What is Xuan Kong
Flying stars feng shui
Xuan Kong Flying Stars studies nine stars that fly across the nine palaces in time cycles, to judge auspicious and inauspicious qi in yang dwellings (homes of the living) and yin dwellings (tombs). Xuan means depth; Kong means empty space; Fei Xing means flying stars — invisible qi that shifts with time and direction. This app follows the Shen school: take a compass reading for the sitting mountain and facing direction, cast the dwelling chart of period stars, and examine annual and monthly flying stars and sha qi.
From the Luo Shu to nine-palace flying stars
The arithmetic foundation is the Luo Shu: a 3×3 magic square of nine numbers, each row, column, and diagonal summing to 15. Tradition says Yu the Great saw the pattern on a turtle’s shell in the Luo River. Those nine numbers became the Nine Stars; the path through the nine cells is “phi” — the stars in flight.
From the center palace, then northwest, west, northeast, south, north, southwest, east, southeast — the Heavenly Ruler (Liang Tian Chi), also called the Rigid Step (Gang Bu), the gait of the Northern Dipper. The track is fixed; the starting number changes with the period.
Origins — from secret transmission to the Shen school
Guo Pu — the seed of vital qi
The Jin-dynasty Zang Shu (Book of Burial): zang zhe, cheng sheng qi ye — burial is to ride vital qi. Qi changes with time: that is the germ of Xuan Kong. It is also an early place where the term feng shui was defined.
Yang Yunsong — secrets from the imperial court
In the Tang dynasty, Yang Yunsong (also Yang Jiupin) kept court astronomy and geography. During the Huang Chao rebellion, he took the secret texts to Jiangxi and, drawing on the Qing Nang Jing (Green Bag Classic), wrote the Qing Nang Ao Yu (Obscure Words of the Green Bag) and the Tian Yu Jing (Heavenly Jade Classic). The language is metaphorical: heavenly secrets must not be revealed. Oral transmission from master to disciple lasted nearly a thousand five hundred years. Three disciples — Zeng Wenchan, Liu Jiangdong, and Liao Yu — founded the Ganzhou school, the cradle of Jiangxi feng shui.
Jiang Dahong — the systematizing patriarch
Jiang Dahong (1616–1714) turned a secret branch into a school with a theoretical skeleton. He first followed the Form school, then received Xuan Kong from Wu Ji Zi and spent ten years in field practice. Di Li Bian Zheng (Discerning Truth in Geomancy) criticizes the Three Harmonies (San He) school and systematizes Xuan Kong — still deliberately obscure; reading the book alone does not yield mastery. Anecdote: disciple Jiang Yao offered two thousand taels of gold for the Ai Xing Jue (Secret of Placing Stars) — the method for determining which palace a flying star enters.
Shen Zhureng — lifting the curtain
Shen Zhureng (1849–1906) broke the secret transmission. He had followed San He and avoided Xuan Kong as one would a wild beast, until a beautifully formed site, praised by more than eighty San He masters, still brought disaster to the household — Xuan Kong pointed to Fan Yin Fu Yin (reversed and recumbent chant) in that period. He sought a descendant of Zhang Zhongshan (the Wu Chang school, in the line of Jiang Dahong) and copied by hand the Yin Yang Liang Zhai Lu Yan (Records of Verified Yin and Yang Dwellings). Comparing the Luo Shu with the Yi Jing, he saw that the stars do not stand still: they fly on a track, changing with time and the house’s facing. Shen Shi Xuan Kong Xue (Shen’s Study of Xuan Kong), completed by his son and disciples, was published in 1927 and expanded in 1933. A thousand-year secret became a book anyone could read. This app follows that line.
After Shen’s book appeared, many branches interpreted it differently (Wu Chang, Dian Nan, Suzhou, Shangyu, Xiang Chu, Guangdong) — because Jiang’s wording was originally dark.
Philosophy — feng shui has a shelf life
Eight Mansions fixes auspicious and inauspicious directions by facing and the householder’s destiny. Xuan Kong adds the time dimension: a place prosperous today may decline in twenty years. The Xi Ci: when things are exhausted they change; when they change they get through; when they get through they last. A house is not “finished once for a lifetime”.
Eight Mansions is a still photograph; Xuan Kong is a film. A house “bad” in Eight Mansions may be “good” because it matches the period — and the reverse. Many practitioners read both.
Three Cycles, Nine Periods — the 180-year cycle
Three cycles, nine periods, twenty years each, one great cycle of 180 years. The ancients linked this to a roughly matching planetary conjunction; 9 × 20 also fits the nine palaces. Each period has a ruling star in power. In 2044, the Jia Zi year, Period 1 of the Upper Cycle returns.
We are now in Period 9 (Start of Spring 2024 – 2043): Nine Purple Fire — South, red-purple-pink, technology, media, medicine and education. A house built in Period 8 is quite different from a Period 7 house of the same facing and address. When the period changes and nothing is adjusted, the old prosperous qi declines.
| Cycle | Period | Years | Ruling star |
|---|---|---|---|
| Upper | 1 | 1864–1883 | One White · Water |
| Upper | 2 | 1884–1903 | Two Black · Earth |
| Upper | 3 | 1904–1923 | Three Jade · Wood |
| Middle | 4 | 1924–1943 | Four Green · Wood |
| Middle | 5 | 1944–1963 | Five Yellow · Earth |
| Middle | 6 | 1964–1983 | Six White · Metal |
| Lower | 7 | 1984–2003 | Seven Red · Metal |
| Lower | 8 | 2004–2023 | Eight White · Earth |
| Lower | 9 | 2024–2043 | Nine Purple · Fire |
Nine Stars — nine guests changing rooms
Each star has a number, an element, and a Northern Dipper name (the same observational root as Zi Wei, used differently: the house versus a person’s destiny). No star is absolutely good or absolutely bad — in period it is a general who wins merit; out of period it brings harm. The three auspicious stars now (Period 9): 9 in period, 1 the coming period (next cycle), 8 the recent period (just ended 2004–2023).
