Applying Feng Shui to Couples with Opposite Kua Groups

How do you apply Feng Shui when you and your partner, living together, belong to opposite Kua groups? What about if you have a family of four living together, whose Kua should you use for Feng Shui?

These situations are quite common when applying the Eight Mansions Feng Shui. If you’re in this situation, don’t worry because the application of Feng Shui is fluid! 

Here’s a brief description about Kua groups and numbers, for those of you hearing about this the first time:

Kua numbers is commonly used in Eight Mansions Feng Shui. It uses your birth year to determine what Kua number you have. There should be a total of 8 Kua numbers, with 4 of them in the East Group, and 4 of them in the West. Each of them has opposite lucky and unlucky directions.

It is quite common to have both the husband and wife to have different Kua numbers in different Kua groups. As a result, questions arise when the bedroom benefits the husband but not the wife. Or, the front door benefits the wife but not the husband. What’s lucky to one seems unlucky for the other.

When this happens, let me tell you again: don’t sweat. As you will soon find out, your personal Kua number and group is NOT everything.

In this article, you will learn the basics on how to apply Eight Mansions Feng Shui when you and your family members belong to different Kua groups.

Traditional Application is Not Suitable for Modern Times?

From what I’ve learned, most traditional Feng Shui applications were setup to benefit the man. I know you think that this is sexist, but here’s the rationale.

Not so long ago (and even in some parts of the world today), the majority of men had the sole responsibility to provide for the family. They were the breadwinners because society frowned on women in the workforce. If the man fails, the family starves. Societal norms forced man to carry the sole responsibility of providing food, shelter, and clothing for the family.

However, many have changed in the last century, especially when women started working in factories when men went to war, especially during World War 2.

Norms evolved, and most families nowadays have double income, where both the husband and the wife are in the workforce. If the husband gets laid off, the wife can still support and provide for the family.

That is why I say this traditional approach is NOT suitable for modern days.

If you’re thinking ahead at this point, you’re right to guess that the Feng Shui setup should be customized based on the family requirements. For instance, if the woman is the breadwinner, then the traditional setup for man should be applied to the woman instead.

But before we jump ahead, let’s cover the typical personal Kua setup for a family with different Kua groups. We’ll only cover the bedroom, front door, and kitchen because they are the three most important areas to consider when you apply Eight Mansions Feng Shui.

Typical Setup for Family Members in Different Kua Groups

This setup is based on a “typical” family nowadays in MOST countries. I’m assuming that the “typical” family is when the husband works and the wife does not, and her duties are to take care of everything else, including grocery shopping and dropping the kids off to soccer practice. A little similar to the traditional application, right?

With that assumption, here’s the most generic approach when applying personal Kua numbers to your home’s Feng Shui: the front door and kitchen should favor the husband, and the bedroom should favor the wife.

Here’s the rationale.

The front door and the kitchen should benefit the husband simply because he is the breadwinner and because they are more Yang places that relate to the husband.

As for the bedroom, it should benefit the wife, especially her health, as she carries the big responsibility of bearing children. Having the bedroom in one of her favorable directions can ensure that she gets the more favorable energies during sleep, which is about a third of our lives. Bedrooms are also more Yin places that relates more to the wife.

Please don’t think that if the bedroom is at the husband’s unlucky area, the husband will be experiencing bad luck (or vice versa for the wife in terms of kitchen and front door).

The idea here is that because the family is one unit, benefiting one will be benefiting all. Both the husband and the wife serve as a protection for one another. It’s about their priorities, duties, and responsibilities as a member of the family.

Of course, there are certain unlucky areas to avoid. One scenario is when the bedroom is at the Jue Ming (Life-Ending or “Total Loss”) area of the husband, or if the kitchen and front door is at the same area of the wife.

As for the kids or the elderly, only their bedroom location needs to be considered. Their bedroom should ideally be at one of their lucky areas when looking at the house in its entirety.

HOWEVER, this is just one way of using personal Kua numbers when applying Eight Mansions Feng Shui. Another way is to consider the Kua of the house, which is more important than using your personal Kua.

DON’T FORGET: The House Has Its Own Kua

You have a Kua number, which you can easily find using free calculators such as this one provided by Katie Weber. This tells you which Feng Shui Kua group you belong to as well as the four auspicious and inauspicious direction and areas for you.

But that’s not all.

Your house, apartment, or condo also has a Kua number, just like you. To find it, you’ll need the house’s sitting and facing direction. Since there are only eight cardinal directions, there are only 8 different types of houses, each with their own Kua. Some say this is what the “Eight” in the Eight Mansions Feng Shui is about.

