TL;DR: Tướng quân tiễn, Diêm vương quan and Dạ đề quan are names of child "quan sát" (barriers), birth hours that old destiny books believed make a child sickly or prone to crying. Tam mệnh thông hội by Vạn Dân Anh only names Tướng quân tiễn and Diêm vương quan, then says these theories mostly do not come true and so are not recorded; Dạ đề quan is not in that book. The season-based hour tables used today come from Vietnamese Tử Vi books such as Tử Vi đẩu số tân biên. These are rules of a divination school that have never been verified.
What are Tướng quân tiễn, Diêm vương quan and Dạ đề quan?
Tướng quân tiễn (將軍箭), Diêm vương quan (閻王關) and Dạ đề quan (夜啼關) are the names of three "quan sát" (child barriers) in old mệnh lý (destiny analysis) books, that is, birth hours believed to make a child sickly, prone to crying and hard to raise. The three names do not come from one source. Tam mệnh thông hội names Tướng quân tiễn and Diêm vương quan but does not record how to compute them, and Dạ đề quan does not appear in that book at all[1]. The hour tables and descriptions Vietnamese readers meet today come from Vietnamese Tử Vi books such as Tử Vi đẩu số tân biên by Vân Đằng Thái Thứ Lang, where they are called the Tướng Quân hour, the Diêm Vương hour and the Dạ Đề hour.
These are rules of divination schools that have never been verified, not medical knowledge. A child who often cries or falls ill needs a doctor's examination.
What does Tam mệnh thông hội say about child barriers?
Tam mệnh thông hội (三命通會) is a Ming-dynasty Tử Bình (Four Pillars) destiny work in 12 volumes, compiled by Vạn Dân Anh (萬民英), still extant in the Tứ khố toàn thư[1]. The section Luận tiểu nhi (論小兒, On Small Children) in volume 7 compares reading a child's destiny to growing a plant, with the year as the root, the month as the shoot, the day as the flower and the hour as the fruit: "人之八字以年為根月為苗日為花時為菓"[1].
On barriers, the book keeps to the Tử Bình method: "夫關者何也即偏官為關偏財為煞專以日干為主取生成之數斷之"[1]. That is, the barrier (quan) is the thiên quan (seven killings) and the sát is the thiên tài (indirect wealth), both reckoned from the day stem, and the generating and completing numbers are used to judge the age at which the barrier falls. The book gives the example "甲日見庚為九歲關"[1]: a person born on a Giáp day who meets Canh has a barrier at age nine.
Right after this, the book lists a series of barriers from other schools and sets them aside: "若夫百日關鐵蛇關鷄飛關閻王關深水關鬼門關四季關四柱關将軍箭其説見百中經可考然多不驗故不錄"[1]. Roughly: as for the Hundred Days barrier, Iron Snake barrier, Flying Chicken barrier, Diêm vương quan, Deep Water barrier, Ghost Gate barrier, Four Seasons barrier, Four Pillars barrier and Tướng quân tiễn, their theory is found in the Bách trung kinh and can be checked, but mostly it does not come true, so it is not recorded. Dạ đề quan is not on this list. In Tam mệnh thông hội, "dạ đề" (night crying) appears only in the section on illness, as a symptom in small children when the Giáp and Ất stems meet many Canh, Tân, Thân and Dậu: "小兒主急慢驚風夜啼"[1].
What does Tinh học đại thành say about child barriers?
A different question-and-answer passage on child barriers is in volume 4 of Tinh học đại thành (星學大成), a work on the Ngũ tinh star method (seven luminaries and four remainders) also under Vạn Dân Anh's name[2]. To the question "小兒關煞何以取之", the book answers: "前後有煞命在其中三方拱夾亦是煞門原守如是更有加盤若無救援十死九難"[2]. Roughly: sát before and behind with the destiny palace between them, or the three directions pressing in, is also a gate of sát; without rescue, nine in ten die.
The book adds one more barrier: "春命在酉夏命子看秋嫌卯位冬怕午安此上安命乃為災難"[2], meaning that for a spring birth with the destiny palace at Dậu, a summer birth at Tý, an autumn birth at Mão or a winter birth at Ngọ, there will be calamity. The accompanying comment says "但忌三嵗"[2]: the danger lasts only through the first three years. This is a rule about the position of the destiny palace in a Ngũ tinh chart and is not tied to the names Tướng quân tiễn, Diêm vương quan or Dạ đề quan.
What is Tướng quân tiễn and how is it calculated?
