Feng Shui Compass
Feng shui looks at the relationship between people and the space they occupy. The first step is to fix the sitting and facing directions — the direction a building backs onto is its sitting, the direction it looks out on is its facing, and the twenty-four Mountains (二十四山) divide the circle into twenty-four sectors for marking them. Once sitting and facing are wrong, everything calculated afterwards is wrong with them, which makes this the step in the whole method that demands the most care — and, as it happens, the one on which schools differ most.
Cast a ChartHow sitting and facing are determined
The tradition takes the facing from the building's qi mouth (納氣口), but what counts as the qi mouth is seen differently from school to school: some go by the main door, some by the side with the largest glazed area, some by the orientation of the building as a whole. Modern housing brings the disagreement out especially sharply — when the door faces one way and the main light comes from another, the two rules give completely different sitting and facing. In practice you should state which standard you are using, rather than assume there is only one answer.
Eight Mansions and the life gua
The Eight Mansions method (八宅) sorts dwellings into eight types according to their sitting and facing, then derives the occupant's life gua (命卦) from their year of birth; matching the two gives the reading for each direction. Its distinguishing feature is that it is centred on the person, so the same home can be arranged differently for different occupants. It is worth noting that Eight Mansions handles only the fit between directions and people; it takes no account of time.
Xuan Kong Flying Stars and time
Xuan Kong Flying Star (玄空飛星) brings in what Eight Mansions leaves out: time. The period (元運) in which the building was completed or first occupied fixes the mountain star and the facing star, which are then flown through the nine palaces to give the reading for each direction under the current period. Because the time dimension is there, the same home reads differently from one period to the next. ⚠️ Schools differ over when the periods are counted from and at what moment one turns into the next, and the conventions for laying out the flying stars differ too, so when comparing conclusions across schools, line up the premises first.
On “remedies”
What the tradition calls a remedy means using the generating and controlling relations among the five elements to adjust a direction that leans too far one way — draining metal with water, loosening earth with wood — and in practice that comes down to where furniture sits, and to colour, material and circulation. These are suggestions about arranging a living space. They involve no supernatural promise of any kind, and they are no substitute for professional judgement on building safety, daylight and ventilation, structure and the like.
FAQ
Is sitting and facing taken from the main door or from the main light source?
This is exactly where feng shui divides most sharply. Treating the main door as the qi mouth is the more common practice, but there are schools that argue for the largest glazed face or for the orientation of the whole building. In modern housing the two are frequently not on the same side, in which case the two rules give different sitting and facing, and everything calculated afterwards differs accordingly. Before using any feng shui analysis, confirm which of the standards it is working from.
When Eight Mansions and Xuan Kong Flying Stars conflict, which one do I follow?
They are not addressing the same thing: Eight Mansions matches people to directions, while Xuan Kong Flying Star brings time into it. Traditionally the two are treated as complementary layers rather than an either/or. When their conclusions do not agree, the usual practice is to look separately at what each is basing itself on, rather than simply picking one.
Can feng shui be applied to a rented home?
Yes. Sitting, facing and the flying stars are determined by the building itself and have nothing to do with ownership. In a rental what you can adjust is mainly the interior arrangement and circulation, since the structural parts cannot be touched, so the analysis usually concentrates on what is within reach.
Do I need to buy particular ornaments?
No. Traditional remedies are adjustments to five-element relationships, and in practice they come down to placement, colour, material and circulation, which can usually be managed with what is already in the home. Equating a remedy with buying a specific object is a later, commercialised reading, not part of the method itself.
Can a feng shui analysis guarantee results?
It cannot, and it should not be promised. What is offered here is what the traditional method calculates for a given sitting and facing, together with ideas for arranging the space — a cultural point of reference. The real effect a home has on the people in it runs through measurable factors: daylight, ventilation, noise, circulation. Those should be judged by the standards of building practice and everyday living.
Related terms
- Qian (乾 ☰) — The CreativeThe first of the eight trigrams; pure yang, representing heaven, creativity, and dynamic strength.
- Kun (坤 ☷) — The ReceptiveThe most yin of the eight trigrams; representing earth, receptivity, devotion, and nurturing power.
- Gen (艮 ☶) — Keeping StillTop yang above two yin lines; the trigram of mountain, stillness, boundary, and the youngest son.
- Dui (兌 ☱) — The JoyousTop yin above two yang lines; the trigram of lake, joy, communication, and the youngest daughter.
- Zi (子) — Rat Branch / Yin WaterFirst of the twelve Earthly Branches; yin water; the rat sign; rules midnight (23:00–01:00) and the heart of winter.
- Wu (午) — Horse Branch / Yang FireSeventh Earthly Branch; yang fire; the horse sign; rules noon (11:00–13:00) and the second month of summer (夏至).