Eight Mansions House Selection in Practice: Five Steps to Judge a Property's Fortune Once You Have the Floor Plan

Origins and Lineage

Floor Plan in Hand, Five Minutes to Judge Fortune — The Complete Eight Mansions House Selection Pipeline

The Eight Mansions method, fully called the Eight Mansions Bright Mirror, is the most down-to-earth branch of the Liqi School. Its core logic is almost too simple to believe: divide people into eight Life Trigrams (East Four Life and West Four Life), divide houses into eight Mansion Trigrams (East Four Mansions and West Four Mansions), then check whether the person matches the house. Match = auspicious mansion. No match = inauspicious mansion. This technique spread widest during the Ming and Qing dynasties because it's so easy to use. No need to memorize Flying Star charts. No need to study Three Cycles Nine Periods. No need to understand the sixty-four hexagrams. You only need your birth year and the house's sitting-facing. The rest is looking up tables. But that same simplicity earns scorn from the Xuan Kong School — "Eight Mansions is just a beginner's toy." That's half right. Eight Mansions isn't refined, but for house selection, it's the most efficient initial filter. You look at ten properties. Use Eight Mansions to filter one round. Keep three. Then use Flying Stars for precision — that's the smartest approach. This article walks you through Eight Mansions house selection from start to finish.

Eight Mansions house selection has five steps. Step one: stand in the center of the living room with your phone compass, face the largest source of natural light, and measure what the house sits and what it faces. Step two: sitting-facing determines the mansion trigram. Sitting north facing south = Kan mansion. Sitting south facing north = Li mansion. Sitting east facing west = Zhen mansion. Sitting west facing east = Dui mansion (these are East Four Mansions). Sitting northwest facing southeast = Qian mansion. Sitting southwest facing northeast = Kun mansion. Sitting northeast facing southwest = Gen mansion. Sitting southeast facing northwest = Xun mansion (these are West Four Mansions). Step three: calculate your Life Trigram from your birth year. Step four: put your Life Trigram and the mansion trigram together — if both belong to East Four or both to West Four, that's an auspicious match. Step five: find whether the main door, master bedroom, and kitchen fall on auspicious or inauspicious positions of the mansion trigram (Sheng Qi, Tian Yi, Yan Nian, Fu Wei are the four auspicious positions; Jue Ming, Wu Gui, Liu Sha, Huo Hai are the four inauspicious positions). If the main door and master bedroom sit on auspicious positions, this property is good for you.

1. Step One: Measure Sitting-Facing — Get This Wrong and Everything After Is Wrong

Measuring sitting-facing is the foundation of Eight Mansions. Wrong sitting-facing means wrong mansion trigram, and every fortune judgment that follows is reversed. How to measure? Stand at the exact center of the house — roughly the center point of the living room. Pull out your phone compass. Face the largest source of natural light in the house — usually the living room balcony or the biggest window. The direction you face is the "facing." The direction behind you is the "sitting." For example, if you face due south, the house sits north and faces south. Common pitfalls. First, don't measure near a window. Windows have steel reinforcement and metal frames — the magnetic field will drift. Measure at the house center for the most accurate reading. Second, don't look at the building entrance direction. You need to measure your unit's sitting-facing, which has nothing to do with where the building entrance faces. Third, high floors and low floors sometimes differ significantly. The compass reading on the 30th floor versus the 1st floor can differ by 3–4 degrees because of different rebar distribution. If your unit is above the 15th floor, measure once in the open atrium on the ground floor, and once inside your unit, then cross-check. Fourth, your phone compass shows magnetic north, which differs from the compass's Earth Plate True Needle. In most regions the gap is 2 to 8 degrees. For initial Eight Mansions filtering, you can ignore this gap. But if you need precision down to the Twenty-Four Mountains level, you must use a proper compass. Eight Mansions only needs the eight cardinal directions — your phone is completely adequate.

