Tiantong Star

It is one of the fourteen major stars in Ziwei Doushu. It stands for mood, enjoyment and getting along with people.

A chart has twelve cells, called palaces. Each palace covers one area of life. The Wealth Palace, for example, covers money, and the Life Palace is the cell about you.

Enter your birth date and hour in the free Ziwei Doushu calculator. The chart labels are in Chinese, so look for the cell showing 天同. The palace name on that cell is where the star sits for you.

If it sits in the Life Palace itself, this is called Tiantong in the Life Palace (Tiantong Zuo Ming).

The star's element is Water, and old texts say it rules the Fortune Palace. The Complete Book of Ziwei Doushu (Ziwei Doushu Quanshu) calls it "the ruler of the Fortune Palace."

The Fortune Palace is about your inner life: how you unwind and what you enjoy. So this star's lessons tend to be about mood and quality of life.

The star is brightest in Si and Hai, and weakest in Wu. Each of the twelve cells is marked with an Earthly Branch, running from Zi to Hai.

Brightness says how freely a star works in that cell. There are seven levels. The strongest is Temple and the weakest is Fallen, with five steps in between: Prosperous, Gaining Ground, Beneficial, Neutral and Not Gaining Ground.

In Chou and Wei, it is Not Gaining Ground. That means short of strength there, but not as weak as Fallen.

With Tiantong in your Life Palace, you tend to be easygoing and soft-hearted, and people like you. You know how to enjoy life, and you care whether the people around you are at ease. Under pressure, you are more likely to step away or put things off.

Where you tend to shine

• When the mood turns tense, you are often the one who eases it.
• You don't keep score, so people feel relaxed around you.
• You look after yourself and still notice how others feel.

Where you tend to get stuck

• You avoid conflict, so saying no is hard.
• When a task gets hard, you set it aside, and it may slip to the last minute.
• You often need a push before you give it everything.

How this plays out also depends on the Three Directions and Four Squares (San Fang Si Zheng). That is the group of four palaces you read together, starting from the Life Palace.

There are six pairings, set by the branch of your Life Palace. In three, the star shares the palace with another major star, and in the other three it sits alone. "Sharing the palace" means sitting in the same cell, and the opposite palace is the cell directly across.

Zi and Wu: Tiantong with Taiyin

It shares the palace with Taiyin. You tend to be sensitive and warm-hearted, and you pick up on the mood in a room. Both stars are bright in Zi and weak in Wu, where your mood may swing more.

Chou and Wei: Tiantong with Jumen

It shares the palace with Jumen, and both stars are Not Gaining Ground there. You tend to overthink, and you may keep complaints to yourself.

Yin and Shen: Tiantong with Tianliang

It shares the palace with Tianliang. You tend to be gentle and caring, and people often come to you for advice.

Mao and You, Chen and Xu, Si and Hai: Tiantong alone

It is the only major star in your Life Palace, so its gentle nature shows most directly. The star across from it is Taiyin, Jumen or Tianliang, in that order, and its traits come in too.

With this star in your Life Palace, you tend to suit work built on good relationships or quality of life.

• Service and careCustomer service, nursing, social work and other roles that need patience with people.
• Food and designWork that helps people eat well and live comfortably.
• TeachingWork that means spending long stretches with students.
• Public serviceSteady roles with clear rules.

Your direction also depends on the Career Palace, the palace that covers work.

Tiantong takes Hua Lu (wealth) in Bing years, Hua Quan (power) in Ding years and Hua Ji (obstacle) in Geng years. It never takes Hua Ke (fame). These are the Four Transformations (Si Hua), four ways a star can change.

Bing, Ding and Geng are the stems of your birth year, and the year's last digit tells you which. A year ending in 6 is Bing, 7 is Ding and 0 is Geng, so 1986 is a Bing year. If you were born before Lunar New Year, count the previous year.

With Hua Lu, you tend to enjoy life even more, and people warm to you. With Hua Quan, your gentleness gains a firmer will, and you are more willing to step up and decide. Each ten-year Decade Cycle (Da Xian) and each single year can also give the star one of these three.

Wherever the star sits, that area of life is where you look for comfort and harmony.