| Star | Element | In period | Out of period |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 One White | Water | Wealth, exams, reputation | Weaker force, still fairly good |
| 2 Two Black | Earth | Land and property | Illness, trouble for women |
| 3 Three Jade | Wood | Population, household | Gossip, lawsuits, theft |
| 4 Four Green | Wood | Letters, study, creativity | Marriage, dissipation |
| 5 Five Yellow | Earth | Central authority (rare) | Disaster, serious illness — the most inauspicious |
| 6 Six White | Metal | Authority, martial force, money | Loneliness, injury to head and lungs |
| 7 Seven Red | Metal | Wealth (Period 7) | Lawsuits, theft, fire, disputes |
| 8 Eight White | Earth | Wealth, advancement — period just ended | Residual qi of the recent period remains |
| 9 Nine Purple | Fire | Joy, affinity, reputation — now in power | Fire, eyes and heart |
The dwelling chart — three layers on each palace
You need facing (24 mountains), the year of construction or major renovation to take the period, and the period you now live in. Each palace has three numbers: the period star (time base), the mountain star (people — health, occupants, children), and the facing star (wealth — money, affairs). Mountain and facing stars fly forward or reverse according to the yin-yang of the 24 mountains — a wrong direction throws the whole chart off. The app casts this once the mountain and facing have been measured.
| Formation | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Prosperous Mountain, Prosperous Facing | Prosperous mountain at the back, prosperous facing at the front — the best, both people and wealth |
| Mountain Up, Water Down | Reversed places — the worst, harm to people and loss of wealth |
| Double Stars at the Facing | Both prosperous in front — prosperous wealth, moderate people |
| Double Stars at the Mountain | Both prosperous at the back — prosperous people, moderate wealth |
The same facing, built in Period 8 versus Period 9, yields different formations. Choosing facing before construction is better than correcting later.
Where it differs from Eight Mansions
The same eight trigrams and five elements, a different lens. Jiang Dahong once criticized Eight Mansions; later generations often say two angles on one truth. This app does not replace Eight Mansions — it measures facing, then reads time.
| Eight Mansions | Xuan Kong Flying Stars | |
|---|---|---|
| Time | Fixed by facing + destiny | Changes with 20-year periods |
| Inputs | Birth year + facing | Facing + year of construction + current period |
| Stars | Eight house stars | Nine stars × three layers |
| Strength | Tied to the person, easy to look up | Catches the house’s shelf life |
What it is used for
Choosing facing before building
Know the current period → aim for Prosperous Mountain, Prosperous Facing and avoid Mountain Up, Water Down. The Formations tab in the app looks up 81 mountain–facing combinations (VIP/Coach).
A house already occupied
Cast the dwelling chart; put sleep, kitchen, and desk in auspicious palaces, bathroom and storage in inauspicious ones. Activate the auspicious, suppress the inauspicious — this does not replace an on-site survey.
Annual stars
Each year adds a flying layer. Wherever Five Yellow arrives, that palace should not be disturbed. When Eight White or Nine Purple arrives, it prospers. That is the weather; the original dwelling chart is the climate.
Four common misunderstandings
It does not replace Eight Mansions entirely
Eight Mansions is tied to a person’s destiny; Xuan Kong is tied to the house’s period. Dropping one is like measuring blood pressure only.
An old-period house need not be demolished
It depends on the specific formation and the annual stars. Replacing the heavenly heart — a major renovation, changing the roof, changing the main door — can renew the period without tearing the house down.
Five Yellow is not “always bad”
Out of period it is inauspicious; in Period 5 it is central authority. Star 5 has no paired trigram; it occupies the Luo Shu axis. In practice: leave it still; avoid digging or renovating where it flies. Metal draining earth reduces harm — “always bad” is shorthand.
Annual stars are not the whole chart
A surface layer. The dwelling chart by construction period is the foundation. A good original palace with a bad annual star still fares better than a broken original palace meeting a lucky year.
Quick questions
When did Period 9 begin?
From the Start of Spring of the Jia Chen year 2024 through 2043. The ruling star is Nine Purple Fire. In 2044 it returns to Period 1.
Should a Period 7 house (before 2004) cause worry?
It depends on the formation. A facing that was Prosperous Mountain, Prosperous Facing in Period 7 can still be lived in, but Period 9 is two periods away — so cast a chart to check, and consider a major renovation.
Forward and reverse flying?
The mountain plate and facing plate fly 1→2→3… or 9→8→7… according to whether the star is yin or yang on the 24 mountains. The wrong direction means the whole dwelling chart is wrong. The app computes this step once a compass angle is available.
Which stars are best in Period 9?
The three auspicious: 9 in period, 1 coming, 8 recent. Avoid 5 as greatly inauspicious, 2 for illness, and 7 which has been out of period for two periods.
Where should study begin?
Luo Shu, eight trigrams, Five Phases, Heavenly Stems and Earthly Branches, 24 mountains — then Shen Shi Xuan Kong Xue (Shen’s Study of Xuan Kong) and Di Li Bian Zheng (Discerning Truth in Geomancy). In the app: measure facing, cast the chart, read the Nine Stars in Formations.
Is it laboratory science?
It has a mathematical skeleton (the magic square) and a 180-year astronomical cycle, tighter logic than many other branches. It has not been tested by modern experiment. Use it as a frame for reading a house, not as a substitute for a survey.
The more precise the mountain and facing reading, the more reliable the dwelling chart. Take a compass reading in the app — flying-star charts are free; interpretations unlock per chart.