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These are days when spirits wail and ghosts cry—considered unsuitable for any important activity. Each month has one such day: for example, the 1st month on Renxu day, the 2nd on Guihai, and so on through the year. In traditional Chinese residential design, these dates were avoided for starting construction, moving, or other major household decisions.

In residential design, the path of movement should alternate between light and shadow. Moving from brightness into shade, or shade into brightness, is auspicious. But moving from bright to bright, or dark to dark, brings misfortune. Too much shadow harms women; too much light harms men. An imbalance in either direction can ruin a household and end its lineage.

This passage describes a principle for arranging a home's entrance and internal flow. The "empty space" refers to the path a person takes when entering. The entrance is treated as the starting point, the main living area as the middle, and the deeper rooms as the end. The design ensures that energy circulates smoothly by aligning the entrance with the home's deeper spaces, like a breath drawn inward and then released.

The stove base should be placed according to its shape, not its direction. The stove opening should face a certain direction, regardless of the base's shape. However, when using trigram divination for the stove, both the shape and direction must be considered.

This text describes how the placement of a building's main door or key space relative to eight directional energies affects fortune. If it blocks the Life-Giving direction, it causes miscarriage, no children, slander, loss of wealth and servants, and ruined farmland. Blocking the Heavenly Doctor direction brings chronic illness and weakness. Blocking Longevity causes poverty, short life, and marital problems. Blocking Stability brings hardship. However, blocking Death direction brings health, sons, and wealth. Blocking Six Harms prevents lawsuits and fire. Blocking Disaster prevents illness and loss. Blocking Five Ghosts prevents fire and theft, and brings loyal servants and prosperity.

The four auspicious directions are suitable for placing beds, main doors, room doors (also aligned with cosmic cycles), ancestral altars, earth shrines, family temples, shops, and barns. All such features should face these favorable directions and avoid the four inauspicious ones.

In residential design, the four unlucky directions of a person's birth year should be used for toilets, stoves, chimneys, wells, mills, wood sheds, guest rooms, or beds. Placing these functional spaces over the inauspicious positions suppresses bad spirits. This not only prevents misfortune but actually brings good fortune.

A person with an East destiny should have the stove opening face east for good fortune, and west for misfortune. A West destiny person should face west for good luck, and east for bad luck. The cook must stand with their back to the lucky direction and face the stove door—this is the truly auspicious orientation.

If the west direction aligns with the parents' bed placement, it is auspicious; east is unlucky. This rule applies regardless of floor level—only the square footage of the space matters. Following this ensures health, fortune, and longevity.

Building a house on the east side of a property is considered auspicious, while building on the west side is to be avoided. Within six months, good or bad fortune will become apparent. This principle has been tested and proven repeatedly.

Change the top line to create "life energy," which arises naturally and is the most precious form of good fortune. This life energy brings luck in years of the Pig, Rabbit, or Goat. For those seeking wealth, position the stove to align with this life energy.

The second line changing to "Heavenly Healer" is not naturally auspicious, so it is ranked lower. The Heavenly Healer's favorable response occurs in the years of the Monkey, Rat, and Dragon. To cure illness and avert disaster, build a stove aligned with the Heavenly Healer.

When all three lines change, it becomes "Extended Years." This is not always beneficial—its good fortune is secondary. The auspicious effects of Extended Years appear in the years and months of Snake, Pig, and Ox. It helps cure illness and prolong life, making it suitable for building an Extended Years stove.

The next hexagram shifts to "Harm," where both generation and control exist, making it moderately inauspicious. Harm brings misfortune in years of the Monkey, Rat, and Dragon. For conflict or revenge, position the stove facing the Harm direction.

The upper and lower levels both change. The Wenchu and Liusha forces interact, balancing harm and benefit—like feasts mixed with conflict. Liusha brings misfortune in years of the Rat, Dragon, or Monkey, causing loss and theft if a Liusha stove is built.

The upper two lines change into the Five Ghosts, the most harmful force. Each position conflicts with the next, bringing disaster wherever it moves. The Five Ghosts bring misfortune in the years of the Tiger, Horse, or Dog. For legal disputes or arguments, a stove aligned with the Five Ghosts is recommended.

In the trigram transformations, the central line changing to one creates the "Severed Fate" position. Any arrangement of east, west, above, or below that aligns with it brings harm. Severed Fate is an extremely inauspicious spirit... Its bad effects manifest in years of the Snake, Rooster, or Ox, bringing illness and death. To counter this, one should place the stove in the Severed Fate position.

The third line, when unchanged, becomes the "Resting Position." It represents stillness and non-action, allowing for both advance and retreat. Good fortune from this position appears in the years of the Pig, Rabbit, or Goat. To seek fulfillment, place the stove in the Resting Position.

A rule for household design: The number of children is not determined solely by the wife's birth element. For example, if a man of the Water element has a wife of the Wood element, and the kitchen faces the Wood direction, all align with the Life-Giving energy. This arrangement brings both children and wealth.

In residential spatial design, stars are classified as yang or yin, and palaces (rooms) are also yang or yin. The palace is the inner space, the star is the outer influence. If the inner space overcomes the outer influence, it is half unlucky. If the outer influence overcomes the inner space, it is fully unlucky. A yang star overcoming a yin palace harms women; a yin star overcoming a yang palace harms men.