Feng Shui Made Really Easy IX
Level 3: The Eight House School, Part 3
Master Joseph Yu
July 1999
The Eight House School places great emphasis on compatibility. A
person may or may not be compatible with a house. A person may or may
not be compatible with the spouse. How can we tell?
A house is assigned a House Gua (House Trigram) according to its sitting
direction
A person is assigned a Ming Gua (Life Trigram) according to their
birth year.
The birth year is calculated according to the Chinese Solar Calendar.
The Chinese Solar Year usually begins on the 4th of February, the
"Coming of Spring". Calculations of the year are based on this date.
Empirical formulas have been developed to calculate the Ming Gua for a
person born in a certain year. The easiest formula can be illustrated
by an example:
For a person born in 1960 after the "Coming of Spring", the Ming Gua
is calculated as follows:
Step 1. Add up all the digits. 1 + 9 + 6 + 0 = 16.
Step 2. Add up the digits until you reach a single digit number. 1 + 6
= 7.
Step 3. [For a male person] Subtract this number from 11. 11 - 7 = 4.
This number is the Ming Gua of the person, or
Step 3. [For a female person] Add 4 to the number. 7 + 4 = 11. If this
is a two-digit number, add up the digits. 1 + 1 = 2. This number is
the Ming Gua of the person.
The Ming Gua of a person is then a number from 1 to 9. However, we
have only 8 trigrams because there is no Number 5 trigram. The rule
states that for a male person, convert #5 to #2, and for a female
person, convert #5 to #8.
#1 = Water, the direction is N
#2 = Earth, the direction is SW
#3 = Wood, the direction is E
#4 = Wood, the direction is SE
#6 = Metal, the direction is NW
#7 = Metal, the direction is W
#8 = Earth, the direction is NE
#9 = Fire, the direction is S
1, 3, 4, 9 are said to belong to the East Group.
2, 6, 7, 8 are said to belong to the West Group.
Remember that in the Ba Gua:
#6 represents the father
#2 represents the mother
#3 represents the elder son
#4 represents the elder daughter
#1 represents the middle son
#9 represents the middle daughter
#7 represents the younger daughter
#8 represents the younger son
Notice that the parents and the younger children belong to the West
Group, the other children belong to the East Group.
The Eight House School advocates that East Group houses are auspicious
to East Group people while West Group houses are auspicious to West
Group people. People who belong to the same group are compatible.
Such static rules make it easy to practice Feng Shui. It can even be
computerized.
In its simplicity, the system defines the sitting as the opposite to
facing. Facing is defined to be the direction the main door is facing.
One variation even defines the facing of the main door as determining
the house trigram. This puts the Fu Wei (Stooping Position) at the
door and is not consistent with its meaning.
Different versions are constantly being invented. In the future the
Ming Gua may possibly be integrated into the Eight Life Aspirations
and teach that:
#1 people are career-minded
#2 people are romantic
#3 people are family-minded
#4 people are money-minded (or capable of making money)
#6 people will encounter benefactors all the time
#7 people love children (or child-like)
#8 people are more academic
#9 people are famous
To be continued...
Joseph Yu, ?1999, All Rights Reserved
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