Kua number 5: why it becomes 2 or 8
Five sits at the centre of the Lo Shu square, the one position with no compass direction. So in Eight Mansions feng shui, a personal Kua of 5 is reassigned.
If your calculation gives 5, use 2 with the yang formula (traditionally men) or 8 with the yin formula (traditionally women). Both are West group numbers.
Why 5 has no directions
The Lo Shu magic square places the numbers 1–9 in a 3×3 grid, with 5 in the middle. Each outer number corresponds to a direction and a trigram; the centre corresponds to none. Since Eight Mansions feng shui is about personal directions, a centre number needs a stand-in. The long-standing convention is Kun (2, South-West) for the yang formula and Gen (8, North-East) for the yin formula.
Years that calculate to 5
Yang formula: 5 → Kua 2
1941, 1950, 1959, 1968, 1977, 1986, 1995, 2004, 2013, 2022
Yin formula: 5 → Kua 8
1945, 1954, 1963, 1972, 1981, 1990, 1999, 2008, 2017
Years 1940–2025, counting from 4 February.
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Questions people ask
Do all schools reassign 5 this way?
The 2/8 convention is by far the most common in Eight Mansions practice. A few teachers use different conventions, so you may see variations online.
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