Traditional culture in plain words
From yin and yang (陰陽) and the five elements to Tai Sui, flying stars, Eight Mansions and the four pillars — about a hundred traditional terms explained in plain words, each with related terms to explore.
The water star of connections and clear thinking; in 2027, north-west.
1 White belongs to water and traditionally goes with movement, communication and people skills.
In 2027 it flies to the north-west; tradition keeps that corner fresh and bright, easy to move around in.
An earth star, traditionally best kept still; in 2027, west.
2 Black belongs to earth and is traditionally a star for quiet, best left undisturbed.
In 2027 it flies to the west; tradition keeps that corner tidy and calm — everyday life can carry on as usual, no need to worry.
A wood star that stands for change; in 2027, north-east.
3 Jade belongs to wood and traditionally goes with quarrels and change — a reminder to speak gently.
In 2027 it flies to the north-east; tradition keeps that corner's pathways clear and voices level.
The wood star of study, also called Wenchang; in 2027, south.
4 Green, also known as the Wenchang star, goes with study, exams and paperwork.
In 2027 it flies to the south; tradition sets the desk there, or keeps books on that side, for the love of learning.
The earth star that most wants stillness; in 2027, north.
5 Yellow belongs to earth and is traditionally the star to leave alone — no big disturbance.
In 2027 it flies to the north; tradition keeps that corner tidy and quiet all year, with no digging or hammering. Safety and daily needs always come first.
The metal star of order and work; in 2027, south-west.
6 White belongs to metal and traditionally goes with order, systems and work.
In 2027 it flies to the south-west; tradition sets tidy storage or a desk there, for the love of things in their place.
The metal star of change; in 2027, east.
7 Red belongs to metal and traditionally goes with turns and breakthroughs — a prompt to stay flexible.
In 2027 it flies to the east; tradition keeps that corner open and well lit, to meet change calmly.
The Earth wealth star, past its prime in Period 9 (its timely years are over); in 2027, south-east.
8 White belongs to earth; tradition calls it the wealth star and links it to steady earnings.
In 2027 it flies to the south-east; tradition keeps that corner clean and bright and stores often-used valuables there — little by little.
The fire star of celebrations; in 2027, centre.
9 Purple belongs to fire and traditionally goes with happy occasions — hence the name celebration star.
In 2027 it takes the centre palace, the heart of the year's chart; tradition keeps the middle of the home bright, in the spirit of good cheer.
Each day's list of what suits and what had better wait.
The almanac sorts daily activities into suitable (宜) and unsuitable (忌) — suitable for worship or a wedding, unsuitable for ground-breaking or opening — as a guide for picking dates.
The lists belong to tradition; real plans still answer to safety, the law and the family's needs first.
The shichen of a day that best suit getting things done.
The almanac marks each day's auspicious hours — the smoother stretches, such as a lucky zi hour or mao hour.
Openings, departures and beam-raisings traditionally start in an auspicious hour, for a good beginning.
The eight characters of the four pillars — your birth year, month, day and hour in stems and branches.
BaZi is the eight characters from the four pillars, the traditional basis for reading character and fortune.
Someone born after Lichun in 2027, for instance, has the year pillar ding wei (丁未); how the day master meets the other characters is the basic analysis.
Praying at a temple for peace and good fortune.
Blessing prayers mean incense and wishes at a temple for a peaceful home and smooth year; the first and fifteenth of the lunar month and festival days are the usual times.
Festivals like Che Kung's birthday and Tin Hau's birthday in Hong Kong are busy blessing days.
Your animal holds a break link with Tai Sui; plans meet surprises.
Break is the link of rupture and change; in 2027 xu and wei break each other, so people born in the Year of the Dog hold a break link.
Plans waver more under a break link, so tradition suggests keeping a backup arrangement and a calm, flexible attitude.
The ceremony for the first dig of building or renovation.
Breaking ground is the first dig of a build; the almanac lists it among the big events, usually with a blessing before work starts.
Tradition keeps the year's Tai Sui, Sui Po and Three Killings quarters free of it; in 2027 those sit south-west, north-east and west.