2. Steps Two and Three: Mansion Trigram and Life Trigram — Draw Two Cards, See If They Make a Pair

Once sitting-facing is settled, the mansion trigram follows. Sitting north facing south = Kan mansion. Sitting south facing north = Li mansion. Sitting east facing west = Zhen mansion. Sitting west facing east = Dui mansion. Sitting northwest facing southeast = Qian mansion. Sitting southwest facing northeast = Kun mansion. Sitting northeast facing southwest = Gen mansion. Sitting southeast facing northwest = Xun mansion. Kan, Li, Zhen, and Xun are East Four Mansions. Qian, Kun, Gen, and Dui are West Four Mansions. How to calculate the Life Trigram? Use your birth year. For males born before 2000: (100 − last two digits of birth year) ÷ 9. Check the remainder. Remainder 1 = Kan life. Remainder 2 = Kun life. Remainder 3 = Zhen life. Remainder 4 = Xun life. Remainder 5 (male) = Kun life. Remainder 6 = Qian life. Remainder 7 = Dui life. Remainder 8 = Gen life. No remainder (divisible by 9) = Li life. For females born before 2000: (last two digits of birth year + 5) ÷ 9. Check the remainder. Remainder 1 = Kan life. Remainder 2 = Kun life. Remainder 3 = Zhen life. Remainder 4 = Xun life. Remainder 5 (female) = Gen life. Remainder 6 = Qian life. Remainder 7 = Dui life. Remainder 8 = Gen life. No remainder = Li life. The formula adjusts for those born after 2000 — check the latest Eight Mansions reference table. Once you've calculated your Life Trigram, check whether it's East Four Life or West Four Life. If you live in a mansion of the same group (East Four Life in an East Four Mansion, West Four Life in a West Four Mansion), that's an auspicious match. Cross-group living is an inauspicious match — for example, you have East Four Life but live in a West Four Mansion. Note: an auspicious match is only the threshold. Once you pass it, you still need to check which specific position the main door and master bedroom fall on.

3. Step Four: The Eight Positions — Four Auspicious, Four Inauspicious. Every House Is Different.

For the same mansion trigram, the effect of the main door, master bedroom, or kitchen falling on different positions is like night and day. The eight positions fall into two categories: four auspicious and four inauspicious. Sheng Qi (Generating Breath): most auspicious. Benefits wealth, career, and children. Best for the main door and master bedroom. Tian Yi (Heavenly Doctor): second most auspicious. Benefits health and interpersonal relationships. Best for the master bedroom and elder's room. Yan Nian (Prolonging Years): third most auspicious. Benefits marriage, longevity, and stability. Best for the couple's master bedroom. Fu Wei (Hidden Position): mildly auspicious. Peaceful and stable — neither inauspicious nor greatly auspicious. Suitable for a study or children's room. Jue Ming (Severed Fate): most inauspicious. Financial ruin, physical harm, accidents. If the main door, master bedroom, or kitchen falls here, you must remedy it. Wu Gui (Five Ghosts): second most inauspicious. Arguments, disputes, fires, theft. Liu Sha (Six Killings): third most inauspicious. Romantic disasters, chaotic relationships, lawsuits. Huo Hai (Disasters and Harms): fourth most inauspicious. Chronic illness, petty people, career stagnation. The distribution of the eight positions is fixed for each mansion trigram, but every household's mansion trigram differs. The same property — a Kan-life person's main door may fall on Sheng Qi, while a Li-life person's main door may fall on Wu Gui. This is why the same property makes some residents more and more prosperous while others decline. It's not the property itself — it's the mismatch between person and house.

4. Step Five: Focus on Two Places — The Main Door and the Master Bedroom

You need to check all eight positions. But if you're short on time, or you need to quickly filter out a batch of properties, prioritize two places: the main door and the master bedroom. The main door is the qi intake. All qi in the house enters through the main door. The position the main door falls on determines the nature of the first breath of qi that enters. Main door on Sheng Qi: the incoming qi is prosperous qi. Living there pushes your career and wealth upward. Main door on Tian Yi: the incoming qi is balanced and harmonious. Family members stay healthy and avoid serious illness. Main door on Jue Ming: the incoming qi is destructive qi. Living there tends toward financial loss, arguments, and health problems. Main door on Wu Gui: the incoming qi is restless fire qi. Fires, theft, and constant disputes become likely. A main door on an inauspicious position isn't hopeless, but the cost and difficulty of remedy are much higher than a master bedroom on an inauspicious position. The master bedroom is where you spend the most time each day. Eight hours of sleep happen in this space. Master bedroom on Sheng Qi: abundant energy, good career luck. Master bedroom on Tian Yi: fast physical recovery, low illness risk. Master bedroom on Jue Ming: insomnia, excessive dreams, couple arguments, deteriorating health. Master bedroom on Liu Sha: romantic disasters — especially for married couples, the energy field attracts third-party entanglements. Your viewing sequence: first check which position the main door falls on. Then check the master bedroom. If both are on auspicious positions, this property deserves serious consideration. If one is on an inauspicious position, assess severity — Jue Ming and Wu Gui are hard stops; Liu Sha and Huo Hai are barely tolerable but need remedy. If both are on inauspicious positions, walk away. Don't waste time.

