Feng Shui & Bazi Glossary
A bilingual A–Z reference for Feng Shui, Bazi, and Chinese metaphysics terminology used across this site. Click any letter to jump.
A
Auspicious Date黄道吉日Zodiac
A date marked favorable in the Chinese almanac for specific activities such as weddings, openings, signings, or moves.
B
Bagua Mirror八卦镜Cures
An octagonal mirror framed with the eight trigrams, hung outside (never indoors) to deflect Sha Qi from sharp edges, roads, or hostile structures.
Bazi八字Bazi
Literally "Eight Characters." A Chinese astrology system using the year, month, day, and hour of birth — each expressed as one Heavenly Stem + one Earthly Branch — to produce a four-pillar (eight-character) chart describing personality, luck cycles, and elemental balance.
C
Chinese Almanac黄历 / 通胜Zodiac
A traditional calendar (Tong Sheng) listing each day's auspicious and inauspicious activities, conflicting zodiac, and lucky hours. Basis for date selection.
Chinese Zodiac生肖Zodiac
Twelve animal signs (Rat, Ox, Tiger, Rabbit, Dragon, Snake, Horse, Goat, Monkey, Rooster, Dog, Pig) mapped to the twelve Earthly Branches and cycling annually.
Compass School理气派Feng Shui
The branch of Feng Shui based on the Luopan compass, directions, and time cycles. Includes Flying Stars and Eight Mansions.
Controlling Cycle相克Elements
The overcoming sequence: Wood breaks Earth, Earth dams Water, Water quenches Fire, Fire melts Metal, Metal chops Wood.
Cure化解物Cures
A Feng Shui remedy object — mirror, plant, crystal, salt, color, sound — used to weaken inauspicious Qi or strengthen auspicious Qi in a sector.
D
Day Master日主 / 日元Bazi
The Heavenly Stem of the day of birth. Considered the "self" in a Bazi reading — every other element in the chart is interpreted relative to its strength and elemental relationship to the Day Master.
E
Earthly Branches地支Bazi
Twelve signs (子丑寅卯辰巳午未申酉戌亥) corresponding to the twelve zodiac animals. Each branch hides one to three Heavenly Stems used in deeper Bazi analysis.
Eight Mansions八宅Feng Shui
A personal Feng Shui system (Ba Zhai) that uses your birth year + gender to compute your Kua number, dividing the eight compass directions into four lucky and four unlucky ones for you.
Eight Trigrams八卦I Ching
Eight three-line symbols (Qian, Kun, Zhen, Xun, Kan, Li, Gen, Dui) representing primal forces. Arranged in two sequences: Pre-Heaven (Fu Xi) and Post-Heaven (King Wen).
F
Feng Shui风水Feng Shui
Literally "wind-water." The Chinese practice of arranging space, time, and direction to harmonize the flow of Qi (energy) for health, wealth, and relationships.
Five Elements五行Elements
Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal, Water. The five phases of Chinese cosmology. Each generates the next (Wood→Fire→Earth→Metal→Water→Wood) and overcomes another (Wood→Earth, Fire→Metal, etc.).
Flying Stars玄空飞星Feng Shui
A time-based Feng Shui system (Xuan Kong) that assigns nine stars to nine palaces of a building, recalculated by build period and facing direction. Predicts wealth, health, and relationship zones.
Form School形势派Feng Shui
The branch of Feng Shui that evaluates physical landscape and architecture — mountains, rivers, building shape, road flow — rather than direction or time.
G
Generating Cycle相生Elements
The productive sequence of the five elements: Wood feeds Fire, Fire creates Earth (ash), Earth bears Metal, Metal carries Water, Water nourishes Wood.
H
He Tu河图Numerology
A paired diagram of dots that, together with the Lo Shu, forms the cosmological foundation of Chinese metaphysics and the I Ching.
Heavenly Stems天干Bazi
Ten signs (甲乙丙丁戊己庚辛壬癸) cycling through the five elements in yin/yang pairs. Combined with the twelve Earthly Branches to form the 60-year sexagenary cycle.
Hexagram卦I Ching
A six-line symbol formed by stacking two trigrams. The I Ching contains 64 hexagrams describing every archetypal situation.
I
I Ching易经I Ching
The Book of Changes. Ancient divination text built on 64 hexagrams, each a stack of two trigrams. Foundational to Feng Shui, Bazi, and Taoist philosophy.
K
Kua Number卦数Feng Shui
A personal number (1–9 excluding 5) from Eight Mansions, derived from birth year and gender. Determines East-group vs West-group and individual lucky directions.
L
Lo Shu Square洛书Numerology
A 3×3 magic square (rows, columns, and diagonals all sum to 15) underlying Feng Shui's nine-palace grid and personal numerology readings.
Luck Pillar大运Bazi
A ten-year period derived from the month pillar that modifies the natal Bazi chart. Defines the elemental climate of each decade of life.
Luopan罗盘Feng Shui
The Chinese Feng Shui compass. A central magnetic needle surrounded by concentric rings encoding directions, stems, branches, hexagrams, and stars.
N
Nine Palaces九宫Numerology
The 3×3 grid used to map a building or chart, derived from the Lo Shu. Each palace corresponds to a direction, element, and life domain.
P
Period 9九运Feng Shui
The 20-year Flying Stars period running 2024–2043, ruled by Star 9 (Right Assistant, fire element). Replaces Period 8 (2004–2023).
Q
Qi气Feng Shui
Vital energy. The central concept in Feng Shui — every layout, color, material, and direction is evaluated by whether it gathers, slows, or scatters Qi.
S
Sha Qi煞气Cures
Hostile or cutting energy — typically caused by sharp angles, T-junctions, beams, or fast-moving roads pointing at a door or window.
Shen Sha神煞Bazi
Auspicious or inauspicious "stars" calculated from stem-branch combinations — e.g., Nobleman (天乙贵人), Peach Blossom (桃花), Sky Horse (天马).
Solar Term节气Zodiac
One of 24 fortnightly markers dividing the solar year. Bazi month pillars change on solar terms, not on Western or lunar month boundaries.
T
Tai Sui太岁Feng Shui
The Grand Duke Jupiter. Annual energetic deity occupying the year's zodiac direction. Disturbing this direction (renovation, digging) is traditionally avoided.
Ten Gods十神Bazi
A relational layer in Bazi: each non-Day-Master stem/branch is labeled by its function toward the Day Master — e.g., Wealth (财), Officer (官), Resource (印), Output (食伤), Peer (比劫).
Three Killings三煞Feng Shui
An annual triad of inauspicious directions opposite the year's zodiac trine. Best left undisturbed by major construction.
Y
Year Breaker岁破Feng Shui
The direction directly opposite Tai Sui in a given year. Considered the most volatile of annual taboos.
Yin & Yang阴阳Elements
The two complementary forces in Chinese cosmology. Yin is receptive, dark, cool; Yang is active, bright, warm. Every stem, branch, and direction has a yin/yang polarity.