The Flavors of Life: What Dou Shu Has Taught Me

AI translated from the original Chinese.

Generated by Gemini

Since I started writing up notes after each reading, it has truly helped improve my reading skills, but it has also made my life busier. Especially in recent days: a reading marathon several days in a row, eight hours of readings a day, four or five charts in a session. That's almost a normal office worker's hours, and with the intense mental effort plus organizing notes, it takes up the whole day. After finishing my notes I collapse into bed, with no energy left to update the blog promptly.

Recently it was the same intense schedule of readings. I had meant to go home and rest, but I had an appointment with a student I taught long ago, so I stayed at Dante Coffee to wait for him. This student had always done well academically. Our teacher-student relationship lasted only a year, but we kept in some contact afterwards. When I learned he had been admitted to the country's top university, I was happy for him, and looked forward to seeing him appear before me in high spirits. But it didn't turn out as I expected.

I was very happy to see my student after so long. I remembered him as a little first-year junior high kid, and now he was a freshman at the top university, looking somehow unfamiliar and familiar at once. Six years had passed; the little kid had grown up into a handsome young man, but he didn't look as high-spirited as I had imagined. In any case, though I never give readings to university students, I made an exception and drew his chart, as follows:

In this chart the 命宮 (Life Palace) has 巨門 (Ju Men), which usually means a sharp tongue. But those who follow me know I don't read this original chart, so as usual let's transform it:

What catches the eye first are the 酉 Palace and the 巳 Palace.

The 酉 Palace (with its three sides and four directions: 巳, 丑, 卯)

• Double-star 殺破狼 (Sha Po Lang) + 祿存 (Lu Cun) + 右弼 (You Bi) + 地劫 (Di Jie): full of ability and drive, quick-witted and careful.
• 化祿 concentrated on the 酉 Palace: together with the 祿存 there, it's icing on the cake; he will surely become a pillar of society.

The 巳 Palace (with its three sides and four directions: 丑, 酉, 亥)

• Double-star 殺破狼 + 祿存 + 左輔 (Zuo Fu) + 天馬 (Tian Ma): full of ability and drive, with the image of traveling around for work.
• 化權 concentrated on the 巳 Palace: one can speak of starting a business.

The chart of someone at the top university is indeed out of the ordinary. But besides the chart, appearance can also inform a reading. Looking at him, he had shed some of his childishness, yet a shadow hung over his face. So I looked at his chart more carefully:

The original Life Palace has 巨門, and this 巨門 can also represent him. So let's look at 巨門 in the 戌 Palace.

巨門 in 戌 (with its three sides and four directions: 午, 寅, 辰)

• 巨門 in 戌 is in a weak palace
• 巨門 in 戌: three 化忌 concentrated
• 巨門 + 擎羊 (Qing Yang) + 鈴星 (Ling Xing)

Overall judgment: life easily feels stuck.

Seeing this, a trace of worry rose in me. It was supposed to be a relaxed chat, and I thought a freshman wouldn't have too many problems. But his very first question was about relationships with people. So I turned my eyes to the palaces representing his relationships:

The 辰 and 巳 palaces are both key to his relationships:

• 辰 Palace, stem 壬: makes 武曲 (Wu Qu) become 化忌, clashing with the 酉 Palace
• 巳 Palace, stem 癸: makes 貪狼 (Tan Lang) become 化忌, in the 酉 Palace

The 酉 Palace was originally a beautiful double-star 殺破狼 + 祿存 pattern. But 祿存 is careful and prudent when transformed into Lu, and confused and muddled when Ji and malefics clash. Now I could roughly see where his shadow came from.

• Me: "How's life lately?"
• Student: "Okay, I guess."
• Me: "Since you're asking about relationships, it seems something really is off there. Do you often not know how to get along with people?"
• Student: "I guess so."
• Me: "You're actually very capable and a great person, but in social situations you don't know how to present yourself appropriately, so you may run into some problems making friends."

Sometimes, entering a new environment, not being good at interacting with people does easily lead to frustration. Especially at the start of university, a far freer environment than high school, where ties with peers are much looser: if you aren't good at socializing and can't fit in, the loneliness can be very intense.

Fortunately, he is now 20 (East Asian reckoning), and when he turns 22, his relationships will enter a completely different situation.

The 午 Palace (with its three sides and four directions: 寅, 戌, 子)

• 午 Palace: stem 甲, 廉貞 (Lian Zhen) becomes 化祿 and 破軍 (Po Jun) becomes 化權, resolving the harm to the 酉 Palace.
• 午 Palace: 太陽 (Tai Yang), 文昌 (Wen Chang), 天鉞 (Tian Yue), 咸池 (Xian Chi). 太陽 enjoys making friends, 文昌 is good at conversation, 天鉞 brings help from benefactors, 咸池 makes one witty.

On life's journey, friends are very important. But what to do when you've just entered university and aren't good at making friends? I usually suggest joining clubs. I'm past forty now, and nearly all the friends I'm still in touch with are people I met in university clubs. Twenty years on, the friendships endure.

Sometimes people ask me, "Why did you study Zi Wei Dou Shu?" I always answer bluntly: "Because my life once got stuck." In studying Dou Shu, I slowly came to realize that even life's low points are the work of destiny. Since Heaven has laid a trap here, I accept the fact that I'm in a trough. As for the good fortune of life's major periods, I am grateful, grateful that Heaven has given me such a light life and such an optimistic way of thinking.

Zi Wei Dou Shu was passed down through Taoism, and Taoism springs from Taoist philosophy. Taoist thought asks us to be still and act without forcing, to go with the flow of nature. So I often think: if Zi Wei Dou Shu was truly handed down to the world by Heaven through the hand of 陳摶 (Chen Tuan), then perhaps it is meant to help us understand that the highs and lows of life's course are fated, and the troughs are Heaven's tests for us. If we go with the flow, what do the highs and lows matter? Besides, if life had no setbacks and pain, how monotonous it would be, how dull a life. I am willing to taste all the sour, sweet, bitter and spicy that life brings; only so can life have more flavor.