The middle square of the nine — the heart of the home.
The centre palace is the middle square of the grid and the starting point of a star chart; the star that lands there shapes the year's whole layout.
In 2027 the 9 Purple star holds the centre; tradition keeps the middle of the home bright and free of clutter.
Twelve animals matched to the twelve branches, marking the year you were born.
The zodiac animals are Rat, Ox, Tiger, Rabbit, Dragon, Snake, Horse, Goat, Monkey, Rooster, Dog and Pig, one per year in a twelve-year loop.
2027 is the year ding wei (丁未), the Goat; the year that matches your own animal is called your benming year and gets extra attention in tradition.
Your animal sits opposite Tai Sui's — six years apart — a year of movement.
A clash means your branch faces the year's branch straight across the wheel; in 2027, chou and wei clash, so people born in the Year of the Ox clash with Tai Sui.
Clash stands for change — house moves, job shifts and the like — so tradition suggests leaving room in your plans and thinking twice before big decisions.
The opening ceremony for a statue or lucky object.
Consecration is traditionally done by a priest, dotting the eyes of a newly made statue, Buddha figure or lucky charm to begin its service.
New charms are often consecrated before display; the rites differ between schools — a sincere heart is the main thing.
The animal each day clashes with, and the direction to be mindful of.
Chong sha notes two things: the animal the day's branch clashes with (a horse day, for example, clashes with the Rat) and the direction to treat with care that day.
Tradition says the clashing animal may feel more ups and downs, so big decisions can wait a day; our daily pages list the same.
The traditional practice of picking a good day for big things.
Date selection matches your animal sign against a day's stem-and-branch, officer and suitability lists to find a fitting date — a wedding, a move, an opening.
Our daily pages carry the suitability and clash details for your own checking; grand ceremonies usually call in a professional.
The stem of your birth day — the self at the centre of the chart.
The Day Master is the heavenly stem of the day you were born, the heart of the chart; every other character is compared with it.
A jia-wood (甲) day master meeting bing-fire (丙), for example, is an Eating God; the daily readings on this site come from your day master meeting each day's pair.
The stem-and-branch of a day — yours, or today's.
A day pillar is one stem plus one branch, looping every sixty days; in chart reading, the stem of your birth day is the day master.
Each day's pillar sets how the day meets the twelve animals; the day symbol on our daily pages comes from today's pillar meeting your day master.
The sign of rules and duty.
Direct Officer controls the day master with opposite yin-yang — the sign of rules and responsibility; follow the process and keep your word.
The day suits meetings, signing and seeing elders; dressing neatly adds to the confidence.
The sign of support from elders and study.
Direct Resource feeds the day master with opposite yin-yang — the sign of helpful elders and study luck; read documents closely and ask for advice.
The day suits learning, paperwork and visiting elders; things tend to move along.
The sign of steady income and careful money habits.
Direct Wealth is what the day master controls with opposite yin-yang — the sign of regular earnings and down-to-earth money habits, right for keeping accounts and checking savings.
The day suits bills, banking and practical money matters — steady, step by step.
Twelve characters, from zi (子) to hai (亥), matching the twelve zodiac animals.
There are twelve earthly branches, from zi to hai; each matches a zodiac animal and a stretch of the day, zi with the Rat and wu with the Horse, for example.
The branch of 2027 is wei, the Goat year; branches also mark directions, and wei sits in the south-west.
The traditional practices for smoothing a difficult year.
Easing covers practices like worshipping Tai Sui, wearing red or moving the bed — reminders to move carefully and set the heart at rest.
They belong to traditional culture; for health, emotional or legal matters, please consult a professional.
People with Kua 1, 3, 4 or 9 — lucky directions in the eastern set.
The lucky directions for the East Four group are east, south-east, south and north, matching East Four houses.
Kua 1 (Kan), 3 (Zhen), 4 (Xun) and 9 (Li) belong to this group; pointing the bed head or desk towards a lucky direction is the traditional use.
The sign of easy enjoyment — good food and creativity.
