7 STAR ROBBERY七星打劫法 - YOU ROB ME OR I ROB YOU ?

7 Star Robbery Method 七星打劫法 is a XuanKong water method. Foremost where is the root source of this method?

天玉经 (地理辨證)

认得父母三般卦，
便是真神路，
北斗七星去打劫，
离宮要相合。

Translation: -

Know parent SanBan Gua
Easily have real spirit road,
North Dipper seven star, outgoing robbery,
Li palace must coincide.

Commentary: -

The SanHe people has this entire phrase – never existed in their version of Heaven Jade Classic. On such account 7 Star Robbery Method 七星打劫法 is uttered rubbish! The XuanKong people, however, is claiming that SanHe people know nuts. They cannot make head and tail about it and therefore they conveniently removed this passage. Is there an iota of truth in both camps of the FengShui political divide? Yet within XuanKong school itself, they never agreed and the results are there are many ways of looking at 7 Star Robbery Method 七星打劫法.

Zheng ZhongZan 章仲山, explained that Parent SanBan Gua 父母三般卦, referred to Heaven Jade Classic’s 4 ordinal locations as Parent SanBan. Xun (4) arriving at Dui (7) and Dui to Kan (1). This is XuanKong’s Parent SanBan Gua that is originating from the 9 stars. He continue to explain the rest. Yet, no attempt as to how Li palace 离宮 must be combined in this equation? So most translated version available in books take Li离 as Li palace 离宮 of the 8 trigrams. For sure it is entirely irrelevant and to some extend wrongfully translated.

The FeiXing School approach...

First qualifications are houses must have the combinations of 
1-4-7 (period 7), 
2-5-8 (period 8) and 
3-6-9 (period 9). 

Note that the last number correspond to the timeliness of the said period. Second qualifications are the structure of the house must conform to double stars arriving at sitting or facing. Third qualifications are these sets of three combination must be of the facing star and be activated by the physical structure. Fourth qualifications the three combination must be supported by the physical structure of the house, namely the main door, window opens to the outside and the secondary door.

This school take the premise of the secret of SanBan Gua is that the timely star will rob the auspiciousness of the rest of the stars making it auspicious for 180 years and to activate such, one must attempt to use fire activation as in Li palace 离宮, represents fire.

As a result 2 configurations namely: -

1.  Linear
2.  Diagonal

Yet, many houses are like that and they never prosper? Some school believes that the reason is, XuanKong DaGua is not applied therefore you cannot see the result.

The WuChang School approach...

地理辨证直解 - 章仲山

北斗者，天上北斗，主司元气化育万物者也。故斗柄指东，天下皆春，斗柄指西，天下皆秋，一生一杀，万事万物皆随斗柄为转移。打劫者，劫取其气也。惟离宫相合则能打劫矣。不相合，则不能打劫也。如上元一白司令，二黑即发，然二黑尚属上元，而下元之七赤亦旺；三碧司令，而下元之八白、九紫总旺，故二黑、七赤与一白离宫也，相合也，而二可劫一，七可劫一矣。八白、九紫与三碧，离宫也；相合而八可劫三，九可劫三矣。是盖一元而收两元龙力之用，尤属秘中之秘，妙中之妙，最上一层之作用也。此一诀也，又曰上元一白司令，左近乎丑，右邻乎亥，阴阳二宅，壬、亥、癸、丑在上元而发丁财贵显，在下元而发丁寿科名者何可胜数？盖天地生成有杂局，舍之则造化之工诚足婉惜，用之则气杂力轻。

Translation: -

Earth Study Discern Truth Detailed Analysis - Zhang ZhongShan states -

North Dipper refers to heavenly north dipper, the host of congenital Qi/YuanQi and the source of the myriad things. The handle of the dipper points east, spring arrives, handle points west, fall arrives. One birth one killing, everything and every matters are influenced by the movement of the dipper handle. To rob, robbing means to obtain Qi. Only in Li Palace (or leaving the palace) you are able to rob. Not conform, you cannot rob.

Comes upper cycle 1 white timely, 2 black dispatch and 2 black conjoins upper cycle matching lower period 7 auspicious. 3 jade timely, matching lower period 8 white, 9 purple always prosperous.

2 black 7 red has 1 white in Li Palace (leaving palace) mutually resonance, thus 2 can rob 1. 8 white 9 purple with 3 jade, Li Palace (or leaving the palace), mutually resonance 8 can rob 3, 9 can rob 3. Covering 1 cycle receive two Yuan Dragon use. Within has secret, mysteriously mystical, ascending up one level of use. Is one script.

