Feng Shui/Substitute Star

Substitute Star

A Substitute Star is used in place of the original star when the Sitting or Facing Direction falls within 3 degrees in some sectors as indicated below:

In the following table, sector South 2 (including S2_pre, S2, S2_post) is from 172.5° to 187.5°, but 3° from either side is known as the "_pre" and "_post" sectors. For example, sector "S2_pre" is from 172.5° - 175.5°, and sector "S2_post" is from 184.5° - 187.5°. The Substitute Star Chart for sector "S2_pre" is "S2_sub". There is no Substitute Star Chart for sector S2 since it is not within 3° of the edge of the sector. There is also no Substitute Star Chart for sector "S2_post", and this is indicated by "Nil" in the last column of the table. A "Nil" indicates that the original Flying Star Chart be used.

Sector	From (deg)	To (deg)	Substitute Star Chart
S1_pre	157.5°	160.5°	S1_sub
S1	160.5°	169.5°	Nil
S1_post	169.5°	172.5°	S1_sub
S2_pre	172.5°	175.5°	S2_sub
S2	175.5°	184.5°	Nil
S2_post	184.5°	187.5°	Nil
S3_pre	187.5°	190.5°	Nil
S3	190.5°	199.5°	Nil
S3_post	199.5°	202.5°	S3_sub
SW1_pre	202.5°	205.5°	SW1_sub
SW1	205.5°	214.5°	Nil
SW1_post	214.5°	217.5°	SW1_sub
SW2_pre	217.5°	220.5°	SW2_sub
SW2	220.5°	229.5°	Nil
SW2_post	229.5°	232.5°	Nil
SW3_pre	232.5°	235.5°	Nil
SW3	235.5°	244.5°	Nil
SW3_post	244.5°	247.5°	SW3_sub
W1_pre	247.5°	250.5°	W1_sub
W1	250.5°	259.5°	Nil
W1_post	259.5°	262.5°	W1_sub
W2_pre	262.5°	265.5°	W2_sub
W2	265.5°	274.5°	Nil
W2_post	274.5°	277.5°	Nil
W3_pre	277.5°	280.5°	Nil
W3	280.5°	289.5°	Nil
W3_post	289.5°	292.5°	W3_sub
NW1_pre	292.5°	295.5°	NW1_sub
NW1	295.5°	304.5°	Nil
NW1_post	304.5°	307.5°	NW1_sub
NW2_pre	307.5°	310.5°	NW2_sub
NW2	310.5°	319.5°	Nil
NW2_post	319.5°	322.5°	Nil
NW3_pre	322.5°	325.5°	Nil
NW3	325.5°	334.5°	Nil
NW3_post	334.5°	337.5°	NW3_sub
N1_pre	337.5°	340.5°	N1_sub
N1	340.5°	349.5°	Nil
N1_post	349.5°	352.5°	N1_sub
N2_pre	352.5°	355.5°	N2_sub
N2	355.5°	4.5°	Nil
N2_post	4.5°	7.5°	Nil
N3_pre	7.5°	10.5°	Nil
N3	10.5°	19.5°	Nil
N3_post	19.5°	22.5°	N3_sub
NE1_pre	22.5°	25.5°	NE1_sub
NE1	25.5°	34.5°	Nil
NE1_post	34.5°	37.5°	NE1_sub
NE2_pre	37.5°	40.5°	NE2_sub
NE2	40.5°	49.5°	Nil
NE2_post	49.5°	52.5°	Nil
NE3_pre	52.5°	55.5°	Nil
NE3	55.5°	64.5°	Nil
NE3_post	64.5°	67.5°	NE3_sub
E1_pre	67.5°	70.5°	E1_sub
E1	70.5°	79.5°	Nil
E1_post	79.5°	82.5°	E1_sub
E2_pre	82.5°	85.5°	E2_sub
E2	85.5°	94.5°	Nil
E2_post	94.5°	97.5°	Nil
E3_pre	97.5°	100.5°	Nil
E3	100.5°	109.5°	Nil
E3_post	109.5°	112.5°	E3_sub
SE1_pre	112.5°	115.5°	SE1_sub
SE1	115.5°	124.5°	Nil
SE1_post	124.5°	127.5°	SE1_sub
SE2_pre	127.5°	130.5°	SE2_sub
SE2	130.5°	139.5°	Nil
SE2_post	139.5°	142.5°	Nil
SE3_pre	142.5°	145.5°	Nil
SE3	145.5°	154.5°	Nil
SE3_post	154.5°	157.5°	SE3_sub

Conditions Governing The Use Of Substitute Stars

When the original star is a "5" in the central grid (also known as the Central Palace in Feng Shui parlance), substitute stars are not used. For example, if the Mountain Star is "5" and the Facing Star is "7" in the central grid, then the Mountain Stars in the all the nine grids will remain unchanged, whereas the Facing Stars may change. Similarly, if the Facing Star is "5" in the central grid, then all the Facing Stars will remain unchanged in the Substitute Star Chart.
Substitute stars are not used in the following 8 Yin-Yin borders: (S2,S3), (W2,W3), (N2,N3), and (E2,E3).
Substitute stars are also not used in the following 8 Yang-Yang borders: (SW2,SW3), (NW2,NW3), (NE2,NE3), and (SE2,SE3).
Substitute stars are used in the remaining 32 borders, namely the 16 Yin-Yang borders, as well as the 16 Trigram borders.
In is not considered auspicious for a Facing or Mountain Direction to fall exactly on a border (e.g. 360 degrees).

