Tian Liang: two orders and two disagreements

Dipper seat two, placement six: one star, two orders

To put it plainly: the book says Tian Liang (天梁) is the second star of the Southern Dipper, calls it the "star of longevity" and gives it the qi title "Shade"; on a chart, though, it lands on the sixth cell counting forward from Tian Fu. Second and sixth belong to two different orders.

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Grade line: heights follow the juan 2 table (Miao 7, Wang 6, De 5, Xian 1); the marks show the wording of the entry and of the verse, and the juan 3 list and iztro engine were checked against the table.

The picture is the grade line of Tian Liang's twelve cells: Rat, Tiger, Rabbit, Dragon, Horse and Dog are Miao, Ox and Goat are Wang, Rooster is De, and Snake, Monkey and Pig are Xian. The three marks are places where the book is not consistent with itself, taken up in the next section. First, the star's background, from the juan 1 replies on the stars:

Tian Liang belongs to Earth and is the second star of the Southern Dipper. It governs longevity, its qi becomes the Shade, and the Shade is blessing and long life.

Juan 2 squeezes it into one line in its list assigning the stars to the Dippers and the elements:

Tian Liang is Earth, Southern Dipper, turns into the Shade, master of the star of longevity.

In the engine (iztro 2.6.0) Tian Liang is Earth as well. Where does "second" come from? The book seats the six Southern Dipper stars, and the seating can be set beside the order of the placement verse:

For Tian Xiang the two orders happen to coincide at five; Tian Liang is the one furthest apart, second in the seating and sixth in the cell count. On reading "the Nth star", first ask whether it counts the seat or the cell.

Three records say Wang, one says Miao: Ox, Goat and Monkey

Put Tian Liang's twelve cells into four records: the juan 2 grade table; the juan 3 list "Tian Liang, Miao on Rat, Horse, Tiger, Rabbit, Dragon, Dog; Wang on Ox and Goat; De on Rooster; Xian on Monkey, Snake, Pig"; the engine; and the juan 2 entry. The table, the list and the engine agree entirely. The entry and one verse each differ once.

Start with the entry. In the line for Ox and Goat it writes:

Ox and Goat palaces: enter the temple.

In the table Ox and Goat are both Wang, and the list and the engine say Wang too; only the entry writes Miao, one rung apart. Then a verse from the male-chart verses in juan 2:

Rat, Horse, Tiger, Monkey are the Miao cells.

The verse counts Monkey among the Miao cells, yet the entry writes "Tiger palace Miao, Monkey palace sunken", and the table, the list and the engine all say Monkey is Xian. The two disagreements differ in kind: Ox and Goat are one rung apart, Monkey is a difference of direction.

Three partners, half each

The entry names three stars that share Tian Liang's palace: Tai Yang on Rabbit and Rooster, Tian Ji on Dragon and Dog, Tian Tong on Tiger and Monkey. Cast all twelve charts with the placement verse and each partner turns out to have a second half, on the cells where it stands across rather than in the same palace:

The entry writes only the first three rows; the last three are unwritten but hold on every chart. Each partner shares Tian Liang's palace on one pair of cells and stands across from it on another. One line in the same verses reads "Dragon-Dog with Tian Ji and Tian Liang is no small help", and Dragon-Dog sharing with Tian Ji is exactly the table's second row, matching the entry.

Life or opposite holds Tian Liang: two charts of twelve

The juan 1 reply on Tian Liang carries a condition:

If the Life palace or the one opposite has Tian Liang

This is a condition on position and can be converted directly. With the Life palace fixed, the twelve Zi Wei landings walk Tian Liang through each of the twelve branches exactly once, so Tian Liang in Life is one chart of twelve, in the opposite palace another, two of twelve in all. For example, Life on Rat:

The body ruler is found differently, by the birth year's branch and not by position. Juan 2, in its section on the body ruler, writes:

People of Tiger and Monkey: the star Tian Liang.

For Tiger and Monkey years the body ruler is Tian Liang, and iztro's charts agree (for instance the Bing Yin and Ren Shen years).

The star before Tian Liang is Tian Xiang and the one after is Qi Sha; the count starts from Tian Fu, for the grade rungs themselves see brightness levels, and for the difference between Life and body palaces is in Life and body palaces.