Furniture and its relationship with the Five Elements in feng shui

After some laugh at the above cartoon in the Toronto Star dated 2/5 /2016, I am going to discuss about the furniture/objects in our homes and its relationship with the five elements. I believe this info will help my readers to arrange the furniture and objects in such a way that it will create a good feng shui environment in their homes, without having to buy those expensive DIY feng shui books!

Before I go any further, I want to reiterate that feng shui has nothing to do with interior design as advocated by many so-called Western feng shui masters. Under the authentic Chinese feng shui, furniture is referred as “luan tao”, and its feng shui’s effect is based on their shapes, materials and colors in relationship with the five elements as indicated by the following examples:

- Metal element – metal clocks, piano, music box, coins, metal chairs and tables, jewelry, mirror and refrigerator. Its colors are gold, silver and grey.

- Wood element – bookcase, wood furniture, magazine rack, wood musical instruments and wood carvings. Its colors are green, dark green and light brown.

- Water element – fish tanks, washing machine, and water bed. Its colors are blue and black.

- Earth element – flower vase, ceramics, pottery and gem stones. Its colors are deep brown and yellow.

- Fire element – kitchen stove, plastic furniture, artificial flowers, light fixtures, television, dryer and heater. Its colors are red, purple and orange.

After understanding the element of the furniture and objects, the second concepts that we need to know is the elements of the eight ba gua’s sectors:

- East is wood element, it represents rising sun, growth. Under the Xuan Kong Flying Star feng shui, it represents the number 3 wood star which implies conflicts and arguments.

- South East is also wood element, it represents scholars luck

- South is fire element, it represents happiness

- West is metal element, it represents destruction, not good for health

- SW is earth element, under the Xuan Kong Flying Star feng shui, it represents the number 2 earth star which implies sluggish in work

- West is metal element, it represents strong and eager to make progress

- North is water element, it represents career luck

- NE is strong earth element, it represents wealth luck

Thus, by combining the above two concepts, we can enhance our luck or reduce some unlucky effects by applying the destruction and growth cycles of the five elements. For instance, the living/dining room is the gathering place of the family, we can place fire element’s furniture at the South sector; earth element furniture at the NE to enhance the wealth luck; water element objects at the North to enhance the career luck etc.

In the childrens' bedroom, we can place the studying desk, bookcase, school bag at the SE sector to enhance the scholar luck. If the child has lung issues, we can place earth element furniture/objects at the West sector.

In the master bedroom, we can place the jewelry box at wealth sector which is NE. If we want to enhance the relationship between husband and wife, we can place fire element objects at the South sector of the master bedroom. If there are frequent arguments, quarrels between husband and wife, we can place fire element furniture/objects at the East to dissipate the wood chi.

All the above remedies are based on the “luan tao”, i.e. the physical arrangement/placement of furniture/objects in the house and its effects in feng shui. However, we must also consider the effects of the “li chi”, i.e. the flying stars’ combinations or the chi pattern inside the house, in order to achieve a specific feng shui goal. 

For instance, if we want to enhance our romance luck, we can place the appropriate objects at the sectors based on the Xuan Kong Flying Star feng shui’s ideas. For a guy, he can place magazine or books at the SE which is associated with the number 4; pink color objects at the South which is associated with the number 9; metal element objects like musical box at the West which is associated with the number 7 (dui 兑 kua) which represents young girl. 

On the other hand, if a girl is looking for romance luck, she can place water element objects at the North which is associated with the number 1 (kan 坎kua), wood element objects at the SE which is associated with the number 3 (sun 巽kua); and ceramics at the NE which is associated with the number 8 (ken 艮kua) which represents young man.