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Luoluzi fu zhu 珞琭子賦注 is a book on divination about career and fortune (luming 祿命) whose original core text was probably written by the Buddhist monk Tanying 曇瑩. An alternative title is provided in Qian Zeng's 錢曾 (1629-1701) book catalogue Dushu minqiu ji 讀書敏求記, where the book is called Luoluzi sanming xiaoxi fu 珞琭子三命消息賦, with a length of 2 juan. The title is derived from the phrase "[They do not wish to show themselves] elegant-looking as jade, [but prefer to be] coarse-looking as an ordinary stone" (lulu ru yu, luoluo ru shi 琭琭如玉，珞珞如石; transl. Legge) from the Daodejing 道德經. The identity of Master Luoluzi 珞琭子 is unclear. Even if some authors say it was Tao Hongjing 陶弘景 (456–536), the content of the book shows that it cannot have been written at such an early point in time. According to its listing in book catalogues, the text must have been compiled during the Northern Song period 北宋 (960-1126).
The commentary (zhu 注) to the core "rhapsody" (fu 賦) is attributed to Li Tong 李同 (also written 李仝), Wang Yanguang 王廷光, and Xu Ziping 徐子平. No details are known about who was Wang and Li, but Tanying was known as an expert in the Classic Yijing 易經 "Book of Changes". Xu Ziping might be identical to a divination master from south China mentioned in Liu Yu's 劉玉 (fl. 1496) Jinüepian 己瘧編. He might have lived in the mid-10th century and was a colleague of the Daoist masters Chen Tuan 陳摶 (871-989) and Lü Dongbin 呂洞賓.
It might be the case that Tanying was also a commentator and not the author of the core text. The Ming-period 明 (1368-1644) encyclopaedia Yongle dadian 永樂大典 reveals that there were two texts called Luoluzi fu, namely one commented by Xu Ziping and one written by Tanying and commented by the other three persons. There is the possibility that Qian Zeng mixed up the two versions or that Tanying brought together the commentaries of Li Tong and Wang Yanguang and added his own thoughts. The second fascicle, in particular, includes only commentaries of Tanying. To complicate things, the preface of Tanying mentions a certain Zheng Lin 鄭潾 as a commentator, but nothing of this person is said in the text itself – unless the text is not transmitted in full in the Yongle dadian. The commentary of Xu Ziping is also known by the title Xushi Luoluzi fu zhu 徐氏珞琭子賦注 and was published separately.
Tanying's commentary often aligns principles of fate analysis with the theories of the Yijing, though it seems less straightforward and precise than Xu Ziping's interpretations. However, in sections like "Fate limits" (mingxian 命限), Tanying demonstrates a notable level of accuracy, and his own discussion on the "solitary and void" days gu 孤 and xu 虛 (i.e., wuhai 戌亥, and chensi 辰巳, which were not auspicious for weddings because the Stems and Branches do not match) also has elements worth considering. Xu Ziping's method explicitly uses a person’s year, month, day, and hour of birth—known as the "eight characters" [of information] (bazi 八字)—to deduce fortune and misfortune, blessings and disasters. This forms the foundation for later bazi-based fate calculation techniques. The book discusses the orientation of "energy" (qi 氣), the gains and losses of the rigidity and flexibility of metal and wood (jin mu gang-rou zhi de-shi 金木剛柔之得失), and the correspondence between the blue and red (colours) and their "parent-child" relationships (qing chi fu-zi zhi xiangying 青赤父子之相應).
The "three destinies" (sanming 三命) applied in the Luoluzi refer to the use of the Celestial Stems for fortune and career (yi gan wei lu 以干為祿), the Terrestrial Branches for fate (yi zhi wei ming 以支為命), and the (season-related) sounds for the body (yi na yin wei shen 以納音為身). This method determines a person's wealth and poverty based on the orientation of the "four energies" (si qi 四氣; the energies of the four seasons), and establishes their fortune and misfortune based on the depth and cyclical nature of the seasonal changes. Furthermore, it specifically uses the eight characters of a person's birth year, month, day, and hour to predict fortune, misfortune, and blessings, all of which are reliably verified.