The Nine Substitute Stars

There are a total of nine substitute stars, and they are as follows:

No.	Name Of Star	Simplified Chinese	Chinese Pinyin	Traditional Chinese
1	Greedy Wolf Star (Tan Lang Xing)	贪狼星	tān láng xīng	貪狼星
2	Huge Door Star (Ju Men Xing)	巨门星	jù mén xīng	巨門星
3	Rewards Star (Lu Cun Xing)	禄存星	lù cún xīng	祿存星
4	Literary Arts Star (Wen Qu Xing)	文曲星	wén qǔ xīng	文曲星
5	Honest & Loyal Star (Lian Zhen Xing)	廉贞星	lián zhēn xīng	廉貞星
6	Military Arts Star (Wu Qu Xing)	武曲星	wǔ qǔ xīng	武曲星
7	Broken Soldier Star (Po Jun Xing)	破军星	pò jūn xīng	破軍星
8	Left Assistant Star (Zuo Fu Xing)	左辅星	zuǒ fǔ xīng	左輔星
9	Right Assistant Star (You Bi Xing)	右弼星	yòu bì xīng	右弼星

The nine substitute stars are named after actual stars in the sky, and are the names of the Nine Emperors.
In Xuan Kong Da Gua, all the stars, save for Star #5 ("Honest & Loyal Star" or Lian Zhen Xing), are used in Feng Shui determinations.

Determination Of Substitute Stars

Substitute Stars are obtained with the use of the following table:

Column 1 (Original Star)	Column 2 (Substitute Star)	Column 3 (Mountain or Facing Direction)	Column 4 (sign)	Column 5 (Heaven, Earth or Man)
3	2	E2	-	H
3	1	E1	+	E
3	2	E3	-	M
1	2	N1	+	E
1	1	N2	-	H
1	1	N3	-	M
8	7	NE1	-	E
8	7	NE2	+	H
8	9	NE3	+	M
6	6	NW1	-	E
6	6	NW2	+	H
6	6	NW3	+	M
9	7	S1	+	E
9	9	S2	-	H
9	9	S3	-	M
4	6	SE1	-	E
4	6	SE2	+	H
4	6	SE3	+	M
2	2	SW1	-	E
2	2	SW2	+	H
2	1	SW3	+	M
7	9	W1	+	E
7	7	W2	-	H
7	7	W3	-	M

The steps to plot the Substitute Flying Star Chart are as follows:

Find a given Mountain direction in Column 3, and note the associated letter (H, E or M) in Column 5. For example, in the bottom row of the above table, for direction "W3", the required letter is "M". (In Column 5, the letter "H" is an abbreviation for Heaven, "E" for Earth, and "M" for Man.)
Use the Mountain Star (number) in the central grid (which is also known as the Central Palace) of the original Flying Star Chart, and find this number in Column 1. There will be 3 rows that has this number in Column 1. For example, if the Mountain Star in the central grid is "3", then the top three rows of the above table will have this star in Column 1. However, only one of these three rows (namely the third row from the top) will have the same letter (namely "M") as that obtained in Step 1 above. The third row (from the top row) is therefore the required row.
From the required row, we obtain the Substitute Mountain Star (namely "2") in Column 2, as well as the Direction of the Path of Flight (namely "-") in Column 4. When the Direction of the Path of Flight is "-", the Mountain Stars will traverse the 9-grid in decreasing order, decrementing by 1 each time the Star flies to the next grid. for example, if the Substitute Mountain Star is "2", then the central grid of the Substitute Chart will have a Mountain Star of "2", followed by a Mountain Star of "1" in the bottom right-hand grid. This will be followed by "9", "8", "7", "6", "5", "4", and "3" in each of the successive grids.
When the Direction of the Path of Flight is "+", the Mountain Stars will traverse the 9-grid in increasing order, incrementing by 1 each time the Star flies to the next grid. for example, if the Substitute Mountain Star is "6", then the central grid of the Substitute Chart will have a Mountain Star of "6", followed by a Mountain Star of "7" in the bottom right-hand grid. This will be followed by "8", "9", "1", "2", "3", "4", and "5" in each of the successive grids.
All the above steps are repeated for a Facing Star in order to plot the complete Substitute Flying Star Chart containing both Mountain and Facing Stars.

List Of Substitute Stars

Note: With reference to Flying Star Feng Shui, the term "Period" can also be translated as "Age", and so "Period 1" can also be called "Age 1".