TL;DR: In Vietnamese Tử Vi (Vietnamese astrology), Thiên La and Địa Võng are two stars fixed in the Thìn palace and the Tuất palace, which is why these two palaces are also named La Võng. Tử Vi đẩu số tân biên by Vân Đằng Thái Thứ Lang and Tử Vi áo bí biện chứng học by Việt Viêm Tử both record Thiên La placed in Thìn and Địa Võng placed in Tuất. Thiên Lương in Tử Vi nghiệm lý has a reading of his own: Thìn and Tuất are only La Võng when Đà La sits there. The books describe this as a restraining position but also give cases held to be good; that is a way of reasoning within the Tử Vi discipline, not a verdict on a person's life.
What Is Thiên La Địa Võng in Tử Vi?
Thiên La and Địa Võng are presented here as taught in Vietnamese Tử Vi, based on Tử Vi đẩu số tân biên by Vân Đằng Thái Thứ Lang, Tử Vi áo bí biện chứng học by Việt Viêm Tử, Tử Vi nghiệm lý by Thiên Lương and Tử Vi tổng hợp by Nguyễn Phát Lộc. Thiên La and Địa Võng are two stars with fixed positions: Vân Đằng Thái Thứ Lang writes "Thiên La: always placed in the Thìn palace" and "Địa Võng: always placed in the Tuất palace"[1], regardless of birth year, birth month, birth hour or gender. Việt Viêm Tử writes that there is no need to place the two stars, because Tử Vi practice simply calls the Thìn and Tuất palaces "La Võng chi địa" (the ground of La Võng)[2]. So "Mệnh in La Võng" means the Mệnh palace sits at Thìn or Tuất.
On the wording, "La" is a net spread in the sky and "Võng" a net stretched on the earth. Việt Viêm Tử writes: "Thiên-La Địa-Võng is the net in the sky, the fence on the earth"[2]. Vân Đằng Thái Thứ Lang assigns both stars to the Earth element and sums up their meaning as restraint, trouble and obstruction of affairs, governing arrest and confinement[1]. Nguyễn Phát Lộc records a similar meaning but adds two limits: the sense of prison and lawsuits applies "only when La Võng comes with malefic or punishment stars", and the two stars "are only used for reading periods"[4].
Why Are Thìn and Tuất Called La Võng?
To explain the name, the books place Thìn and Tuất within the tứ mộ group of the earthly plate. Việt Viêm Tử writes: "The 4 palaces Thìn Tuất Sửu Mùi are usually called Tứ-Mộ"[2]. Thiên Lương writes: "The four mộ palaces Thìn Tuất Sửu Mùi are where the five elements originate and also where they gather. Thìn Tuất are yang, Sửu Mùi are yin"[3].
Thiên Lương raises the question himself: Thìn and Tuất are both yang palaces, so calling Thìn Thiên La fits, while calling Tuất Địa Võng "seems contrary to reason". He explains it by the lưỡng nghi division of the earthly plate: from Dần to Thân lies the Thái dương half, from Thân to Dần the Thái âm half; what belongs to yang is Thiên (Heaven), what belongs to yin is Địa (Earth). Thìn lies in the Thái dương half and so bears the name Thiên La, Tuất lies in the Thái âm half and so bears the name Địa Võng. Also according to him, Thìn and Tuất are the two originating palaces, Sửu and Mùi the two gathering palaces[3].
Việt Viêm Tử offers a different explanation: Sửu and Mùi are "thổ ngoại", earth already formed, while Thìn and Tuất are where "thổ hư trung" lies, earth still taking in or giving out to become the other elements; according to the book, that is why Thìn and Tuất are called La Võng chi địa[2].
Đà La and Its Connection to La Võng
What is particular to Thiên Lương is that he ties La Võng to the star Đà La. He writes: "Đà la at Thìn is Thiên La, at Tuất is Địa võng", and the Thìn and Tuất palaces are called La Võng chi địa only when Đà La sits there; outside that case, in his view, a Mệnh or Thân at Thìn or Tuất is not a position of helplessness. His summary: "In short, Thiên la địa võng is Đà la; Đà la is đắc địa in the tứ sinh and hãm địa in the tứ mộ"[3]. The other three books set no such condition: Tử Vi đẩu số tân biên, Tử Vi áo bí biện chứng học and Tử Vi tổng hợp treat Thìn and Tuất as La Võng in every chart.
Thiên Lương continues: "The two palaces Thìn Tuất are where all that is fierce in Đà la originates, unlike the 2 palaces Sửu Mùi, which are where it is gathered and confined"[3]. In his words Sửu and Mùi are still "land for wielding a staff in a wild garden", but not to the degree of Thìn and Tuất.
How Are Stars Sitting at Thìn and Tuất Read?