5. Complete Case Study — A 1987 Rabbit-Year Male Views a Sitting-North-Facing-South Property

Here's a complete case study. A male born in 1987 (Ding Mao year) views a sitting-north-facing-south property. Step one: measure sitting-facing. Sitting north, facing south — Kan mansion. Kan mansion belongs to East Four Mansions. Step two: calculate his Life Trigram. 1987 male: (100 − 87) ÷ 9 = 13 ÷ 9, remainder 4. Remainder 4 = Xun life. Xun life belongs to East Four Life. Step three: match. East Four Life with East Four Mansion — auspicious match. Threshold passed. Step four: determine the eight positions. For a Kan mansion, the distribution is: Sheng Qi in the southeast (Xun), Tian Yi in the due east (Zhen), Yan Nian in the due south (Li), Fu Wei in the due north (Kan). Jue Ming in the southwest (Kun), Wu Gui in the northeast (Gen), Liu Sha in the northwest (Qian), Huo Hai in the due west (Dui). Step five: examine the floor plan. The main door opens in the southeast — exactly the Sheng Qi position. This qi intake is perfect. Major plus. The master bedroom is in the west — the Huo Hai position. This needs a demerit. Huo Hai rules chronic illness and petty people. Living there long-term invites frequent minor health issues and coworkers stabbing you in the back. The kitchen is in the north — the Fu Wei position. Fu Wei is neutral. The kitchen belongs to fire; pressing on a neutral position is no major issue. The bathroom is in the south — the Yan Nian position. This is very bad. Yan Nian polluted by a toilet damages marriage luck and health luck. Overall judgment: the mansion and life are matched. The main door on Sheng Qi is a major plus. But the master bedroom on Huo Hai and the bathroom on Yan Nian are major demerits. Taken together, this property is not unlivable, but you must remedy two inauspicious positions. Master bedroom Huo Hai — place metal objects, use white bedding, increase Metal energy to drain Huo Hai's Earth energy. Bathroom Yan Nian — keep it extremely clean, place a white crystal cluster. Purify and elevate Metal energy. If you can do both of these, you can buy. If it feels like too much trouble, move on to the next property.

Multi-Dimensional Breakdown

Career & Wealth

In Eight Mansions, wealth and career come down to two points: the main door and the Sheng Qi position. The main door is the qi intake — falling on Sheng Qi is best. Sheng Qi is also the strongest career position in the house. If you can place a study or desk in the Sheng Qi position, career luck improves. If the main door isn't on Sheng Qi, check whether you can set up a "wealth position" in Sheng Qi. Place a potted green plant (Wood generates Fire — Sheng Qi belongs to Wood; Wood flourishes with Water, but greenery strengthens the Wood nature of Sheng Qi) or a lamp kept on (the light's warmth gathers yang energy). If the kitchen happens to fall on Jue Ming — this is actually good. It's called "Fire Suppressing Jue Ming." Fire counters Jue Ming's Metal energy, turning inauspicious into auspicious. So the kitchen location isn't always better the more auspicious it is — it depends on what it's pressing on.

Love & Relationship

In Eight Mansions, marriage assessment has three key points: the Yan Nian position, the master bedroom, and the stove position. Yan Nian is the primary direction for romance and marriage. The couple's master bedroom on Yan Nian means marital stability. But Yan Nian fears water — fish tanks, waterscape paintings, heavy use of blue. Water drains Metal energy, and Yan Nian's Metal energy drained means the marriage cools. The stove position (the kitchen cooktop) directly links to the woman of the house's fortune. Stove on Jue Ming is best — fire suppresses Jue Ming. Stove on Wu Gui is also good — fire suppresses Wu Gui. Stove on Yan Nian is actually bad — fire burns Yan Nian Metal, harming the marriage. So the kitchen location and stove direction need to be combined with the mansion trigram's eight-position distribution. From Eight Mansions alone, a stove on an inauspicious position beats a stove on an auspicious one.

Personality

Eight Mansions itself has no direct personality analysis system, but the state of the mansion trigram and life trigram match affects a person's mental state. Living in a mansion that matches your life trigram, your state is "smooth" — tasks go smoothly, emotions stay stable, you don't panic at problems. Living in the wrong mansion (East Four Life in a West Four Mansion), your state is "twisted" — prone to anxiety, everything looks irritating, decisions involve constant back-and-forth. This "twist" isn't psychological suggestion. It's the qi entering through the main door every day, clashing with your Life Trigram energy field. A few days doesn't matter. Two or three years, and personality gradually shifts. So if you find yourself becoming irritable, suspicious, or quick to anger after moving into a new home — first check whether the mansion and life match. In a mansion-life mismatch, even the most stable personality will develop problems over time. Conversely, in a matching mansion, you feel expansive from the moment you move in.