Just like your Kua, the house also has its four auspicious and inauspicious areas. The concept is the same, your front door, bedroom, living room, etc. should be located in the auspicious areas. Your kitchen, bathroom, storage rooms, etc. should be located in the inauspicious areas.

In essence, you should look at the house’s Kua BEFORE you begin applying personal Kua.

To find the Kua of your house, you will need to know the “sitting” and “facing” direction of your house. Please note that the direction of your front door sometimes is NOT the same as the “facing” direction of your house.

If the locations of the front door, kitchen, and bedroom are good, you and your family are generally in good shape because the house will benefit everyone, no matter their Kua groups. It is when they are in undesirable positions do you need to apply your personal Kua to make adjustments.

Example: Combining House Kua with Individual Kua Numbers from Different Group

Here’s an example I found on the blog of Simon Chan, a Feng Shui Master based in Montreal. I’ve rephrased his illustration here:

Let’s say the master bedroom is located at the inauspicious Chueh Ming (life-ending) sector based on the House Kua. This is not considered good Feng Shui for both the husband and wife, even if they belong to different Kua groups.

In this scenario, first check the facing direction of the master bedroom door. If it matches an 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).

As you can see, it’s not the end of the world when you and your partner have different Kua numbers or belong in different Kua groups. Personal Kua’s are used more as adjustments based on the Kua of the house and where the auspicious and inauspicious segments are located.

Doubts on Eight Mansions from a Feng Shui Expert I Engaged With

Here, I’m sharing a phone conversation I had with a Feng Shui expert.

A couple of months ago, I chatted with a Taiwanese Feng Shui expert. He was introduced to me through a friend of my mom. I was considering working with him, so I was gauging his knowledge.

As we talked, I wanted to know his experience with Feng Shui. I asked which school of Feng Shui was accurate, reliable, and produced the best result in his tenure of practice.

To him, the most reliable one was a school of Feng Shui was called San Yuan followed by Xuan Kong Flying Stars Feng Shui. The way he described the San Yuan was that the predictions and results it delivered was so on-point that it scared him.

The Eight Mansions Feng Shui, on the other hand, made the bottom of his list. I asked him why, and I’ve summarized our discussion below.

First, he talked about the misbalance between the East Group and the West Group based on everyone’s Kua number.

If you’ve noticed, there are only 8 Kua numbers: 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 7, 8, and 9 – with the number 5 missing. If you’ve calculated someone’s Kua and got the number 5, it should be converted to 8 if it’s a female, and 2 if it’s a male. Both 2 and 8 belong to the West Group. To him, this means there will be more people in the West Group in this world. He thinks that both groups should be balanced.

Second, he thinks that Eight Mansions was “made-up” because of its history. (Please note that I have not verified this information I’m sharing below.)

He claims that Eight Mansions Feng Shui was created by a group of non-experts, based on its history. These non-experts were mostly Japanese and Korean emissaries tasked to learn Feng Shui in China. However, they didn’t learn much because the Chinese were hesitant to share their knowledge. As a result, they went back and created this practice based on the little knowledge they’ve acquired, which they don’t even use in modern times.

Third, he talked about holes in this practice, such as the dilemma of family members belonging to different Kua groups, which is what this article is about.

He thinks there are many holes in this practice, and rules are just “made-up” along the way when a hole appears. To him, it felt like the practice had to tell more lies to cover the original lie. It had to invent “weird and unconventional” ways to adjust and balance the Feng Shui of the house.

Again, this was just his opinion, and some words are lost in translation from Mandarin to English. For Feng Shui experts out there reading this, feel free to comment!

Conclusion

If you, your partner, and your family members belong to different Kua groups, don’t sweat!

First, take a look at the big picture, which is your house’s Kua and the locations of your bedroom, front door, and kitchen. If those are in the right places, then you’re in good shape, no matter what Kua numbers your family members have! If not, use your personal Kua numbers to make adjustments.

If you’re unsure whether you’re practicing Eight Mansions correctly, you can take either take the relevant courses or get help from an expert.

Ultimately, Feng Shui should be adjusted to what you’re looking for. As Feng Shui Master Sean Chan puts it, you and your partner need to determine what your objectives are so a customized Feng Shui solution can be implemented.

Eight Mansions Feng Shui is just one practice. There are numerous other practices that can also produce great results, depending on your situation. For me, my personal favorites are integrating Bazi reading with Feng Shui, and Xuan Kong Flying Stars Feng Shui (read its case study).

Do you and your partner belong to different Kua groups? How has it worked out for you? Comment below and share your story with us!