Once again speak that, in upper cycle period 1 prosperous, left in proximity Chou right neighboring Hai, YinYang 2 houses Ren, Hai, Gui, Chou upper cycle, producing children wealth noble conspicuous. Lower cycle produce longevity and scholarly achievement? To cover Heaven and earth can be reproduced to cover various structure, producing abundance of graceful events. Use such Qi will be effortless.

Commentery: -

WuChang subscribed to Heaven Qi - the Dipper movement as governing season on Earth Qi. Using Heaven Qi to govern Earth Qi. Using HeTu Qi to manipulate LoShu Qi. To rob must only happen in Li Palace? To rob you must leave your palace to another palace so that you can rob? Technically, the second premise sound logical. You ought to rob others for your own benefits. Or you go out and rob not staying at a particular place to rob. In such way, it is assumed that WuChang employ Flying star. Here to fly one must have a point of departure and a point of arrival. In this case we can assumed it is LoShu - yet not rightly correct. 

In upper cycle, 1 is timely - the 司令 is much appropriately called in command. 1 white is the commanding officer dispatching 2 black to do his dirty work. 2-7 is a HeTu pair, therefore 2 is able to rob the prosperity of the 7. The keyword is 1 dispatching 2, so there is movement. 1 being the commanding officer will never move. He is station in the center. Therefore this phrase 尤属秘中之秘 becomes very important. So - 1, 2 and 7 are of a group. By the same token, 9 dispatches 8 to rob 3 - that is another set of 9,8 and 3. If you do the permutation - it does not reflect any resemblance of the Flying star chart with the absent of 5. 

Let's look at the last example, 上元一白司令 denotes upper cycle 1 white commanding, immediately we think of structure - 1 and 2 rob 7. The following stanza 左近乎丑，右邻乎亥 meaning left in proximity Chou right neighboring Hai but what has such left and right got to do with 1,2,7? Then, 阴阳二宅 can be construed as House or Grave. It can also mean YinYang mountains - Chou being Yin and Hai being Yang. The location of 壬、亥、癸、丑 can be construed as the sitting mountains yet, what happened to Zi?

It all points out that Left/Right turning refer to the cyclic arrangement of the Star probably known as Leaning star and not flying star. So, in period 1 and 2 star Qi 7 can be used - it is all about XKDG. 

The DaGua School approach...

Jiang DaHung (JDH) annotated in DLBZ the following stanzas: -

上二句，引起下文之义，言识得三卦父母，已是真神路矣，犹须晓得北斗七星打劫之法，则三般卦之精髓方得，而最上一乘之作用也。北斗云何？知离宫之相合，即知北斗之义矣。

Translation - First 2 sentences give rise to followings, Say knowing parent SanBan Gua, already is real spirit road! Still must explain obtain north dipper 7 star robbery method,
Then, SanBan Gua locations obtained. Superior in harnessing this application.  North dipper means what? Know Li (leaving) Palace this coincides, Indeed know north dipper meaning.

What the heck is JDH trying to explain? This school believes that Parent SanBan Gua means GuaYun or the period luck as attached to every single XKDG Hexagram. The secret is when all the Hexagram within the same palace transform, FanGua 反卦, only one Hexagram remains unchanged. That is the only Hexagram period luck that leaves the Palace and rob the auspicious of the rest of the palaces Hexagram. Therefore in XKDG if you are able to connect Qi to this 7 star robbery, your auspiciousness can last for 180 years. So, the term Li 离 does not mean Li Palace in this context, it simply means “leaving the palace” to rob. 

P/S - LuoPan template is credited to Joey Yap.

The JingFang School aproach...

This splinter school does not subscribe to this verse DianDao 顛倒 as annotated in Zheng ZhongZan 章仲山 explanation, opposite as FanGua 反卦, reverse Gua. It subscribed that according to JinFang 8 trigrams, there are only 5 generation of transformations before the 6th when the soul of the Hexagram leave the palace as in leaving the palace 离宮, it returns with a complete different self-called the Returning Soul and it happens in the 7th transformation where it leaves the palace and rob the auspiciousness of the other palaces. This school look at the Yao-transformation technique instead.

In summary...

I know of one “Kiasu” school that employed all these techniques that I had presented here and they professed the secret techniques of door tilting. First, they do the Flying star chart and when they get the Qi map, they tilted the door to activate the 7 star robbery formation. They further refined to the Yao degree so that it conforms to the JingFang 8 palaces.

In reality - 7 Star Robbery Method 七星打劫法 is a hoax. It conceals the real techniques of SanYuan DaGua’s application of the RenPan 人盘. 

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