Health

In Eight Mansions, the health focus is the Tian Yi position. Tian Yi is the position most directly linked to health. The master bedroom should ideally fall on Tian Yi or Sheng Qi. People with the master bedroom on Tian Yi enjoy high-quality sleep, fast physical recovery, and few minor illnesses. People with the master bedroom on Jue Ming experience long-term physical depletion. Not immediate serious illness — frequent colds, easy fatigue, shallow sleep, wounds that heal slowly. This kind of chronic drain is worse than acute illness — you can't find a clear cause, but your body just doesn't function well. How to arrange Tian Yi? Keep it clean, well-ventilated, and well-lit. Place a piece of natural crystal (clear quartz or amethyst both work). During the day, open the curtains and let sunlight in — sunlight is the most natural yang energy and activates Tian Yi's energy field.

Classical Sources

Practical Application

Calculate Your Own Life Trigram — Spend Three Minutes Issuing Yourself a Feng Shui ID Card: Calculating your Life Trigram requires zero tools. Follow the formula. If born before 2000: males use (100 − last two digits of birth year) ÷ 9. Females use (last two digits of birth year + 5) ÷ 9. Check the remainder. Remainder 1 = Kan life, 2 = Kun life, 3 = Zhen life, 4 = Xun life, 5 (male) = Kun / (female) = Gen, 6 = Qian life, 7 = Dui life, 8 = Gen life, no remainder = Li life. Once calculated, remember whether you are East Four Life or West Four Life. From now on, whenever you look at any property, ignore the price, floor plan, and renovation at first. Ask yourself one question: does this property's mansion trigram match mine? If it doesn't, check whether the main door and master bedroom can be adjusted. If it does, continue. If it doesn't and can't be adjusted, walk away. That's the value of the Life Trigram as your feng shui ID card — it helps you make the fastest initial filter.
The Three Eight Mansions Questions Before a Viewing — No Matter How Smooth the Agent Talks, These Three Questions Expose Everything: Next time an agent recommends a property, don't rush to see it. Do three things first. One: ask the agent to send the floor plan and orientation information. Once you have them, measure the sitting-facing yourself, determine the mansion trigram, and calculate the eight-position distribution. Two: on the floor plan, find which position the main door falls on. Three: find which position the master bedroom falls on. If neither the main door nor the master bedroom presses on Jue Ming or Wu Gui, then schedule the viewing. If one presses on Jue Ming, directly ask the agent whether there's a mirror-unit with a different orientation (same development usually has mirrored layouts). Switch the orientation, and the eight-position distribution completely changes. This operation takes ten minutes and can save you from the tragedy of putting a fifty-percent down payment on a Jue Ming house.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q:If the mansion trigram and life trigram don't match, is the house really unbuyable? What remedies exist?

A mansion-life mismatch is not a death sentence. It means "more work needed." Several remedies exist. First: switch the orientation. The same development usually has units with different orientations. East Four Life people look for East Four Mansion orientations (sitting north facing south, sitting south facing north, sitting east facing west, sitting southeast facing northwest). West Four Life people look for West Four Mansion orientations. Second: if you can't switch the orientation, focus on the main door and master bedroom positions. A mansion-life mismatch, but both the main door and master bedroom are on auspicious positions — this house is livable. The overall comfort level is just somewhat lower than a matched mansion. Third: if the main door is on a major inauspicious position (Jue Ming, Wu Gui), check whether you can build an entryway to redirect the qi intake. Add a foyer inside the door so the airflow bends before entering the interior. If the entryway's orientation can be adjusted to receive auspicious qi, the effect is equivalent to "moving" the main door to an auspicious position. Fourth: if none of the above three work, this property has a hard flaw. Mansion-life mismatch + both main door and master bedroom on inauspicious positions — don't touch it. The money and time you save will let you view several more good properties.

Q:Two people living together, one male and one female with different Life Trigrams — what do you do? Say the man is East Four Life and the woman is West Four Life.

This situation is called "mansion-life conflict" and is the trickiest case. Two people, one East Four Life and one West Four Life — one of you is destined to be uncomfortable. The solution isn't to find a "middle mansion" (no such thing exists). It's to set priorities. Whose health is weaker, whose work pressure is higher, who needs feng shui protection more — satisfy that person first. If the man is the household's financial pillar with high pressure, choose the mansion based on the man's Life Trigram. If the woman is trying to conceive or has poor health, choose based on the woman's Life Trigram. What about the other person? Use room-level remedies. After selecting the mansion, have the "mismatched" person spend as much time as possible in the mansion's auspicious positions. Yield the master bedroom. Set up their study or personal space in an auspicious position. Eat more Five Element foods that suit them. Wear colors that suit them. This way, even though the overall energy field doesn't match, their most frequented small space does.

Eight Mansions House Selection in Practice: Five Steps to Judge a Property's Fortune Once You Have the Floor Plan — With a Complete Case Study