Qi Sha: four Dipper cells and a Rooster clash
Content version · · Sources & references
Qi Sha is Fire and Metal, sixth in the Southern Dipper. The pattern "facing the Dipper" as four Zi Wei landings, the entry against the table, the juan 3 list and the engine, the Rooster clash, and eight meeting charts.
The short version7 min read
The pattern "Qi Sha facing the Dipper" is Zi Wei on Tiger, Monkey, Dragon or Dog; Rooster is the one cell where book and engine differ; and "meeting the Emperor" holds in eight of the twelve charts.
- Converted to Zi Wei landings, "Qi Sha on Tiger, Monkey, Rat, Horse" means Zi Wei on Tiger, Monkey, Dragon or Dog; in those four charts Qi Sha is alone, Tian Fu is opposite, and either Zi Wei or Wu Qu stands there with it.
- The six entry lines, the juan 2 grade table and the juan 3 list match exactly; the engine differs on one cell only, writing Miao where the book writes Wang on Rooster, and the other eleven are the same.
- Qi Sha and Zi Wei meet in three ways: sharing a palace in two charts, opposite in two, on the trine in four; in the remaining four charts the two cannot meet.
Read first
The fourteen major stars: learn the roster and its structure ↗
Fire, Metal, general star: the names Qi Sha carries
Stated flatly: in the book Qi Sha (七杀) is the "high general within the Dipper" and its element is written as two words, "Fire, Metal"; on a chart it lands on the seventh cell counting forward from Tian Fu.
Ring: the cell classes follow the juan 3 pattern, the juan 2 grade table and iztro charts; Rooster is the only cell where book and engine are a rung apart.
The picture marks Qi Sha's twelve cells in three classes: Tiger, Monkey, Rat and Horse are the "facing the Dipper" cells, Snake and Pig share the palace with Zi Wei, and Rooster is the one cell where the book and the engine differ. Each class gets a section; first, the names the book gives the star. The juan 1 reply opens:
Qi Sha is the sixth star of the Southern Dipper, belonging to Fire and Metal. It is the high general within the Dipper.
The first line of the juan 2 entry:
Qi Sha is Fire and Metal, a general star of the Southern Dipper; meeting the Emperor it becomes authority, and in every other palace it is a killing.
A line in the same juan, in the list assigning stars to the Dippers and the elements, has the same content but writes "descending star" where the entry writes "general star"; two spellings in one juan, and this page does not decide between them.
Enlarge diagram · scroll sideways to read
The difference between the Dipper seat (sixth) and the placement cell (seventh) is spelled out in the Tian Liang article. The line "meeting the Emperor it becomes authority, and in every other palace it is a killing" is the backbone of the entry: meeting Zi Wei is one state and everything else another, and the fourth section below counts "meeting" by position.
Facing the Dipper: Qi Sha on four cells is Zi Wei on four others
One record in the juan 3 verses on stars that share a palace names a pattern purely by position:
Qi Sha on Tiger, Monkey, Rat, Horse ... is the pattern Qi Sha Facing the Dipper (Chao Dou).
The name gives only positions: Qi Sha on Tiger, Monkey, Rat or Horse. Qi Sha stands six cells after Tian Fu, and Tian Fu is set by Zi Wei; working backward, Qi Sha on Monkey, Tiger, Horse or Rat corresponds to Zi Wei on Tiger, Monkey, Dragon or Dog. Cast those four charts:
Enlarge diagram · scroll sideways to read
The four charts share three things: Qi Sha is alone in its palace, Tian Fu is opposite, and the trine cells hold Tan Lang and Po Jun. They differ in the other star opposite: Zi Wei when Zi Wei is on Tiger or Monkey, Wu Qu when it is on Dragon or Dog. And "Tian Fu opposite" is not limited to this pattern; the juan 2 verses on Qi Sha in a limit period say:
the opposite palace, Tian Fu, comes squarely to court
Cast by the placement verse, Tian Fu faces Qi Sha in all twelve charts without a miss, so the condition never fails; what remains to read is the other stars that arrive together with Tian Fu.