Eating God is what the day master produces with the same yin-yang — the sign of food and creativity, right for easing up, with an eye on portions.
The day suits cooking, making things and gathering; enjoyment with a little moderation.
The school that sorts homes into East Four and West Four houses by the way they sit.
Eight Mansions sorts homes by sitting direction into East Four houses (sitting east, south-east, south or north) and West Four houses (sitting west, north-west, south-west or north-east).
East Four houses suit East Four people and West Four houses suit West Four people; eight wandering stars then mark the lucky and difficult spots inside.
Eight three-line symbols standing for sky, earth, water, fire and other forces, and eight directions.
The trigrams are qian, kun, zhen, xun, kan, li, gen and dui — sky, earth, thunder, wind, water, fire, mountain and lake — each linked to a direction.
Kua numbers and Eight Mansions feng shui are both built on the trigrams, sorting birth years and house facings into the eight symbols.
Each element has its colours: wood green, fire red, earth yellow, metal white, water black and blue.
Colour is the everyday face of the elements: greens belong to wood, reds and purples to fire, yellows and browns to earth, whites and metallics to metal, blacks and blues to water.
Traditional good-fortune decorating plays with these pairings — to strengthen an element in a corner, you use objects in that element's colour there.
The traditional study of living spaces and directions; it looks for shelter and gathered qi.
Feng shui reads landforms, water and the facing of a building to judge whether a place feels settled; today it is mostly used for home layout and desk placement.
On this site feng shui is shared as traditional culture — yearly directions, Kua numbers and flying stars all come second to safety and everyday needs.
Wood, fire, earth, metal and water — five qualities used to explain how things relate.
The five elements sort things into wood, fire, earth, metal and water, each with its own colour, direction and season; wood belongs to the east, for example, and its colour is green.
The elements link through producing and restraint cycles; traditional calendars and feng shui both use them to describe how each year changes.
Nine numbered stars that move around the nine palaces each year on a fixed path.
Flying stars are the heart of Xuan Kong feng shui: nine stars, each with its element and meaning, fly to new palaces along the Lo Shu path every year, so the lucky and difficult spots move too.
In 2027 the 9 Purple star takes the centre and the other eight spread around the compass — that grid is the year's star chart.
The stem-and-branch pairs for your birth year, month, day and hour — four pairs, eight characters.
The four pillars are the year, month, day and hour pillars, each one stem plus one branch; year and month boundaries follow the sun (Lichun and the solar terms).
The daily readings on this site lean on the day pillar together with your birth details.
A star of peers and friends — partnership and cooperation.
Friend is a stem sharing the day master's element and yin-yang — the sign of companions and teamwork, though comparison creeps in, so keep your own pace.
A Friend day suits doing things with friends, watching out for one-upmanship; your own part done well is enough.
A lucky direction — steadiness and calm.
Fu Wei stands for steadiness, right for restful sleep and an easier mind.
Fu Wei is the direction of your own trigram — tradition sees it as your root; it is best kept quiet and undisturbed.
Your animal holds a harm link with Tai Sui; small troubles and gossip come easier.
Harm is the link of quiet, behind-the-scenes trouble; in 2027 zi and wei harm each other, so people born in the Year of the Rat hold a harm link.
Tradition suggests watching the details and leaving a little unsaid — the year then passes smoothly.
Ten characters paired with yin and yang and the five elements, from jia (甲) to gui (癸).
There are ten heavenly stems, in the order jia, yi, bing, ding, wu, ji, geng, xin, ren, gui; odd numbers are yang, even numbers are yin.
Stems pair with branches to form sixty combinations used to count years, months and days; the stem of 2027 is ding, which belongs to fire.
A difficult direction — small upsets.
Tradition keeps the Huo Hai corner neat and clean; with little clutter it is easy to feel at ease.
It is the lightest of the four difficult stars; the corner usually does duty as storage rather than a place to linger.
The sign of plain speech — words worth an extra thought.
Hurting Officer is what the day master produces with opposite yin-yang — the sign of direct expression, where words run ahead; listening first helps.
Creativity and eloquence run high on such a day, right for writing and pitching; leave room in conversation.
The sign of intuition and sideways ideas.
Indirect Resource feeds the day master with the same yin-yang — the sign of intuition and unusual ideas; rest and relax rather than overthink.
The day suits reading, research and quiet thinking, with an earlier night.
The sign of windfalls and goodwill.
Indirect Wealth is what the day master controls with the same yin-yang — the traditional sign of people luck and unexpected gains; enjoy it and still keep the budget and savings in order.
The day suits meeting people and handling money nimbly, without impulsive big spending.
Traditional arrangements and habits for welcoming luck.
Inviting good fortune means lucky colours, a tidy home and well-used objects on your lucky sides — leaning towards the good.
The suggestions on this site are traditional culture only; tidiness, safety and good habits are what daily life truly rests on.
Of the twenty-four solar terms, the odd-numbered are jie and the even-numbered are zhongqi.
Counting from Start of Spring, the odd positions are called jie (節) — Start of Spring, Awakening of Insects — and the even ones zhongqi (中氣) — Rain Water, Spring Equinox.
The traditional calendar uses the jie terms to mark month boundaries; in leap years a month with no zhongqi is usually the leap month.
The hardest of the four difficult directions — not for lingering.
Tradition keeps the Jue Ming corner open and airy, not somewhere to spend long hours.
Tradition gives this direction to the kitchen, the storeroom and other rooms where you spend little time; beds and seats are usually kept away.
The Kua number worked out from your birth year and gender; it determines your lucky directions.
Your Kua number comes from your birth year, counted differently for men and women, landing on 1 to 9 (a 5 becomes 2 for men, 8 for women) and matching a trigram.
It determines whether you are East Four or West Four, and from there your four lucky and four unlucky directions; the Tools page on this site works it out for free.
An extra month added every two or three years to keep the seasons in step.
Because twelve lunar months fall about eleven days short of a solar year, a leap month is added roughly every two to three years — a leap fourth month, a leap sixth month, and so on.
A year with a leap month has thirteen of them; the leap month repeats the previous month's name with the word leap in front.
The first of the twenty-four solar terms, usually 3–5 February.
Lichun marks the start of spring and the traditional boundary of the stem-and-branch year: only after Lichun does the new animal year begin.
Lichun in 2027 falls on 4 February; the yearly feng shui on this site — Tai Sui directions, flying stars — is counted from Lichun too.
The umbrella term for signs holding a same, clash, punishment, harm or break link with the year.
When your animal sign meets the year's branch in one of these links — same, clash, punishment, harm or break — tradition calls it being linked to Tai Sui. In 2027: Rat harm; Ox clash and punishment; Goat same sign; Dog break and punishment.
It is read as a year of more change than usual, so people worship Tai Sui, wear red or carry a lucky charm as a reminder to move carefully.
A difficult direction — friction and ups and downs.
Tradition keeps the Liu Sha corner quiet and simple, and feelings settle on their own.
Beds and desks usually stay off this side for long stretches; the corner more often holds storage or the bathroom.
The three-by-three number diagram the nine palaces come from.
The Lo Shu is the number diagram said to appear on a turtle's back: nine at the head, one at the feet, three left, seven right, two and four on the shoulders, six and eight at the feet, five in the middle.
The directions of the palaces and the stars' flight path both follow the Lo Shu numbers.
Months set by the moon: big months have thirty days, small ones twenty-nine.
A lunar month runs from one new moon to the day before the next; twelve of them make about 354 days, around eleven short of a solar year.
That is why Lunar New Year lands on a different Gregorian date each year, and why the calendar needs leap months to catch up.
The first day of the first lunar month — the biggest festival of the year.
The festival runs from the first to the fifteenth day of the first lunar month; in 2027 Lunar New Year falls on 6 February.
Family visits, red packets and flower markets are how Hong Kong sees the year in — seeing out the old and welcoming the new.
The feng shui compass: a magnetic needle in the middle and marked rings around it.
At the centre of a luopan is the heaven pool — the compass needle — surrounded by rings marking stems, branches, trigrams and the twenty-four mountains.
Practitioners use it to measure sitting, facing and directions; a phone compass gives an everyday approximation.
A second star chart laid out each month, tracking the month's changes.
Besides the year chart, the stars get a fresh chart each month — the monthly stars — changing over at each solar term.
Tradition reads year and month charts together: where difficult stars stack up in the same corner for a month, that corner stays extra quiet.
The ceremony and the date for moving in.
Moving in counts among the almanac's big events: a lucky day and hour, the bed set first, then the first cooking.
Traditions include carrying in a rice bin and cooking that first meal — plenty in the pot; a safe move and good neighbours matter most.
Shuo is the new moon (the first of the month); wang is the full moon (around the fifteenth).
The moon runs from new to full and back in about twenty-nine and a half days, which sets the length of a lunar month.
The first (new moon) and the fifteenth (full moon) are traditional days for temple visits and moon-gazing.
The three-by-three grid of directions, taken from the Lo Shu square.
The nine palaces follow the Lo Shu layout, one per direction: south-east, south, south-west, east, centre, west, north-east, north, north-west.
Flying-star feng shui uses the grid as a map, dropping the nine stars into the palaces they visit each year to read each direction.
The ceremony for a shop's or firm's first working day of the year, or its first day at all.
Opening for business is the first working day after New Year or the first day of a new shop, usually on a lucky opening day and hour from the almanac.
Traditions include offerings and spring couplets for brisk trade; handing out opening-day red packets is a common Hong Kong custom.
The twenty-year cycle running from 2024 to 2043.
Xuan Kong feng shui counts a great cycle of 180 years in three eras of three periods each, twenty years to a period; 2024 to 2043 is Period 9, the last of the lower era.
Its ruling star is 9 Purple; tradition links fire-related themes — technology and beautiful things among them — to these twenty years.
Wood feeds fire, fire makes earth, earth bears metal, metal collects water, water grows wood.
In the producing cycle, one element brings on the next: wood feeds fire (fuel), fire makes earth (ash), earth bears metal (ore in the ground), metal collects water, and water grows wood.
Tradition reads this as support and nourishment flowing one way, step by step, around an endless loop.
Your animal holds a punishment link with Tai Sui; friction comes easier.
Punishment is the link of rubbing and friction; in 2027 the chou-xu-wei threesome brings it, so people born in the Year of the Ox and the Dog hold a punishment link.
Tradition's advice is to speak half a beat slower, give more understanding and argue less — relations then run smoothly.
In traditional thinking, the energy that flows through heaven, earth and people.
Qi is the traditional word for energy and atmosphere: a bright, airy room is said to have flowing qi; a cramped, dark one, stuck qi.
Feng shui tries to let good qi settle and stale qi move away, which is why it cares about doors, windows, tidiness and airflow.
Wood restrains earth, earth restrains water, water restrains fire, fire restrains metal, metal restrains wood.
In the restraint cycle, one element holds another in check: wood breaks earth (roots in soil), earth dams water, water puts out fire, fire melts metal, metal cuts wood.
Tradition sees restraint as healthy checks and balances, not something bad; growth needs both producing and restraint to stay even.
The sign of leaking money — a prompt to hold the budget.
Rob Wealth shares the day master's element but not its yin-yang; tradition reads it as money easily shared out or frittered away — pause before spending and hold the budget.
The day suits noting spending before paying; lending and co-signing deserve a second thought.
The ceremony for placing a new bed or moving one.
Setting the bed happens for weddings and moves; the almanac lists dedicated lucky days for it.
Tradition points the bed head towards a lucky direction — Tian Yi or Yan Nian, say — and keeps the space under the bed tidy and aired.
Another name for worshipping Tai Sui; also the setting up of a Tai Sui tablet.
Settling Tai Sui means the same as worshipping Tai Sui; some households or temples set up a Tai Sui tablet and honour it through the year.
It traditionally happens in the first lunar month; these days most people register at a temple and let it keep the tablet.
The sign of pressure and challenge — fuel, if you pace it.
Seven Killings controls the day master with the same yin-yang — the sign of pressure and challenge that can be read as drive; sort the weights and work through them.
The day suits hard problems and exercise; mind your rest and ease off the pressure.
Your animal matches Tai Sui's — your own zodiac year, also called sitting with Tai Sui.
When the year's branch equals your birth branch, you share Tai Sui's sign: in 2027 that is people born in the Year of the Goat — the benming year.
Tradition asks for a quiet, steady year with good deeds; worshipping Tai Sui early in the year and thanking Tai Sui at its end is the usual practice.
The best lucky star of the Eight Mansions — vigour and drive.
Sheng Qi stands for energy and drive, right for work and study, and a good direction for exercise.
Tradition points the front door, desk or stove towards Sheng Qi, in the spirit of getting things going.
The traditional two-hour units of the day — twelve in all.
The day holds twelve shichen, starting with zi (23:00 to 01:00), each worth two hours.
The shichen is the unit of the hour pillar; a birth time on the seam between two of them can change the pillar, so exact times matter.
The direction a house leans on is its sitting; the direction it looks out is its facing.
Sitting and facing are the starting point of Eight Mansions feng shui: the sitting side decides whether a home is an East Four or West Four house, and from there the lucky spots follow.
Tradition takes the front door as the facing and the opposite as the sitting; many modern practitioners use the balcony or main light side, so schools differ.
Six pairs of branches that fit together — a sign of help and ease.
The Six Harmony pairs are zi-chou, yin-hai, mao-xu, chen-you, shen-si and wu-wei; a sign paired with the year's branch is said to enjoy support.
In 2027, wu and wei pair up, so people born in the Year of the Horse hold the Six Harmony — a good year for talks, teamwork and connections.
The sixty stem-and-branch pairs, looping every sixty years.
Ten stems and twelve branches pair up from jiazi (甲子) to guihai (癸亥) — sixty combinations in all, the sixty jiazi.
Sixty years is called one jiazi; 2027 is ding wei (丁未), and the last ding wei year was 1967.
The year cut into twenty-four equal stretches that track the seasons.
Solar terms follow the sun's position, one about every fifteen days, from Start of Spring to Major Cold; they once guided farming and still shape daily life.
Customs like the Qingming grave-sweeping and the Winter Solstice family dinner ride on solar terms; this site also divides its months by them.
The stems and branches together, paired up to record years, months, days and hours.
One stem pairs with one branch to form combinations such as jiazi (甲子) and yichou (乙丑) — sixty in all, used round and round.
This system is the backbone of the traditional calendar: a year, a month, a day and an hour each get their own stem-and-branch pair.
The direction clashing with Tai Sui — straight across the wheel.
The branch facing Tai Sui marks the Sui Po direction; in 2027 Tai Sui sits south-west (wei) and Sui Po sits north-east (chou).
Like Tai Sui's corner, tradition keeps the Sui Po corner still — ground-breaking and renovation usually wait.
The traditional guardian spirit of the year; its direction changes yearly.
Tai Sui (太歲), the traditional guardian spirit of the year, lines up with the twelve branches, one per year in a sixty-year round.
In feng shui the Tai Sui direction is where the year's branch sits — in 2027, ding wei, that is the south-west. Tradition keeps that corner still: ground-breaking and renovation usually wait.
The ten ways your day master relates to the other stems.
The Ten Gods name how the day master meets another stem: Friend, Rob Wealth, Eating God, Hurting Officer, Indirect Wealth, Direct Wealth, Seven Killings, Direct Officer, Indirect Resource, Direct Resource.
Same yin-yang gives Friend, Eating God, Indirect Wealth, Seven Killings and Indirect Resource; opposite gives Rob Wealth, Hurting Officer, Direct Wealth, Direct Officer and Direct Resource. The day symbol on our daily pages is one of the ten.
Closing the year with thanks to Tai Sui for its watch.
Thanking Tai Sui (還太歲) happens near year's end — often before the Winter Solstice or in the year's last month — with thanks and the tablet taken home.
