Feng Shui Toolkit

Ba gua · 八卦

The Eight Trigrams

The eight trigrams are every possible stack of three solid or broken lines. They are the building blocks of the I Ching and of feng shui's bagua, where each one stands for a direction, an element and a member of the family. Switch between the two traditional arrangements and click any trigram.

The eight trigrams

TrigramImageQualityElementFamilyLater HeavenEarly Heaven
Qian 乾HeavenCreative, strongMetalFatherNorthwest (6)South (1)
Dui 兑LakeJoyous, openMetalYoungest daughterWest (7)Southeast (2)
Li 离FireClinging, brightFireMiddle daughterSouth (9)East (3)
Zhen 震ThunderArousing, movingWoodEldest sonEast (3)Northeast (4)
Xun 巽WindGentle, penetratingWoodEldest daughterSoutheast (4)Southwest (5)
Kan 坎WaterDeep, dangerousWaterMiddle sonNorth (1)West (6)
Gen 艮MountainStill, restingEarthYoungest sonNortheast (8)Northwest (7)
Kun 坤EarthReceptive, yieldingEarthMotherSouthwest (2)North (8)

Lines are read from the bottom up. Three solid lines make Qian, three broken lines make Kun; the other six mix the two. The "family" names come from which line differs: a single yang line among yin lines makes a son (eldest at the bottom), a single yin line among yang lines makes a daughter.

Early Heaven and Later Heaven

The Early Heaven (先天) arrangement, attributed to the legendary Fu Xi, pairs opposites across the circle: Heaven faces Earth, Fire faces Water, Thunder faces Wind, Mountain faces Lake. It describes an ideal balance and is used mainly for yin houses (graves) and some talismans.

The Later Heaven (后天) arrangement, attributed to King Wen, describes how things move through the seasons. It's the one used for living homes — Eight Mansions, Flying Stars and the compass bagua map all use it. Its numbers are the numbers of the Lo Shu square.

Other traditional associations

TrigramSeasonBodyAnimal
QianLate autumnHeadHorse
DuiAutumnMouthSheep
LiSummerEyePheasant
ZhenSpringFootDragon
XunLate springThighRooster
KanWinterEarPig
GenLate winterHandDog
KunLate summerBellyOx

More tools

Five Elements CycleProductive and controlling cycles, interactive.The 24 MountainsEvery 15° sector of the luo pan, with its degrees.Lo Shu SquareThe magic square behind the bagua and the flying stars.Eight Mansions Floor PlanHouse trigram and your personal Kua directions, drawn on your plan.BaZi Four Pillars CalculatorYear, month, day and hour pillars from your birth time.24 Solar TermsDates of the 24 solar terms for any year.