Tian Tong and the Wellbeing palace

One blanket line, and a table with a sunken cell

Count along the Zi Wei sequence and Tian Tong (天同) comes fifth, landing on the branch five steps back from Zi Wei. The classic Zi Wei Dou Shu Quan Shu (紫微斗數全書) speaks of it in two tones, a blanket one and a position-by-position one. The blanket line sits in the opening passage of the Tian Tong entry:

Within the twelve palaces it counts as blessing everywhere.

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Comparison sketch: grades are the juan 2 Miao/Wang table, which iztro 2.6.0 matches on these twelve cells; co-residents come from the placement verse.

The picture takes the three pairs of positions where Tian Tong has a co-resident; the upper line of each column is Tian Tong's grade and the lower line is the partner's. At Rat and Horse it meets Tai Yin (太陰): Tian Tong is Wang then Xian, Tai Yin Miao then Bu. At Ox and Goat it meets Ju Men (巨門), and both are Bu. At Tiger and Monkey it meets Tian Liang (天梁): Tian Tong is Li then Wang, Tian Liang Miao then Xian. The whole twelve-cell row, grouped by grade:

So the table has one Xian cell and two Bu cells, and it sits in the book beside the line about blessing in all twelve palaces. The engine data agrees with the book on every cell and adds Water and Yang.

Tian Tong rules the Wellbeing palace, and where is that palace?

The book's reply to the question about Tian Tong begins:

Tian Tong is Water, the fourth star of the south, and master of the Wellbeing palace.

Juan 2's list of star elements words it as "Tian Tong, Water and Metal, Southern Dipper, turns into fortune, ruler of Wellbeing"; it carries an extra Metal and a qi title of "fortune", while the engine table records Water only.

The Wellbeing palace is eleventh in the order of twelve and sits two branches after the Life palace: with the Life palace at Tiger, Wellbeing is at Dragon. Tian Tong is five places before Zi Wei, so for it to land in the Wellbeing palace Zi Wei must first be in the Health palace, five places before the Life palace. Turn it round: whenever Zi Wei occupies the Life palace, Tian Tong falls in the Health palace.

"Master of the Wellbeing palace" is the book's pairing. Whether it comes together as a shared palace on a given chart has to be computed, and the book does not do the arithmetic for the reader.

Snake and Pig: top grade in the table, demoted by a clause

After the blanket line, the same speaker adds several limits, one of which reads:

Meeting the four malefics and sitting on Snake or Pig, it is sunken.

In the table Snake and Pig are Miao, Tian Tong's highest grade, yet this sentence says that with the four malefics meeting there it is called sunken. One position, two ways of writing it: the table cell is unconditional and the clause carries a premise. The table behind site charts has no "meets the four malefics" axis, so a chart page still shows Miao for Tian Tong on Snake and Pig.

When you meet a clause like this, list its premise on its own line: whether the four malefics really meet there has to be counted from the stars on that chart, and seeing Snake or Pig is not enough to rewrite the grade. The placement rule for each of the four is set out in supporting, malefic and minor stars.

The three partners, and who can tell opposite positions apart

Tian Tong has only three partners: Tai Yin on Rat and Horse, Ju Men on Ox and Goat, Tian Liang on Tiger and Monkey; the six positions Rabbit, Dragon, Snake, Rooster, Dog and Pig leave it alone.

Among the opposite pairs, Tian Tong's own grade already separates Rat from Horse (Wang, Xian) and Tiger from Monkey (Li, Wang). On Ox and Goat, Tian Tong and Ju Men are both Bu, and only the Life-palace branch and the palace name can still tell them apart.

1. 1

   State the table grade, then ask about a clause

   "Tian Tong at Horse, Xian in the table"; then check whether the same passage attaches a premise such as meeting the four malefics.

2. 2

   For a palace pairing, count by position

   Wellbeing is the second place after Life, and Tian Tong is five places before Zi Wei; set the two numbers side by side before concluding.

3. 3

   Of the three partner pairs, only Ox and Goat need another clue

   Tian Tong's own grade separates Rat from Horse and Tiger from Monkey. Ox and Goat are both Bu, and the solitary pairs Rabbit/Rooster, Dragon/Dog and Snake/Pig also share one grade, so there turn to palace names and the three-sides-four-directions.

Wu Qu precedes Tian Tong in the six-star order and Lian Zhen follows; for the Wellbeing palace itself and its eleven neighbors, turn to the twelve palaces.