kua

Kua is a term used in East Asian cosmology and Chinese metaphysical traditions. In feng shui and related I Ching practices, it denotes a personal energy type or Gua number that is used to guide directional relationships between a person and their environment. The concept is most commonly encountered in discussions of personal auspicious directions and spatial arrangement.

In the traditional Kua method, a person is assigned a number and categorized into one of two life-direction groups, often described as East Group and West Group. This classification informs recommendations about favorable and unfavorable directions for activities such as sleeping, working, and living room layout. While the details vary by school, the underlying aim is to harmonize a person’s energy with their surroundings to enhance well-being and prosperity.

The Kua concept is closely linked to the Bagua, the eight-trigram map used in Taoist cosmology. Each Gua corresponds to certain energies, directions, and elements, and practitioners connect these with a person’s Kua to advise spatial alignment and furniture placement. Although Kua-based methods are one traditional approach within feng shui, many practitioners also employ other systems or combine multiple methods.

Linguistically, the term can appear in different transliterations and may overlap with the Chinese word gua (卦), meaning a trigram or hexagram in the I Ching. In some contexts, Kua may also be a surname or a place name in various languages, though unrelated to the cosmological usage in feng shui.