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Most of you probably know (or heard of) your personal Life Kua number. In short, there’s the East and West group, and each person has four auspicious and inauspicious directions based on their year of birth.
This practice of using personal Life Kua number came from the Eight Mansions School of Feng Shui.
However, many people who practice this neglect that the house itself has its own Kua.
Similar to Life Kua, the house’s Kua also has 4 auspicious and inauspicious directions and sectors. The Life Kua is calculated from a person’s year of birth, whereas the house’s Kua is derived from the house’s sitting and facing direction.
When looking at a house’s Feng Shui using Eight Mansions, the House’s Kua takes precedent over your Life Kua.
Read on to understand why.
Distinguishing House Kua from Life Kua
If you only apply the Life Kua when practicing Eight Mansions Feng Shui, you’ll find that it’s difficult when you and your family members belong to different Kua groups (East and West group). You’ll find that an auspicious location for one person would be inauspicious for another.
Traditionally, one would prioritize the needs of the husband because he’s the default bread-winner. In which case, the front door and kitchen should be in the auspicious sector of the husband. The bedroom would then be in the auspicious location of the wife because she bears the burden of pregnancy.
However, modern day living requires many families to have double income. Thus, the traditional practice wouldn’t make the most sense.
Further, is it even possible that a house can be good for one person but not the other? Is one group definitely doomed but not the other, assuming the house only favors one group? Wouldn’t there always be a loser? And shouldn’t you only marry a person that belongs to the same group just so the both of you can enjoy Feng Shui?
If you do some survey, you’ll find many happy couples and families with members belonging to different Kua groups. You’ll also RARELY find a Kua group getting singled out and receiving all the impact of negative Feng Shui.
The explanation here is the House Kua, which takes priority over the Life Kua when you look at the Feng Shui of a home.
For example, if a bedroom is located at the House Kua’s auspicious sector, the bedroom is in a good spot. It wouldn’t matter much if the bedroom is in the inauspicious sector based on the Life Kua of the occupants. (You will learn more about this later.)
To find your House Kua, you’ll need the facing direction of your house (or apartment).
Finding Your Home’s Facing Direction
You will need a compass to find your home’s direction. The compass app on your smartphone can do the job.
Once you have that ready, you’ll need to determine your home’s FACING direction. The facing direction is NOT the same as your front door direction.
For houses, the facing direction is generally the side that faces the street. For apartments, it’s generally the side where it is most “Yang”, or the side where most Qi enters the apartment. (This is another debated topic because different schools have different approaches to determine the facing direction of an apartment.)
Finding your home’s facing direction can get quite a little confusing. Use this guide to find your home’s facing direction if it’s not evident.
After you’ve determined your home’s facing direction, use the information below to determine the Kua of your house.
Your Home’s Kua Based on the Eight Cardinal Directions
LI HOUSE: Facing North337.5˚ – 22.5˚
KUN HOUSE: Facing Northeast 22.5˚ – 67.5˚
DUI HOUSE: Facing East67.5˚ – 112.5˚
QIAN HOUSE: Facing Southeast112.5˚ – 157.5˚
KAN HOUSE: Facing South157.5˚ – 202.5˚
GEN HOUSE: Facing Southwest202.5˚ – 247.5˚
ZHEN HOUSE: Facing West247.5˚ – 292.5˚
XUN HOUSE: Facing Northwest292.5˚ – 337.5˚
Summary of the Eight Types of Qi in the Kua
The eight types of Qi listed here is the same as the ones you see in your Life Kua.
There are four auspicious Qi and four inauspicious Qi. Here’s a summary of their effects.
The 4 Auspicious Qi’s:
Shen Qi (生气) – Life Generating
This is the strongest Qi of all. It can be used for advancing your career, improving authority and reputation, and even increasing your chances of having children.
Tien Yi (天医) – Heavenly Doctor
This Qi is directly related to your health and vitality with an indirect effect on your wealth.
Yan Nien (延年) – Longevity
This Qi is directly related to your love, relationships, and marriage. Relationships are not limited to romantic relationships, but also include business, friends, and familial relationships.
