The Flying Locust (Fei Lian) is the rumor star of Zi Wei Dou Shu, placed by advancing from the Shen palace with the birth year branch. It colors a palace with gossip, open criticism, and small disputes that damage reputation. Classical texts treat it as a minor star whose effect depends on the main stars around it.
Core Attributes
| Chinese | 蜚廉 |
|---|---|
| Pinyin | Fei Lian |
| English | Flying Locust |
| Archetype | The Scandal |
| Category | Minor |
Personality & Temperament
The Flying Locust describes a pattern of reputation friction rather than a personality type. People with this star prominent often live with background noise: words repeated, motives questioned, small disputes that flare publicly. The classical profile is a person who speaks plainly, attracts comment, and must guard their words, because what they say has a way of coming back amplified.
The star's role is to mark where the chart is sensitive to gossip and public misunderstanding. With strong main stars or helpful minor stars in the same palace, older texts are explicit that its power becomes negligible, so small that it can be ignored. The star reports the interference pattern; the environment decides the volume.
The shadow is the pattern itself: involvement in other people's quarrels, careless speech, a reputation for stirring things up, or the sting of being discussed unfairly. When it meets Hua Ji of the Great Gate (Ju Men) or the Sun, classical texts describe slander that follows the person around. When it meets peach-blossom stars, the gossip takes a romantic color. None of this is a verdict; it is a caution to be transparent, precise, and careful with promises, because under this star, words travel.
Flying Locust in the Twelve Palaces
| Palace | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Life | The Flying Locust in the Life Palace points to a person whose words and reputation attract comment. Discretion is the practical advice: speech returns amplified. With strong main stars and helpers present, the effect shrinks to harmless background noise. |
| Spouse | In the Spouse Palace it describes gossip around the relationship, third-party comment, or family talk about the marriage. The bond itself is unaffected unless destructive stars join, but privacy becomes a practical value. |
| Health | In the Health Palace it is a minor marker for caution rather than illness: small accidents, infections, or carelessness when rushed. Classical texts list it among stars that favor prudence with tools and traffic. |
| Travel | In the Travel Palace it warns of disputes and misunderstandings away from home, petty quarrels in transit, or being talked about in unfamiliar places. Keeping a low profile on journeys suits the star. |
| Friends | In the Friends Palace it points to public-facing friction in the social circle: jealous comment, rivalries, and people who discuss each other openly. Loyal friends shield the person; loose talkers drain them. |
| Career | In the Career Palace it describes workplace rumor and open criticism, often around a project or promotion. The remedy in the classical framework is transparency: documents in writing, decisions witnessed, and reputation defended with facts. |
Key Star Combinations
- Flying Locust + Great Gate (蜚廉巨门): The strongest rumor signature in the minor stars. When the Great Gate also turns to Hua Ji, classical texts describe slander, open criticism, and legal disputes that are annoying rather than ruinous. The practical reading is simple: keep records, speak carefully, and let facts outrun rumor.
- Flying Locust + Red Phoenix or Salty Pool (蜚廉红鸾咸池): Gossip with a romantic color: reputation talk tied to relationships or attraction. Classical texts warn of being discussed unfairly over love affairs. With helpful stars alongside, the same combination merely means an active social life that people enjoy commenting on.
- Flying Locust + Left Assistant or Right Support (蜚廉左辅右弼): The textbook softening. Older texts state plainly that when helpers or strong main stars sit together with the Flying Locust, its destructive power vanishes, and the effect becomes too small to matter. The star's volume, in other words, is set by its company.
Common Questions
Does the Flying Locust mean I will be slandered?
It describes a pattern of reputation friction, not a fixed outcome. Most of the time the effect is small: passing gossip, workplace comment, or a misunderstanding that clears up. The size of the pattern depends on the main stars, the Four Transformations, and the palace involved. Where helpful stars sit, the classical texts say the effect is negligible.
How should I read this star constructively?
As a caution about visibility. Under the Flying Locust, words travel and motives get questioned, so the practical arts are transparency, precise speech, and good record keeping. Read this way, the star is a reminder rather than a threat, and its presence often motivates people to be more careful and more credible than they would otherwise be.
Why is it called a locust?
The image is a swarm: many small things that together damage a field, like insects on a harvest. One insect means nothing; a swarm strips the crop. The star works the same way, small remarks that accumulate into reputation damage, which is why the classical remedy is to cut the swarm early with clarity and direct communication.
Related Stars
Explore how Flying Locust works with other stars: