Little used in the West, the Chinese system of feng shui, aims to increase the positive energy around a certain area through alignment and geography.
Richard Foo, an experienced feng shui practitioner explains how to use it to determine whether a particular house is suitable for you.
Facing Direction
One of the basic methods of house selection, the ‘Facing Direction’ is literally the direction in which the house’s front faces. For apartment and condominiums, if the unit is located from the ground floor to the ninth floor, the facing direction of the building is taken as the’Facing Direction’ of the unit. For units that are located on the tenth floor and above, the facing direction of the balcony or the biggest window is taken as the ‘Facing Direction’ of the unit.
According feng shui, people are divided into two groups: the East Group and the West Group. Each group has four directions which are favourable to them and four directions which are unfavourable. To determine your group you need to calculate your kua number and then you will be able to determine your ‘favourable’ and ‘unfavourable directions’.
Calculate your Kua Number
In order to calculate your kua number, you need your year of birth, according to the Chinese lunar calendar, and whether you were born before or after the Chinese Lunar New Year. The Chinese calculate the year beginning from this date. For example, in 2008 the Lunar New Year was on 7 February 2008. So, if you are born on or after 7th February 2008, you are considered to be born in 2008. But, if you were born before that date, your year of birth is considered to be 2007. Refer to this table, to find the exact dates of the Lunar New Year.
After you determine your year of birth according to the lunar calendar, you need to add the last two digits together until you get a single digit number. For example, if you are born in 1978; you will get 7 + 8 = 15; and then 1 + 5 = 6.
For men, now minus that number from 10, so 10 – 6 = 4. Thus, your kua number is 4. For women, take the number calculated from the year of birth and add 5. If you are a female born in 1978, you will get 7 + 8 = 15; 1 + 5 = 6; 5 + 6 = 11; and 1 + 1 = 2. Thus, your kua number is 2.
Good and Bad Directions
Once you know your kua number, you can determine what both your favourable and unfavourable directions are.
Those with kua numbers 1, 3, 4 and 9 belong to the East Group. Those with kua numbers 2, 5, 6, 7 and 8 belong to the West Group. For an East Group person, North, South, Southeast and East are favourable; while West, Northwest, Northeast, and Southwest are unfavourable. On the other hand, West, Northwest, Northeast, and Southwest are the favourable directions for a West Group person. While North, South, Southeast, and East are unfavourable.
For good feng shui you should purchase a house that faces one of your favourable directions. If a couple is purchasing a house, they should try and purchase a house that matches both of their criteria, as this will be beneficial in areas such as wealth, health and happiness. While failure to purchase a house facing a favourable direction is not disastrous, home owners can try and compensate for this by affecting positive feng shui measures within the home.
