Critique of the Beidou Nine Stars Hanging-Palace (Hanging Celestial Stars) Date-Selection Method

This method uses the Nine Stars Tanlang, Ju, Lu, Wen, Lian, Wu, Po, Fu, and Bi, together with the twelve Earthly Branches and the Former-Heaven Eight Trigrams, calculated as follows:

Take Ding-You year, Jia-Chen month, Geng-Wu day, Zi hour, a Xun house, as an example:

For the month: take the year’s Tai Sui branch, start at Xu, count branch by branch to the month position; Chen is counted onto Mao. Mao belongs to the Zhen trigram; by the Former-Heaven trigram sequence, the month therefore has Bi.

For the day: from the month’s Chen branch start at Xu, count branch by branch to the day; Wu lands on Zi. Zi is Kan, so start Pojun on Kan and obtain Lianzhen on Xun.

For the hour: from the Wu day start at Xu, count branch by branch to the hour; Zi lands on Shen, and Shen again belongs to Kun. Using the Former-Heaven eight-trigram sequence, start Po on Kun and obtain Lucun on Xun.

Another example: Jia-Wu, Ding-Chou, Jia-Wu, Yi-Chou, a Dui house:

From Wu start at Xu and count to Chou; arranging the trigram sequence yields Pojun. From Chou start at Xu and count to Wu—again Pojun. From Wu start at Xu and count to Chou—again Pojun.

Its underlying arrangement is in truth the following:

5   3   8
4           2
7   6   1

That is, the Former-Heaven eight trigrams are shifted onto the Later-Heaven palace positions. Thus this method’s conversion is quite simple: one need only memorize these directions on the palm and compute accordingly.

Though this date-selection method cites the Daoist saying “Pojun appears at every hour,” seeming to seek the news of Tiangang for date selection, the method is actually greatly wrong. What it computes looks like seeking the month within the year, the day within the month, and the hour within the day, yet it neither joins the celestial stars nor matches the stems and branches. If one speaks of unity of qi, it connects only a tenth or two; it may occasionally verify, but it never achieves full measure.

For instance, after the qi exchange mid-month there is absolutely no logic in using Xu; furthermore one must speak of orientation and turning toward or away from yin and yang, which this scheme does not fully cover. If the constellations shift and miss a whole palace’s span, one might infer and tie it to the established Five Phases; yet one trigram governs three mountains under the twelve-branch division—forty degrees against thirty—and the constellations do not shift by a clean fifteen degrees. What they encompass is already off. Though it may occasionally verify, how can it serve the completeness of selecting auspicious times?

Because Zi and Wu are the warp of Heaven and Earth: Zi is Tanlang; Chou and Hai are Julu; Yin and Xu are Lucun; Mao and You are Wenqu; Chen and Shen are Lianzhen; Si and Wei are Wuqu; Wu is Pojun.

Thus, arranged by the twelve branches as below:

        Po
Wu          Wu
Lian        Lian
Wen         Wen
Lu          Lu
Ju          Ju
        Tan

The reason is that the Northern Dipper has two spirits: yang turns to the left, yin goes to the right. The Huainanzi says: “The spirits of the Northern Dipper have male and female. In the eleventh month the beginning is established at Zi; each month follows one branch—the male goes left, the female goes right. In the fifth month they join at Wu to plot punishment; in the eleventh month they join at Zi to plot virtue. The place where Taiyin dwells is called the yi-day; on yi-days one must not undertake a hundred affairs. In geomancy the movement is slow: the male knows the female by sound, therefore it is the extraordinary branch. Numbering begins from Jia-Zi; mother and son seek each other, and the place they join is called join. Ten days, twelve branches; sixty days complete a cycle, with eight joins in all. Joining before the year brings death; joining after the year brings no calamity.”

What does “the male knows the female by sound” mean? If Zi and Wu share one qi, their qi—Tanlang and Pojun—both receive Geng. From Jia to Geng is seven; this is yang, so Tanlang is male. Forward is male, backward is female. Male and female both travel together in the Zi month, meet again in the Wu month, and each takes its own share; thus the Yin month is male Lucun and the Hai month is female Lucun. This matches the Cantongqi: “The male yang scatters the dark gift; the female yin transforms the yellow bag. Chaos joins and hands over; power begins and plants the foundation.”

Therefore yin and yang must be matched, male and female matched, before a foundation can be set. Thus “Jia-Gui-Shen is Tanlang traveling one road”: Jia’s lu is at Yin, Gui’s lu is at Zi; Shen’s lu is Geng. From Jia to Geng is seven; Zi and Wu belong to Geng, hence the number seven, corresponding to Pojun at Wu. So the male of Zi (Tanlang) is paired with the female of Wu (Pojun), meeting and joining in Xuan Kong. Likewise Kun-Ren-Yi: Ren’s lu is at Hai, taking Julu; Si and Hai are Ding. From Ding to Kun is three; from Ding to Yi again three. Since Julu is female, Lucun must be male—precisely matching Yi’s lu at Mao, the qi of Lucun. This again accords with “the emperor emerges from Zhen”: in both Former and Later Heaven, Zhen and Gen, three and eight all match.