Classical feng shui and BaZi terms, with the original texts
Short definitions of the terms used in our surveys and charts, each with verbatim passages from the classical sources we hold in full text.
Form (峦头)
Reverse-bow road 反弓路
A road or river that curves away from the house so the home sits on the outside of the bend, like the back of a drawn bow.
Road rush (T-junction) 路冲
A straight road, lane or corridor aimed directly at the house, typically at a T-junction.
Bright hall (Ming Tang) 明堂
The open space in front of a dwelling or grave where qi is meant to gather: a square, lawn, courtyard or calm water.
Backing mountain 靠山
Support behind the dwelling: rising ground, a hill, or in a city a taller, solid building directly behind.
Azure Dragon and White Tiger 青龙白虎
The two flanks of a site: the left (Azure Dragon, as you face out) and the right (White Tiger).
Jade-belt water 玉带环腰
Water or a road that curves around the house like a belt around the waist, with the home on the inside of the bend.
Sha (hostile forms) 煞气
A family of hostile forms: a sharp building corner aimed at the house (尖角煞), a narrow gap between two tall blocks facing it (天斩煞), an elevated road sweeping past (镰刀煞).
Dwellings (阳宅)
East and West groups 东四命与西四命
Eight Mansions divides people and houses into two groups by trigram: East (坎离震巽) and West (乾坤艮兑).
Eight Mansions directions 八宅吉凶方
For each Life Gua, four favourable directions (生气 vitality, 天医 health, 延年 longevity, 伏位 stability) and four unfavourable ones (绝命, 五鬼, 六煞, 祸害).
Stove position 灶位
Door, master room and stove are the three essentials of a dwelling in the Eight Mansions school.
Flying Stars (玄空)
Five Yellow star 五黄
In Flying Star method the number 5 earth star, the one annual star every text tells you not to disturb.
Two Black star 二黑
The number 2 earth star, read in the later texts as the illness star.
Flying Star combinations 飞星组合
Readings for pairs of mountain and water stars in one palace: 一四同宫 for study, 二五交加 for illness, 七九 for fire, and so on.
Annual flying stars 流年飞星
The nine stars move one palace each year, so every sector of a home gets a new visiting star annually.
Dates (择日)
BaZi (八字)
Useful God (yong shen) 用神
The element a BaZi chart most needs to come into balance.
Day Master 日主
The heavenly stem of the birth day, taken as the self in a Four Pillars chart.
Ten Gods 十神
The ten relationships a stem can have to the Day Master: officer and killing, seal and owl, food and hurting officer, wealth direct and indirect, companion and rob-wealth.
Chart pattern (ge ju) 格局
The structural type of a chart, usually named from the month branch: officer pattern, wealth pattern, seal pattern and so on.