Tian Ma in Zi Wei Dou Shu: Movement, Change and Chances on the Move
Tian Ma (the Heavenly Horse) is the travel star of Zi Wei Dou Shu. Its palace is set by the birth-year branch and it stands for movement, change and being on the go: the area it sits in changes more often, and chances tend to turn up while you are moving.
What Tian Ma is
Tian Ma likes company from Lu Cun or Hua Lu; the pairing is called “Lu and Ma racing together”, meaning the more you move, the more you gain. Alone, without Lu, it leans towards being busy and on the road, and the task is to give all that running around a direction.
- Restless, enjoys novelty and change
- Adaptable and unafraid of new surroundings
- Quick to act once an idea lands
Lu Cun and Tian Ma are minor stars of the same rank as the six auspicious and six Sha stars and are listed with them on a chart; many books discuss them alongside the auspicious stars as “Lu and Ma”.
How Tian Ma is placed
Tian Ma is placed by the birth-year branch: find which three-harmony group your year branch belongs to; Tian Ma sits opposite the first branch of that group. For Yin, Wu and Xu years the first branch is Yin, so Tian Ma is in Shen, opposite Yin. BaZi’s travel star (yi ma) uses the same table, but BaZi checks both the year and day branches while Zi Wei looks only at the birth-year branch. Each year also has a yearly Tian Ma, found from that year’s branch.
| Birth-year branch | Tian Ma in |
|---|---|
| Yin, Wu, Xu | Shen |
| Shen, Zi, Chen | Yin |
| Si, You, Chou | Hai |
| Hai, Mao, Wei | Si |
The table was worked back from real charts cast by this site’s engine, the same rules as the chart tool. Zi Wei changes years at Chinese New Year, and births after 23:00 count as the Zi hour of the next day. Tian Ma never falls in Zi, Chou, Mao, Chen, Wu, Wei, You and Xu.
Tian Ma and Lu Cun
Lu Cun and Tian Ma in the same palace is the strictest reading of “Lu and Ma racing together”. Because Lu Cun follows the year stem and Tian Ma the year branch, only 6 of the sixty stem-branch years put them together: Jia-Zi, Geng-Wu, Jia-Shen, Geng-Yin, Jia-Chen and Geng-Xu. In our sample of births from 1960 to 2005 that is about 11.1%. A looser reading counts Lu Cun and Tian Ma both appearing in the Life Palace’s group of four palaces; that happens in about 10.2% of charts.
Tian Ma only ever lands in Yin, Shen, Si or Hai, the four branches the old texts call the “horse grounds”. In our sample about 8.6% of people have Tian Ma in the Travel Palace, where it does its best work.
Further reading: Lu Cun, the six auspicious and six Sha stars.
Tian Ma in the twelve palaces
| Palace | Tian Ma in this palace |
|---|---|
| Life Palace | Active and adaptable; life brings many moves, business trips or career switches. |
| Siblings Palace | Siblings or partners often live elsewhere, and you keep in touch at a distance. |
| Spouse Palace | The partner may come from another place, or the two of you travel together a lot; when you are often apart, put effort into staying close. |
| Children Palace | The younger generation is lively and may build a life somewhere else. |
| Wealth Palace | Money comes while things are moving; suited to sales, trade and income that means getting around. |
| Travel Palace | Tian Ma is at its best in the Travel Palace: many chances to go out, go abroad or work across regions. |
| Friends Palace | Friends are spread far and wide, and the network grows as you move. |
| Career Palace | Suited to work with frequent travel, field work, cross-regional roles or fast change. |
| Property Palace | May move house more often than most, or keep more than one home at once. |
| Mind Palace | Longs for freedom and grows impatient when stuck in one place too long. |
| Parents Palace | Elders or superiors change often, or you live apart from family. |
| Health Palace | Not covered: this site does not do health readings. |
What the data says
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 good or bad fortune.
Myth: Tian Ma in the Life Palace means a life of toil.
Tian Ma means motion, and motion with a direction is opportunity. Working across regions and collaborating remotely are ordinary now, so Tian Ma’s restlessness is often an advantage.
Myth: if Tian Ma is in the wrong place you will never go abroad.
Tian Ma is the position of one star. Whether you go abroad or move depends as well on the Travel Palace, the transformations and the decade and year periods.
Advice
Give each move a purpose: before you change surroundings, decide what to take with you and what to leave behind.
Lu Cun, Tian Ma and four lesser stars
A straight word: Lu and Ma are tendencies, not a bank balance
Lu Cun and Tian Ma show where resources and movement are more likely to turn up. They do not guarantee income, and they do not mean you must move house or go abroad. This site does not read the Health Palace. Everything here is for reference and entertainment and is not investment or financial advice.
Where is Tian Ma in your chart?
Enter your date and time of birth to cast your chart, then tap any palace to see its minor, Sha and lesser stars.
Tian Ma: FAQ
Does Tian Ma in the Life Palace mean going abroad?
Tian Ma stands for movement and change: going abroad, moving house, business trips and changing jobs all count, so it does not have to mean going abroad. This site only describes tendencies.
How common is Tian Ma in the Life Palace?
In our sample of 16,802 charts, about 8.3% of people have Tian Ma in the Life Palace, and about 33.8% have it somewhere in the Life Palace’s group.
How do I find my Tian Ma?
Tian Ma is placed by the birth-year branch; the full table is on this page. You can also cast your chart with our free Zi Wei tool.