Eight Mansions Feng Shui Calculator: Read Kua and Compass Directions

An Eight Mansions feng shui calculator finds a personal Kua number from a resolved birth year and a traditional formula, then looks up eight named directions. To compare that result with a desk or bed, you also need a measured bearing, its north reference and a clear rule for assigning compass degrees to a sector.

BaziPal's Kua number calculator shows the arithmetic and a manual bearing check. This guide explains both. “Kua lucky directions” means the favorable classifications in the implemented traditional table; the labels do not establish effects on income, health, relationships or sleep.

Check the year rule before calculating a Kua number

BaziPal uses Li Chun, or Start of Spring, to resolve the birth year. A January birthday can therefore use the previous year. WOFS's published method uses Chinese New Year instead. A different result needs a comparison of conventions before it needs a verdict about which calculator is wrong.

The Hong Kong Observatory's solar-term table places Spring Commences at solar longitude 315°. That supports the calendar definition, not the effectiveness of feng shui directions.

In BaziPal, let s be the sum of the resolved year's last two digits, reduced to one digit. For years before 2000, the male branch uses 10 − s, and the female branch uses s + 5. From 2000 onward, they use 9 − s and s + 6. Reduce the result again, replace 0 with 9, then map a remaining 5 to 2 for the male branch or 8 for the female branch. These are the tool's rules for its accepted birth years; the branch labels select arithmetic, not gender identity or personality.

Five calculations you can reproduce

The dates and formula choices below are fictional demonstration inputs. Each row shows the year and intermediate values returned by BaziPal's calculation functions.

The first two rows use different years and century constants. The last two retain the intermediate 5; the Kua number 5 guide explains that mapping.

On Li Chun's date, this date-only calculator uses a noon reference in the UTC+8 calendar and marks the result provisional. It shows the previous and current years for comparison, and the bearing check retains both personal tables. A date alone cannot resolve the exact birth instant or its local timezone.

Read the personal table in an Eight Mansions feng shui calculator

East group contains 1, 3, 4 and 9. West group contains 2, 6, 7 and 8, after mapping 5. The group identifies a set of favorable directions; the personal number assigns the individual labels within that set.

For Kua 1, southeast is Sheng Qi, east is Tian Yi, south is Yan Nian and north is Fu Wei. They are the four favorable labels in BaziPal's table. Huo Hai, Liu Sha, Wu Gui and Jue Ming are its unfavorable labels. Read the names as traditional classifications, rather than instructions to earn more, recover from illness or avoid a relationship.

A personal Kua lookup does not calculate a house's Kua, inspect its sitting or facing direction, or assess a floor plan. Two people in different groups still need a room that suits their shared use. Their numbers alone cannot decide whether the relationship or home works.

Map feng shui compass degrees to eight sectors

The manual check interprets your entered angle in degrees clockwise from the north reference you record: north is 0°, east 90°, south 180° and west 270°. An input of 360° is normalized to 0°.

BaziPal uses eight sectors, each 45° wide and centered on 0°, 45°, 90° and so on. A sector includes its starting boundary and excludes its ending boundary. At exactly 22.5°, the result moves from north to northeast; at exactly 337.5°, it moves from northwest to north. This is the checker's stated partition, not a 24-mountain assessment.

The last two columns illustrate the personal lookup for Kua 1 only. Another Kua number keeps the same degree sectors but assigns different traditional labels.

Record magnetic or true north before comparing readings

Magnetic north and geographic, or true, north need not coincide. USGS explains magnetic declination as the angle between them; its value changes with place and time. A bearing reported relative to magnetic north should not silently be treated as a true-north bearing.

The checker's magnetic / true / unspecified selection records your reference. It does not calculate declination or convert between references. If your source does not identify its north setting, leave it unspecified rather than supplying a false certainty.

USGS's compass guidance also identifies interference from nearby metal, including rebar. Follow your instrument's instructions and compare readings taken under comparable conditions. The website cannot inspect your room or certify a compass's accuracy.

The degree arithmetic runs in your browser. This manual check does not read device sensors, request GPS/location or call an AI model. The separate birth-date calculation sends the date and formula choice to BaziPal's server; see the privacy policy for site-wide data handling.

Use a stated tolerance when the bearing is uncertain

The optional ± tolerance, from 0° to 22.5°, describes a range you choose around the entered bearing. It is an assumption for comparison, not the website's estimate of instrument accuracy. Both endpoints are included; the checker reports every sector reached by that range.

These are software examples with entered numbers, not measurements of a real desk:

• 90° ± 0° returns east. For Kua 1, that sector carries Tian Yi.
• 22° ± 1° spans 21° to 23°, so both north and northeast are returned. The Kua 1 lookup therefore includes favorable Fu Wei and unfavorable Wu Gui instead of forcing one label.
• 359° ± 3° crosses 0° but remains wholly within north.
• 45° ± 22.5° spans 22.5° to 67.5°. Northeast is included, and the endpoint at 67.5° adds east. North is excluded because 22.5° already belongs to northeast.

If more than one sector appears, keep that uncertainty in the result. Entering a narrower tolerance cannot make an unreliable measurement more accurate.

Keep desk facing and bed-head orientation separate

Your desk facing direction is where you look while seated in your usual working position. The bed convention here is the direction toward the head of the bed when lying down. A north-pointing bed head is not an instruction to face north while seated elsewhere.

For a fictional example, a desk facing 90° and a bed head pointing 180° use east and south, respectively, if both bearings share the same reference. Kua 1 assigns Tian Yi to the desk bearing and Yan Nian to the bed-head bearing. That is a table lookup, without evidence of better work or sleep.

If you rearrange furniture, keep comfortable posture, light, ventilation, clear access and the needs of other occupants in view. A personal direction label is too little information to overrule those practical considerations.

Frequently asked questions

Is an Eight Mansions calculator the same as a Kua calculator?

A personal Kua calculator supplies one part of Eight Mansions. BaziPal's manual check compares an entered bearing with that personal table; it does not assess a whole building or derive a house Kua.

Why do I get 2 or 8 instead of 5?

The calculation can reach an intermediate 5. BaziPal maps it to 2 for the male formula or 8 for the female formula. The worked rows above retain that step so you can compare it with another method.

Which direction includes a reading exactly on the boundary?

The sector beginning at the boundary includes it: 22.5° is northeast, 67.5° is east and 337.5° is north. A closed tolerance range can also include a neighboring sector through its endpoint.

What if I do not know whether my reading uses magnetic or true north?

Select unspecified and keep the recorded degrees. The tool can still apply its numeric sector rule, but it cannot convert an unknown reference or verify that two readings describe the same physical direction.

What happens if I edit the birth date or formula?

The personal lookup is cleared until a new Kua calculation succeeds. You can still inspect compass sectors; labels from a previous person's result should not be carried into the edited calculation.

Keep the result reproducible

Keep the birth-year rule, formula, degree reading, north reference and chosen tolerance with your Eight Mansions feng shui calculator result. You can then repeat the arithmetic and see which assumption changed if two results differ. A range that crosses a sector boundary should stay visible as a range.

Download the bearing record to keep its numbers, reference settings and matched table rows. The calculator's separate receipt preserves the Kua arithmetic.

How this guide was created

This guide was substantially revised with AI assistance on October 10, 2026. The birth-year calculations and direction examples were checked against BaziPal's implemented functions. Calendar facts, north references and compass interference were checked against the linked HKO and USGS sources; WOFS supports the comparison with its published calculation convention. Those sources do not validate personal predictions. Independent review by a qualified feng shui practitioner has not been verified. For corrections, use the contact route in our privacy policy; our publication policy explains responsibility and review limits.