Worship at the start, thanks at the close: tradition likes a thing finished as well as begun.
Four trios of branches four years apart — a sign of teamwork.
The Three Harmony trios are shen-zi-chen, hai-mao-wei, yin-wu-xu and si-you-chou; each joins three branches four years apart, gathering strength.
2027 belongs to the hai-mao-wei trio, so people born in the Year of the Pig and the Rabbit hold the Three Harmony — read as a good year for cooperation and goodwill.
The year's trio of branches gathered in one quarter; tradition keeps it free of ground-breaking.
The Three Killings is made of three branches sharing one quarter of the compass; in 2027 it sits in the west (shen-you-xu).
The usual practice is a quiet year in that quarter — no digging, renovation or long hammering — with safety first.
A lucky star of the Eight Mansions — health and steadiness.
Tian Yi stands for steady health and rest, a good direction for the bed.
Tradition gives older family members a bed on the Tian Yi side, in the wish for well-being.
The traditional yearbook listing each day's suitable and unsuitable activities, directions and hours.
The Tung Shing, also called Tung Shu, is published yearly with solar terms, daily dos and don'ts, the twelve day officers, lucky hours and the animal the day clashes with.
The Cantonese name tung shing (通勝) comes from tung syu (通書) with a luckier sound; the daily pages on this site follow the same traditional calendar.
Twelve officers on daily duty, setting the day's character.
The officers run in order — establish, clear, full, steady, settle, hold, break, risky, success, gather, open, close — one per day, round and round.
An establish day suits starting things, a break day asks you to skip big matters, a close day suits quiet rest; the day type on our daily pages is this officer.
The compass ring that divides the eight directions into twenty-four finer ones.
A luopan divides the circle into twenty-four mountains of fifteen degrees each, starting from zi and running clockwise; each trigram rules three mountains.
Yearly positions such as Tai Sui and the Three Killings are traditionally pinned down with mountains — in 2027 Tai Sui sits at wei, in the south-west.
The star position for study and exams — a good spot for the desk.
Wenchang is the 4 Green star, traditionally in charge of study and paperwork; your personal Wenchang spot depends on your Kua number.
To help focus, tradition sets the desk towards or on the Wenchang side and keeps the desktop tidy and well lit.
People with Kua 2, 6, 7 or 8 — lucky directions in the western set.
The lucky directions for the West Four group are west, north-west, south-west and north-east, matching West Four houses.
Kua 2 (Kun), 6 (Qian), 7 (Dui) and 8 (Gen) belong to this group; door, bed and stove facing a lucky direction is the traditional focus.
Paying respects to Tai Sui at a temple early in the year, asking for a peaceful year.
People worship Tai Sui (拜太歲), also called settling Tai Sui (安太歲), when their sign is linked to the year — incense at the temple, asking for a smooth year.
In 2027, people born in the Years of the Rat, Ox, Goat and Dog take part; near year's end, often before the Winter Solstice, they thank Tai Sui (還太歲), closing the loop.
A difficult direction — the one tradition watches most.
Tradition keeps the Wu Gui corner tidy and bright, cutting any feeling of clutter and gloom.
The usual practice is good lighting and airflow there, and no main living space.
A lucky direction — harmony and lasting bonds.
Yan Nian stands for harmony and things lasting, right for family time and closeness.
Pointing a couple's bed towards Yan Nian is a common traditional practice, in the wish for long harmony.
Everything has two sides, one still and one moving; the aim is balance.
Yin and yang is the classic way of sorting things: sunny is yang, shady is yin; day is yang, night is yin; movement is yang, stillness is yin.
Feng shui borrows the idea to describe direction, light and movement. When yin and yang are in balance, a place feels comfortable to live in.
The year whose animal matches the one you were born under.
A benming year comes every twelve years, when the year's branch matches your birth branch; 2027, ding wei, is the benming year of people born in the Year of the Goat.
Folk custom treats it as a year for extra care, with red clothing or a red thread for peace and steadiness.
These explanations share traditional culture in plain words; schools and regions may tell it differently, so treat everything as background reading.