Rooster: three records say Wang, the engine says Miao
The entry sorts Qi Sha's twelve cells into six lines: Rat and Horse Wang, Rabbit and Rooster Wang with Wu Qu, Dragon and Dog Miao, Ox and Goat Miao with Lian Zhen, Tiger and Monkey Miao, Snake and Pig Ping with Zi Wei. Juan 3 adds a list: "Qi Sha, Miao on Dragon, Dog, Ox, Goat, Tiger, Monkey; Wang on Rat, Horse, Rabbit, Rooster; Ping on Snake, Pig; no Xian". The entry, the juan 2 table and the juan 3 list agree cell by cell, and the three partner stars (Wu Qu on Rabbit and Rooster, Lian Zhen on Ox and Goat, Zi Wei on Snake and Pig) match the cast charts.
The charts that iztro 2.6.0 casts differ on a single cell:
Enlarge diagram · scroll sideways to read
A rung on Rooster is a disagreement between the book and the engine, not the book contradicting itself. When citing Qi Sha's grade on Rooster, say which one you mean and do not average them into a single grade.
Meeting the Emperor: eight of twelve charts can meet
The "Emperor" is Zi Wei, the throne star. The book does not say whether "meeting" means sharing a palace, standing opposite or being on the trine, so each of the three relations that can be checked is counted: Qi Sha shares a palace with Zi Wei only in the two charts with Zi Wei on Snake or Pig; it is opposite in the two with Zi Wei on Tiger or Monkey; and on the trine in the four with Zi Wei on Ox, Rabbit, Goat or Rooster.
Enlarge diagram · scroll sideways to read
The entry writes one of the three:
Snake and Pig palaces are even, sharing with Zi Wei.
The other two come from the positions. Together 2 + 2 + 4 = 8: in eight of twelve charts Zi Wei and Qi Sha can meet, and in the other four (Zi Wei on Rat, Dragon, Horse or Dog) the two hold none of these relations. Notably Zi Wei on Dragon or Dog are exactly two of the four charts of the pattern above, and in those two the star opposite Qi Sha is Wu Qu, not Zi Wei.
Two small exercises
Qi Sha is on Horse: where is Zi Wei, who is opposite, and is it the pattern?
Zi Wei is on Dragon; Wu Qu and Tian Fu are opposite; Qi Sha is on Horse, so it is the pattern.
Zi Wei is on Rat: where is Qi Sha, and can it "meet" Zi Wei?
Qi Sha is on Dog, two cells from Zi Wei, which is none of same palace, opposite or trine.
The rung scale itself is explained in brightness levels.
Questions readers ask next
Qi Sha's element is written "Fire, Metal". Is that a slip?
It is not a slip. Juan 1 and juan 2 both write Fire and Metal, so the book records two elements for this star; in the iztro engine's star table the element field for Qi Sha is empty. When an element is needed, say first that it is the book's wording.
Does "facing the Dipper" apply whenever Qi Sha is on Tiger, Monkey, Rat or Horse?
In the original the pattern name gives only those four positions and no further condition; once converted, the four positions are exactly four Zi Wei landings. The verdict the text attaches to the name is not quoted on this site, and no condition is supplied for it.
The book and the engine are one rung apart on Rooster. Which one is right?
First separate which one you are quoting: the book's table, entry and juan 3 list agree on Wang, while this site's engine writes Miao. Name the source when citing and do not average them. When comparing with the book, mark the Rooster cell by itself.
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Sources & references
Continue reading
Tian Liang (天梁): Dipper Seat Two, Placement Six, and Two Places the Book Disagrees ↗
Po Jun (破军): The Last Dipper Star, Jia and Gui, and a Snake-Pig Line with No Grade ↗