qu 文曲 (5) Lian Zhen 廉貞 (6) Wu Qu 武曲 (7) Po Jun 破軍

Suffice it to say that the stars we use in Zi Wei Dou Shu are virtual stars pretending to be the real stars we see on the sky. In other words, it is a system of life reading but only virtual astrology.

JY

Zi Wei Dou Shu (2) - Ziwei Domain

Ziwei is the name of the entire domain situated in the north pole of the sky globe. It consists mainly of a left wall and a right wall. Included in the domain is the Emperor Constellation together with his administrative staff.



Outside the domain is the most noticeable Big Dipper. The stars in the Big Dipper (Ursa Major) form the backbone of the major stars we use in Zi Wei Dou Shu.

Zi Wei refers to the Ziwei Domain. Dou refers to the constellation Bei Dou or the Big Dipper. Shu means destiny (as prescribed by a numeral). Therefore, the name of this system of astrology should be interpreted as "Ziwei and Beidou Destiny Analysis".

JY

Zi Wei Dou Shu (1) - Chen Tuan

This is caligraphy by Chen Tuan 陳摶(also known as Chen Xi Yi 陳希夷, Chen Tu Nan 陳圖南, Fu Yao Zi 扶搖子, Bai Yun Xian Sheng 白雲先生) who was born at the end of the Tang Dynasty. During the "five generations" period, he became a hermit in Hua Shan 華山practicing Daoism. He fed solely on air and slept continuously for 100 days. He met the founder of the Song Dynasty long before the latter became emperor. One day they played Wei Qi 圍棋 and the bet was the mountain Hua Shan. He won and when Song Tai Zu 宋太祖was coronated as emperor, he remembered his bet and waived the tax on Hua Shan.

Chen Tuan was so famous that when Zi Wei Dou Shu 紫微斗數 was compiled in writing, his name was on it as the author. This was the usual practice in ancient China and it created a lot of trouble for scholars later to determine who the author really was.

JY