Luopan Reference Guide (羅盤使用指南)
The Luopan (羅盤, "Net Plate") is the essential tool of every Feng Shui practitioner. A professional San Yuan (三元) Luopan contains multiple concentric rings that provide all the reference data needed for a comprehensive Feng Shui audit.
Core Rings (Priority Order)
- 24 Mountains (二十四山): The primary directional grid. Divides the compass into 24 sectors of 15° each. Each mountain corresponds to a Heavenly Stem or Earthly Branch. Used for sitting and facing direction determination.
- Early Heaven Trigrams (先天八卦): The Fu Xi arrangement — represents the cosmological ideal state of energy.
- Later Heaven Trigrams (後天八卦): The King Wen arrangement — represents the manifest operational world used in most Feng Shui calculations.
- Flying Stars Period Ring (飛星運盤): Shows the 20-year period numbers and star assignments for current and historical periods.
- 64 Hexagrams Ring (六十四卦環): At 5.625° per hexagram — used for Da Gua advanced work.
- 28 Lunar Mansions (二十八宿): Astronomical reference for cosmic timing and burial site selection.
- 72 Dragons / 60 Dragons (七十二龍 / 六十龍): Precision rings for burial site and water mouth determination.
Compass Precision Standards
| Level | Precision | Use Case |
|---|---|---|
| Basic | 15.0° | 24 Mountains display |
| Professional | ±3.0° | Advanced Feng Shui work |
| Critical | ±0.5° | Boundary measurements |
| Master | ±0.05° | Historical compass accuracy |
Void Lines (空亡線)
The transitions between the 24 Mountains (at exactly 0°, 15°, 30°... etc.) are called Void Lines (空亡線 or 坐空亡). A building whose sitting or facing direction lands exactly on these transition degrees has unstable Qi. Replacement Stars (替卦 Ti Gua) must be applied in the Flying Stars chart when this occurs.