The text Luoluzi fu zhu with the commentary of Tanyin and the 珞琭子三命消息賦注 with Xu Ziping's commentary is included in the series Mohai jinhu 墨海金壺, Shoushange congshu 守山閣, Siku quanshu 四庫全書 and Congshu jicheng chubian 叢書集成初編. The Luoluzi sanming xiaoxi fu 珞琭子三命消息賦, with the commentary of Li Tong, is found in the Xu guyi congshu 續古逸叢書. A further commentary, written by Yue Ke 岳珂 (1183-1243) and called Sanming zhimi fu 三命指迷賦, is in the Siku quanshu and Congshu jicheng chubian.
禀清濁兮自然， 著三才以成象， 播四氣以為年。 |
The original solitary energy existed before Heaven; it inherently possessed both purity and turbidity. It manifested the Three Powers to create symbols, and it distributed the Four Energies to establish the yearly cycles. |
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| 元者，始也；一者，道生一衝氣也。有物混成，先天地生。以看命法論之，如人初受胎月在母腹中男女未分。 | "Original" (yuan 元) signifies the beginning, and "solitary" (yi 一) is the undivided "Way" (Dao 道) that generates a singular, unified energy. There exist things, a formless mix, born before Heaven and Earth. If this is regarded from the perspective of fate and natural law, it is like a person at the moment of conception, in the mother's womb, before the division into male or female occurs. |
| 以四柱言之，則知人本命也，尚未有生月日時，即貴賤壽夭未分。故云：一氣。以大道言之，則混一氣而生育天地也，主祖宗之宮也。 | In terms of the Four Pillars, this is the essential destiny of a person. Before the months, days, and hours of one's birth are established, distinctions of nobility or commonness, or of longevity or brevity of life, are not yet determined. Therefore, it is said: in terms of the Great Dao, a solitary energy in its mixed, unified state gives rise to and nurtures Heaven and Earth. It is the palace of the ancestors. |
| 陰陽既分，清氣為天，濁氣為地。地法天，天法道，道法自然。以命術言之，則如在母胎中以是成形，男女已分也。以大道言之，天地分也。以四柱言之，則生月是也。 | When Yin and Yang are divided, the clear energy becomes Heaven, and the turbid energy becomes Earth. The Earth follows Heaven; Heaven follows the Dao; and the Dao follows its own natural way. In terms of fate calculation, this is like the stage in the womb when form has taken shape and the division into male and female is already determined. In terms of the Great Dao, it is the division of Heaven and Earth. In terms of the Four Pillars, it is represented by the month of birth. |
| 主父母宮，天地人為三才。以命術言之，是人生日是也。乃人身自得之宮。看下臨何宮分也。 | The Father and Mother Palace, with Heaven, Earth, and Humanity as the Three Powers (sancai 三才), corresponds to the day of a person's birth in fate calculation. This is the person's self-obtained palace. Observing below, one can see which palace [a person] belongs to. |
| 四氣者，布木火水金以為四時，各旺七十二日，土旺四季，各旺十八日，故為一年。五行之休旺也。以看命論之，是人生時也。以四柱論之，本命生月生日生時四柱也。 | The Four Energies (siqi 四氣) are distributed as [the Agents] Wood, Fire, Water, and Metal, creating the four seasons, each flourishing for seventy-two days. [The fifth Agent,] Earth, flourishes during each of the four transitional seasons, each lasting eighteen days, thus forming the waxing and waning of the Five Agents over the year. From a fate calculation perspective, this is a person's time of birth. In terms of the Four Pillars, it includes the birth year, month, day, and hour—the Four Pillars. |
| 每一宮有三元，有天元、人元、支元。生時主子孫也，更看生時天元不居休敗，居於旺相，則佳矣，死囚則見多而晚成。 | Each palace has three "Origins" — the Heavenly Origin (tianyuan 天元), Human Origin (renyuan 人元), and Terrestrial-Branch Origin (zhiyuan 支元). The hour of birth governs descendants. Further examining the birth hour, [one can say]: if the Heavenly Origin does not reside in a state of rest or decline, but rather in a state of prosperity and growth, it is favorable. If it is in a state of death or confinement, it indicates many hardships and delayed success. |