Fu Wei (伏位) – Stability
This Qi is used for personal development, self-improvements, and leading a peaceful life.
The 4 Inauspicious Qi’s:
Jue Ming (绝命) – Life Ending
This is the worst Qi of all. It is associated with your own self-destruction. It can give you depression, anxiety, and other mental illness that can greatly affect your overall well-being.
Wu Gui (五鬼) Sh– Five Ghosts
This Qi is associated with violence, chaos, robbery, theft, and illnesses.
Liu Sha (六杀) – Six Killings
This Qi is associated with a negative mind. It can damage your marriage, career, and your relationship with others because it brings unnecessary conflicts and disputes.
Huo Hai (祸害) – Mishaps
This Qi is associated with the loss of energy and motivation. It can manifest as annoying problems instead of detrimental ones, such as disharmony, fatigue, and laziness.
How the Auspicious and Inauspicious Sectors are Used
In short, the bedroom, front door, living room, and study areas should be located in the auspicious sectors. The kitchen, restrooms, and storage rooms should be located in the inauspicious sectors.
Please take note: these sectors are LOCATIONS in the house and NOT directions.
Meaning, if your home is facing South, a Kan House, it would be ideal if your bedroom is located in the Southeast SECTION of the house because Southeast is the Sheng Qi area. If not, having your front door, living room, or study area in the Southeast area would do just fine.
Having different rooms in different areas would bring you different Feng Shui results. This is when you need to consider the kind of Feng Shui results you’re looking for. Is your priority romance? Wealth? Or health?
Explaining the potential Feng Shui results from each room in a different Qi area is a long conversation. Thus, I won’t get into the details here.
When Does Life Kua Come Into Play?
Essentially, the House Kua is used to determine whether the kitchen, front door, and bedroom are in good locations (as well as other areas of less importance). After that, you can use your Life Kua to adjust or fine-tune your room’s Feng Shui with furniture placement and its directions.
This concept is based on the mini-Tai Chi, where the house has its macro Tai Chi, and each room (micro) and individual has their own mini-Tai Chi. Uncle Dixer explains this as “One item, one Taiji (Tai Chi)”.
Here’s an example taken from an earlier article about couples with opposite Life Kua groups:
Let’s say your bedroom is at the inauspicious Jue Ming sector based on the house Kua. In this case, first check the facing direction of the master bedroom door. If it matches the auspicious direction of the husband, then the bed shall be placed so it faces one of the auspicious direction of the wife (or vice versa).
Keep in mind that the first thing to look at is the location of the bedroom, kitchen, and front door relative to the House Kua. After that, you can fine-tune and adjust using the Life Kua of the individual that’s occupying that room.
Doubts on Eight Mansions from Certain Feng Shui Masters
If you’re familiar with Feng Shui, you’ll know that there are many different schools of Feng Shui. There is the Eight Mansions that you just read about here, and there’s the Black Hat, Xuan Kong Flying Stars, and many others out there.
Some masters I’ve engaged with (in Asia) have expressed their doubts on the efficacy of Eight Mansions Feng Shui. They’ve cited various reasons which did make some sense to me. These reasons include the imbalance of the number of people in East and West group and the historical context as to how Eight Mansions originated (which I have yet to confirm).
To see more details about the doubts on Eight Mansions Feng Shui practice, please go to the end of this article about couples with opposite Kua groups.
Conclusion
If you practice Eight Mansions Feng Shui, the first step is to find your House Kua. After that, you can then use your Life Kua to make the necessary adjustments, if needed.
What you learned here is an over-simplification of this practice. Here are some courses you can take if you’d like to get deeper into Eight Mansions Feng Shui. If you truly desire the help of Feng Shui to achieve your goals in life, I strongly suggest that you or find a trusted and qualified Feng Shui consultant to assist you. Reading and applying a tip here and there just won’t cut it.
How’s your home’s Feng Shui based on the House Kua? What was your experience with that home? Comment below and share your story with us!
Victor Cheung
