Classical feng shui is not a one-size-fits-all formula. The same room can be excellent for one person and problematic for another, because each of us carries our own energetic signature into the spaces we inhabit. This section explains that personal dimension, and it starts from the number that produces it.

The Kua number

The centrepiece of the section is the Kua (Gua) number — also called the Ming Gua, or personal trigram — a value derived from your year of birth and gender that places you into one of eight directions. The Kua number article shows how to work it out by hand and with the calculator, and Ba Zhai, the Eight Mansions system shows what the four favourable and four unfavourable directions then decide: where the bed goes, where the desk faces, which door to use most often, and how the stove is oriented.

The eight directions

Each direction has its own article, because each one means something different and asks for a different response. On the favourable side, Sheng Qi is the direction of wealth and opportunity, Tian Yi of health, Yan Nian of relationships and longevity, and Fu Wei of stability and personal growth. On the unfavourable side, Huo Hai concerns accidents and small losses, Wu Gui the disputes and ill-will of the Five Ghosts, Liu Sha the Six Killings, and Jue Ming the direction of total loss, which classical sources treat as the most serious of the four.

Using it in a real home

The practical question is what to do when a favourable direction falls on a bathroom, or when two people in one household have conflicting Kua numbers. The guides answer that with the adjustments that need no renovation — orientation, colour, the element assigned to a sector, and simple placement — and they say plainly when the answer is to leave a space as it is.