Eight Mansion's Wandering Stars Part 1
- by Master HC HungLocation location location, that’s the battle cry of today’s real estate business. Interestingly the same could have been an issue with the Wandering Stars of 8-Mansions fengshui, albeit in a different context.
Of late much interest has been expressed, under various forums, on the interplay of elements between the Wandering Stars and the Palaces they land on. The discussions prompted me to look up what the classical texts and other writers have to say, and in the process unearthed a plethora of divergent interpretations. I am happy to share my findings herein, and in the concluding paragraphs, table my own view and the reasoning behind.
As this paper is an attempt, feeble as it may be, at academic research, I dearly welcome comments and criticisms, all in the spirit of advancing our knowledge of 8-Mansions fengshui. Chinese writers are fond of using the phrase “throw out a brick to attract jade”. Whilst this may be labeled “unrealistic profit expectations” in today’s world, it’s a nice thought.
The classical name of the topic being discussed is “gong xing sheng ke” (宫星生克), which may be simply translated as “elemental interplay between Palace and Star”.
Background
Whereas the 8 Wandering Stars: shengqi, tianyi, yannian, fuwei, huohai, liusha, wugui and jueming are taught at a fairly basic level in the study of 8-Mansions, less attention is paid to the fact that these Stars have intrinsic elements, and that the interplay between the element of the visiting Star and the element of the host Palace will affect the strength of the Star.
The 8 Wandering Stars, the heavenly stars associated with them, their respective metaphysical elements and polarity are tabulated below:
| Wandering Star (游星) | Heavenly Star (天星) | Element | Polarity |
| shengqi (生气) | Greedy Wolf (贪狼) | Wood | yang |
| tianyi (天医) | Hugh Door (巨门) | Earth | yang |
| yannian (延年) | Military Arts (武曲) | Metal | yang |
| fuwei (伏位) | Left & Right Assistants (辅弼) | Wood | yin |
| huohai (祸害) | Rewards (禄存) | Earth | yin |
| liusha (六煞) | Literary Arts (文曲) | Water | yang |
| wugui (五鬼) | Chastity (廉贞) | Fire | yin |
| jueming (绝命) | Broken Soldier (破军) | Metal | yin |
The first 4 (shengqi, tianyi, yannian, fuwei) are the good guys, and the other 4 the baddies. That’s common knowledge, but how good or how bad? That will depend on where the Star lands in the luoshu (洛书) diagram, i.e. which Palace. The extent to which the Palace, as host, affects the Star, as visitor, is open to interpretation, and opinions do diverge widely between writers.
The luoshu Palaces need no introduction, but the following table is included for easy reference:
| Location | luoshu Number | Palace name | Element | Polarity |
| Northwest | 6 | qian(乾) | Metal | yang |
| North | 1 | kan (坎) | Water | yang |
| Northeast | 8 | gen (艮) | Earth | yang |
| East | 3 | zhen (震) | Wood | yang |
| West | 7 | dui (兑) | Metal | yin |
| Southwest | 2 | kun (坤) | Earth | yin |
| South | 9 | li (离) | Fire | yin |
| Southeast | 4 | xun (巽) | Wood | yin |
This is what the classics, and other masters more learned than I, have to say:
Click here for part 2
(Article kind courtesy of Master HC Hung)
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