Meaning
The 全書's dialogue begins:
天同星屬水，乃南方第四星也，為福德宮之主宰。
In our translation: Tian Tong belongs to water; it is the fourth star of the south, master of the Wellbeing palace.
Its epithet is 福, blessing, and the text is gentler with it than with almost any other star. 「十二宮中皆曰福」: in all twelve palaces it is called a blessing (the text says as much of Tian Fu and Tian Xiang). The lines under 希夷先生 call it the Southern Dipper's star that adds years and keeps life, and give a person who is modest and mild, kind, upright and literate, 「有奇志無凶激」, with unusual aims and no violence. It is not afraid of Qi Sha or the other harsh stars.
The 形性賦 draws it 「肥滿，目秀清奇」, plump and full, with fine, clear eyes: a type of its time, never a reading of anyone's body. The risk in the text's picture is softness.
Our chart calls it Harmony, and our gloss reads: easygoing, kind and comfort-loving; grows through challenge. The second half is our reading of the text's praise of difficulty met with calm, and is labelled as ours.
Not "Heavenly Virtue"
天同 means something like heavenly sameness or accord; English Wikipedia renders it Heavenly Unity. Our engine called it the Heavenly Virtue star until October 2026, but Heavenly Virtue is 天德, one of the minor stars; the gloss was replaced when the engine was rebuilt.
On the board
Tian Tong is five palaces behind Zi Wei. It shares a palace with the Moon in 子 or 午, Ju Men in 丑 or 未 and Tian Liang in 寅 or 申, and stands alone in the other six. It is brilliant (廟) in 巳 and 亥, strong in 子 and 申, weak (不) in 丑 and 未 and fallen (陷) in 午. In the common table it takes 化祿 in a 丙 year, 化權 in a 丁 year and 化忌 in a 庚 year. It is the Body Master (身主) for anyone born in a 卯 or 酉 year.
What this page leaves out
The 全書 also gives Tian Tong lines on marriage, on children and on the body when harsh stars meet it. We note the register and repeat none of it.
Correspondences
Each item with how it stands: “sourced” is in the work cited, “our construction” is EsoTerrier’s own, and “disputed” means the sources disagree.
- 諸星問答論, the opening line
- 「天同星屬水，乃南方第四星也，為福德宮之主宰。」 Tian Tong belongs to water; it is the fourth star of the south, master of the Wellbeing palace sourced
- 形性賦, form and nature
- 「天同肥滿，目秀清奇」 Tian Tong is plump and full, with fine, clear eyes; a sketch of a type, never a reading of anyone's body sourced
- The name in the sky (symbolic)
- The fourth lord named in the Daoist Southern Dipper scripture; which star of 斗宿 in Sagittarius bears the name is not settled, and the chart reads none sourced
- Dipper by series
- Listed as a Northern Dipper star on some practitioner pages because it belongs to the Zi Wei series; the 全書 seats it in the Southern Dipper disputed
- 化科 in a 庚 year, other tables
- The northern 河洛 and 占驗 tables give Tian Tong 化科 in a 庚 year, where the common table gives it 化忌 disputed
- English names elsewhere
- Heavenly Unity (English Wikipedia); Harmony, Comrade and Contentment on other sites sourced
- Our short name and gloss
- Harmony: Easygoing, kind and comfort-loving; grows through challenge. our construction
How the schools read it
- 紫微斗數全書, 諸星問答論
- Master of the Wellbeing palace, honest and of a fine, unusual look, "with purpose and no harshness" (有機樞無亢激); unafraid of Qi Sha or the other harsh stars. 「十二宮中皆曰福」: in all twelve palaces it is called a blessing.
- 紫微斗數全書, the lines under 希夷先生
- The Southern Dipper's star that "adds years and keeps life"; modest and mild, kind, upright and literate, "with unusual aims and no violence" (有奇志無凶激).
- 紫微斗數全書, 形性賦
- Plump and full, with fine, clear eyes: a sketch of a type, never a reading of anyone's body.
- Northern 河洛 and 占驗 tables
- Give it 化科 in a 庚 year, where the common table gives it 化忌.
- English teaching
- Heavenly Unity, Harmony, Comrade, Contentment; our engine's old "Heavenly Virtue" was wrong.
- EsoTerrier
- Short name Harmony; our gloss adds that it grows through challenge, our reading of the text's praise of difficulty met calmly. No reading of outcome.
Claims about it
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Tian Tong is the "Heavenly Virtue" star.
falseWhat the record shows: Heavenly Virtue is 天德, a minor star. 天同 means roughly heavenly sameness, and its classical epithet is 福, blessing. Our engine's gloss said otherwise until 9 October 2026.
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Tian Tong is a Southern Dipper star whose place in the sky the chart reads.
disputedWhat the record shows: The name is one of the Southern Dipper scripture's six lords; which star bears it is not settled, and the chart places it by counting.
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As a star of the Zi Wei series, Tian Tong belongs to the Northern Dipper.
falseWhat the record shows: The series is a placement grouping; the 全書 seats Tian Tong in the Southern Dipper.
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The text's lines on Tian Tong foretell what befalls a person's marriage, children and body.
unverifiedWhat the record shows: The 全書 has such lines when harsh stars meet it. We keep its picture of the mild star.
