Tian Fu in the Parents Palace: You and the Generation Above

Tian Fu in the Parents Palace means your parents or elders are steady, reliable and good at looking after people; home is a place with solid footing.

Parents, elders and bosses

People with Tian Fu here tend to receive care and resources from elders and bosses. The lesson is being over-protected: your elders plan things thoroughly, so remember you also need to go out and try things yourself.

• With your parents: Steady, reliable parents who value a secure home.
• Elders, bosses and teachers: Solid bosses and teachers who are willing to share resources.
• Rules and authority: You respect stable systems and like an environment with clear procedures.

You and the generation above: the Life and Parents Palaces

With Tian Fu in the Parents Palace, the Life Palace star is not fixed: it can be Tian Tong, Tai Yang or Tian Ji, or the Life Palace can be empty.

With Tian Fu in the Parents Palace, the Life Palace star changes with the branch; the table below lists it for each one.

Parents and Mind: upbringing and inner life

Counting one palace forward from Tian Fu always lands on Tai Yin, and the Mind Palace always sits one palace forward from the Parents Palace, so with Tian Fu in the Parents Palace the Mind Palace always holds Tai Yin: the setting and upbringing your elders gave you tends to leave a lasting tint on your inner life. Further reading: Tai Yin in the Mind Palace.

With Tian Fu in the Parents Palace, the Friends Palace always holds Tian Xiang: friends and team members tend to play by the rules and know where the lines are. The Children Palace star is not fixed.

Bright and fallen positions

When bright, elders are a deep and dependable backstop. In a favorable position they care just as much but have less to give; with Di Kong or Di Jie they look steady but can offer less than it seems. Brightness by branch, from the table of the Complete Book this site uses: Exalted: Zi, Chou, Yin, Chen, Wei, Xu; Strong: Wu, You; Favorable: Mao, Si, Shen, Hai.

The Parents Palace forms a trine with the Children and Friends Palaces (the generation above, the generation below, and friends and team members read as one group), and it sits between the Life Palace and the Mind Palace. Opposite is the Health Palace; we only read it as the star shining into the Parents Palace and make no health readings. The table shows, for each of the twelve branches Tian Fu can occupy in the Parents Palace, the star shining in from opposite and the major stars of the Life, Mind, Children and Friends Palaces.

"Empty palace" means the palace has none of the fourteen major stars; in that case you read it through the stars of the opposite palace.

The six combinations

Wu Qu with Tian Fu (Zi or Wu)

Zi: Tian Fu exalted, Wu Qu strong; Wu: Tian Fu strong, Wu Qu strong. Shining in from opposite: Qi Sha; Life: Tian Tong; Mind: Tai Yang and Tai Yin. About 17.1% of charts with Tian Fu in the Parents Palace fall into this group.

Two wealth stars guard the Parents Palace: elders are practical and steady and can give you concrete support. The downside is that they rarely put feelings into words. Further reading: Wu Qu in the Parents Palace.

Tian Fu alone, facing Lian Zhen and Qi Sha (Chou or Wei)

Chou: Tian Fu exalted; Wei: Tian Fu exalted. Shining in from opposite: Lian Zhen and Qi Sha; Life: Tai Yang; Mind: Tian Ji and Tai Yin. About 16.5% of charts with Tian Fu in the Parents Palace fall into this group.

Tian Fu is exalted in Chou and Wei, with Lian Zhen and Qi Sha shining in from opposite: elders are steady and dependable, with principle and drive.

Zi Wei with Tian Fu (Yin or Shen)

Yin: Tian Fu exalted, Zi Wei strong; Shen: Tian Fu favorable, Zi Wei strong. Shining in from opposite: Qi Sha; Life: Tian Ji; Mind: Tai Yin. About 18.0% of charts with Tian Fu in the Parents Palace fall into this group.

Elders are steady and well placed, a solid backer. The catch is that they expect a lot and arrange a lot, and you need room of your own. Further reading: Zi Wei in the Parents Palace.

Tian Fu alone, facing Wu Qu and Qi Sha (Mao or You)

Mao: Tian Fu favorable; You: Tian Fu strong. Shining in from opposite: Wu Qu and Qi Sha; Life: empty palace; Mind: Tai Yin. About 15.7% of charts with Tian Fu in the Parents Palace fall into this group.

Tian Fu sits alone with Wu Qu and Qi Sha shining in from opposite: elders are steady, and also tough and decisive. In You, Tian Fu is strong and the backing is deeper than in Mao.

Lian Zhen with Tian Fu (Chen or Xu)

Chen: Tian Fu exalted, Lian Zhen fair; Xu: Tian Fu exalted, Lian Zhen fair. Shining in from opposite: Qi Sha; Life: empty palace; Mind: Tai Yin. About 15.6% of charts with Tian Fu in the Parents Palace fall into this group.

Elders are principled and steady, shrewd and dependable. This is the most stable Lian Zhen combination in the Parents Palace. Further reading: Lian Zhen in the Parents Palace.

Tian Fu alone, facing Zi Wei and Qi Sha (Si or Hai)

Si: Tian Fu favorable; Hai: Tian Fu favorable. Shining in from opposite: Zi Wei and Qi Sha; Life: empty palace; Mind: Tian Tong and Tai Yin. About 17.1% of charts with Tian Fu in the Parents Palace fall into this group.

Tian Fu sits alone with Zi Wei and Qi Sha shining in from opposite: elders are steady, with a strong urge to take charge.

Birth-year transformations in the Parents Palace

Under the Four Transformations table of the Complete Book of Zi Wei Dou Shu, Tian Fu never transforms, so Tian Fu in the Parents Palace never carries a birth-year Hua Lu, Hua Quan, Hua Ke or Hua Ji of its own. For transformations in how you get on with elders, look at any other star sharing the palace, at Lu Cun, and at the star shining in from opposite.

Getting along

Value the backing your elders give you, and build up your own footing on your own path.

About 40.7% of charts with Tian Fu in the Parents Palace also have at least one of the six Sha stars in that palace, about the same as the 41.9% across all charts. Malefic stars in the Parents Palace usually show up as more friction and more differences of opinion with elders or bosses, which calls for more talking things through; they do not mean a bad relationship with your parents.

What our sample shows

How we counted: this site’s engine cast one Zi Wei chart for every day from 1960 to 2005 (birth hour drawn by a fixed-seed random sample), 16,802 charts in all. These figures describe how chart structures are distributed; they do not measure anyone’s parents' fortunes or family bonds.

Other major stars in the Parents Palace