Việt Viêm Tử takes Tử Vi and Thiên Tướng as his example: at Thìn or Tuất these two stars need Kình Dương or a fierce star that is nhập miếu to break the net and the fence, and only then do they "have ground to move freely"; without it they are like someone caught in the fence and the net, "a hero with no ground to use his skills". In its section on verses, the book likens Tử Vi and Thiên Tướng at Thìn or Tuất to a tiger caught in a net, because Phá Quân in hãm địa always sits in the opposite palace, and calls Kình Dương the sword that cuts through all the fences and nets[2]. Tử Vi đẩu số tân biên quotes the verse "Cự, Đồng nhi phùng La, Võng, ngộ Khoa tinh, thoại thuyết Lịch Sinh" and explains it: a Mệnh palace at Thìn or Tuất with Cự Môn or Thiên Đồng, meeting Hóa Khoa, marks a person gifted in persuasion[1].
Thiên Lương records one theory: "once the Mệnh or Thân is in La Võng, there must be Hình and Kình to cut the net wide open before there is any way to succeed"[3]. He does not adopt it as his own but lists it among the sayings "of countless shapes" that a learner comes across.
Thiên Lương also states a placement rule that involves the four mộ palaces: Văn Khúc, relative to Văn Xương, "scatters at Thìn Tuất and gathers at Sửu Mùi", and the same holds for Hữu Bật relative to Tả Phù[3]. Working through the placement of the two pairs confirms it: Văn Xương and Văn Khúc share a palace at Mùi (birth in the Mão hour) or at Sửu (birth in the Dậu hour) and stand opposite each other at Thìn and Tuất (birth in the Tý or Ngọ hour); Tả Phù and Hữu Bật share a palace at Mùi (birth in the fourth lunar month) or at Sửu (the tenth month) and stand opposite each other at Thìn and Tuất (the first or seventh month).
Table Comparing the Four Tứ Mộ Palaces
| Palace | Yin/Yang (Thiên Lương) | Role (Thiên Lương) | Name | Earth (Việt Viêm Tử) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Thìn | Yang | Originating | Thiên La | Thổ hư trung |
| Tuất | Yang | Originating | Địa Võng | Thổ hư trung |
| Sửu | Yin | Gathering | No separate name | Thổ ngoại |
| Mùi | Yin | Gathering | No separate name | Thổ ngoại |
The table arranges what Thiên Lương records in Tử Vi nghiệm lý[3] and what Việt Viêm Tử records in Tử Vi áo bí biện chứng học[2]; the names Thiên La and Địa Võng follow Tử Vi đẩu số tân biên[1].
According to Thiên Lương, Which Birth Years Meet La Võng?
Because he ties La Võng to Đà La, Thiên Lương looks at the heavenly stem of the birth year, which fixes the position of Đà La: "Of the ten stems, the 5 years Giáp Đinh Kỷ Canh Quí have nothing to do with La Võng, while Ất Bính Mậu must mind Thiên La and Tân Nhâm should be careful at Địa võng"[3]. In the common placement, which is also the one given in Tử Vi đẩu số tân biên (Đà La in the palace behind Lộc Tồn), Đà La sits at Thìn for Bính and Mậu years and at Tuất for Nhâm years. Thiên Lương adds Ất and Tân years because he lets Kình Dương and Đà La trade places depending on yin or yang and on male or female.
Thiên Lương singles out one case: a Nhâm Tuất year with Mệnh and Thân in the same palace he regards as "born at the wrong time"; the same year with the Thân in Phúc Đức he describes as a person of "extraordinary success beyond measure on reaching age 45", the time when, in his view, Triệt has broken Đà La at the Mệnh and Tuần at the Thân has been released[3]. This is Thiên Lương's own assessment.
Is It Always Bad to Be at Thìn Tuất?
Not necessarily, by the books' own account. Việt Viêm Tử writes that Thìn and Tuất also go by the name "xương long chi địa", and that the Tuất palace holding Thiên Phủ together with Hồng Loan, Hóa Quyền, Tả Phù, Hữu Bật and the star Mộ is "tối hảo" (best of all); the book also mentions that Thiên Cơ and Thiên Lương, which belong to Wood, are miếu địa at Tuất, without explaining why in that passage[2]. Thiên Lương observes that a number of famous figures past and present had their Mệnh or Thân in these very two palaces, and that among the 14 main stars the Tử Phủ and Sát Phá Tham group is more hampered by La Võng than the Cơ Nguyệt Đồng Lương group[3].
Nhật Nguyệt's Suggestions
When looking this up, first see whether the Mệnh palace, the Thân palace or the period palace lies at Thìn or Tuất. Next see whether Đà La sits in that palace, since for Thiên Lương that is the condition for calling it La Võng, while the other three books set no such condition. Finally compare the main star in that palace with what each book says above, and note which book you are reading by.