Tam mệnh thông hội only names Tướng quân tiễn without recording how to compute it[1]. Tử Vi đẩu số tân biên by Vân Đằng Thái Thứ Lang (section 21.1.3) calls it the Tướng Quân hour and writes: "The child is often ill, above all with sài (infant wasting illness), and cries very loudly and for a very long time, but it is not a cause for worry." The book reckons by birth season, three hours per season: spring the Thìn, Tuất and Dậu hours; summer the Tý, Mão and Mùi hours; autumn the Dần, Ngọ and Sửu hours; winter the Thân, Tỵ and Hợi hours. The book's example: a child born in the second month, which belongs to spring, in the Thìn hour falls under the Tướng Quân hour.
A Tử Vi book by Hà Lạc Dã Phu Việt Viêm Tử copies the same table, describes a child under the Tướng Quân hour as one who "cries for a very long time, sometimes for a whole month until losing its voice", and records a folk custom: "our custom treats it as offending the vía (a child's spirit), and one must pray".
What is Diêm vương quan and how does it differ from Tướng quân tiễn?
Diêm vương quan is likewise only named in Tam mệnh thông hội, with the remark that it mostly does not come true[1]. Tử Vi đẩu số tân biên (section 21.1.4) calls it the Diêm Vương hour, describes it as "The child is easily frightened, startles, rolls its eyes and sticks out its tongue", and also reckons it by birth season: spring the Sửu and Mùi hours; summer the Thìn and Tuất hours; autumn the Tý and Ngọ hours; winter the Mão and Dậu hours. The book's example: a child born in the fifth month, which belongs to summer, in the Thìn hour falls under the Diêm Vương hour.
The two hours are computed the same way and differ only in their tables and descriptions: the Tướng Quân hour goes with loud, long crying, the Diêm Vương hour with fright and startling. The name sounds frightening, but the book does not say the Diêm Vương hour threatens a child's life.
What is Dạ đề quan and how is it calculated?
Dạ đề quan is not on Tam mệnh thông hội's list of barriers[1]. "Dạ đề" (夜啼) means night crying. Tử Vi đẩu số tân biên (section 21.1.5) calls it the Dạ Đề hour, notes only "The child often cries at night", and gives one hour per season: spring the Ngọ hour, summer the Dậu hour, autumn the Tý hour, winter the Mão hour. Việt Viêm Tử's book copies the same table.
How does the Quan Sát hour differ from these three hours?
In the same chapter, Tử Vi đẩu số tân biên puts the Quan Sát hour (section 21.1.2) first, with heavier words: "The child is often sickly, or else meets accidents that are very worrying. A child born under the Quan Sát hour, if it survives every illness and mishap, grows up very bold and unruly." The Quan Sát hour is reckoned by birth month rather than season: the first month the Tỵ hour, the second month the Ngọ hour, the third month the Mùi hour, moving forward one branch each month, up to the twelfth month and the Thìn hour. The book's example is a child born in the fourth month in the Thân hour.
Another folk verse on the Quan Sát hour, cited by Lê Văn Sửu, counts backwards: the first month the Tỵ hour, the second month the Thìn hour, the third month the Mão hour, the fourth month the Dần hour. For the same fourth month, one source gives the Thân hour and the other the Dần hour.
Do the books agree on these hours?
No. Tam mệnh thông hội judges barriers by the day stem and the thiên quan, while Vietnamese Tử Vi books judge by season, month and birth hour; neither method can be derived from the other. The table below sets the sources side by side:
| Name | Tam mệnh thông hội | Tử Vi đẩu số tân biên: calculation | Description in Tử Vi đẩu số tân biên |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tướng quân tiễn (Tướng Quân hour) | Named, calculation not recorded | By season, three hours per season | Often ill, cries very loudly and long, not a cause for worry |
| Diêm vương quan (Diêm Vương hour) | Named, calculation not recorded | By season, two hours per season | Easily frightened, startles |
| Dạ đề quan (Dạ Đề hour) | Absent | By season, one hour per season | Often cries at night |
| Quan Sát hour | No hour of this name | By month, one hour per month | Often sickly, very worrying accidents |
Why did people in the past care about child barriers?
In old society many newborns and small children died early. Birth hour tables gave adults a way to name that worry, and they came with customs, such as the custom of praying for a child who has "offended the vía" that Việt Viêm Tử records. No study has shown any link between birth hour and a child's night crying or frequent illness; night crying can come from hunger, gas, teething, a change of sleeping place or an illness that needs examination.
Nhật Nguyệt's suggestion: how should these hour tables be read?
Nhật Nguyệt's suggestion: read these tables as a record of how people in the past named the worries of raising children, and always check which book a barrier name comes from, because each book computes the same name differently. The author of Tam mệnh thông hội himself set these theories aside because they mostly do not come true. A child who often cries at night or falls ill should be taken to a paediatrician; the birth hour is no basis for a diagnosis.
