The four stars and their mountains
Each of the 24 mountains on the luopan is 15 degrees wide, and the Tianxing school pairs each one with a star. Four of those pairings are called noble. Hai, at 330 degrees in the north west, carries Tianhuang, the Heavenly Sovereign. Gen, at 45 degrees in the north east, carries Tianshi, the Heavenly Market. Xun, at 135 degrees in the south east, carries Taiyi, the Great Unity. You, at 270 degrees in the west, carries Shaowei.
The names come from the old Chinese star maps, where each marks a seat of standing. On the ground, the school uses them as a short list: when a range or a peak lands on one of these four, it looks closer.
What this means on the ground
The star is read on the Tianxing ring of the school's own luopan. First the landform is judged on its own: does the range arrive alive, with rises and turns, do the guarding hills close in, does the water gather and leave through a tight mouth. Only then does the master sight the luopan at the incoming range and at each major peak, and note which mountain each one sits on.
If the incoming range enters from Hai, or a tall clean peak stands on Gen, Xun or You, the site is marked as carrying a noble star. For a grave this is read at the head of the site. For a house or a shop it is read from the front door, looking at the hills, towers or roof lines that stand on those four bearings.
Common mistakes
The first mistake is to think a noble star rescues a bad landform. It does not. A range that enters from Hai but arrives flat, broken and lifeless is still a dead dragon, and the star on the ring changes nothing. The sky answers the ground; it does not replace it.
The second mistake is to read the four stars with a generic compass or an app. The pairing of stars to mountains is this school's own, and it sits on a specific ring of a specific luopan. A different ring gives a different answer. The third mistake is to measure from the wrong place, for example from the car park instead of the site, so a peak lands a mountain away from where it truly sits.
Questions people ask
What are the four noble stars in feng shui?
In the Tianxing school they are Tianhuang on Hai, Tianshi on Gen, Taiyi on Xun and Shaowei on You, four of the 24 stars on the luopan. A range or peak on one of these four bearings is treated as carrying a noble star.
Does my house need to face a noble star?
No. The noble stars are read on the incoming range and the peaks around a site, not mainly on the facing of a door. A house with open ground in front, support behind and a quiet, well shaped hill on one of the four bearings is doing well. The facing is set separately.
Can I check the four noble stars with a phone compass?
A phone gives you the bearing of a hill, which is useful for a first look. But the star pairing belongs to the Tianxing ring of the school's luopan, so a phone bearing tells you the mountain, not the full reading. Send the bearing and photos and have it checked.
If you want the Tianxing ring read at your plot, book a site reading with Master Zhang or join the field course in Ganzhou.