Important Position of Stoves and Kitchens in Feng Shui
The Edge Haven - Kuala Lumpur
August - September 2005

From the questions posed to us, I believe most people now understand the importance of the direction of the main door, but not that of the position of the kitchen and the direction of the stove.

According to classical feng shui, the kitchen is one of the most important spaces in the home because it symbolises the prosperity and even health of the family.

In fact, the position of the kitchen and direction of the stove is the second most important aspect of a home, after that of the main door.

In this part of the world, the kitchen has traditionally been placed at the rear portion of the house. It is only in modern architecture that we now have kitchens positioned at either the front or side of a home.

Why It Is Important
Why is the positioning of kitchen and stove important? There are two reasons: We take our sustenance from food cooked in our kitchen and, secondly, the fi re of the stove can burn away our auspicious qi (energy).

Don’t people always say that home-cooked food is always better? When we cook, we need fi re. Fire is one of the purest and strongest of the five elements (the other four are Metal, Wood, Water and Earth). Fire can burn everything when given the chance. Imagine a kitchen where the qi of the house is the most auspicious - all the auspicious qi will simply be burnt away!

Therefore, the kitchen and “fi re” of the stove are generally “used” to suppress the inauspicious qi.

How do we do this? To reiterate, feng shui is about location and direction. The location of the kitchen is clear enough. The direction then applies to the kitchen door and the stove.

Activating Factors
The kitchen and stove are unique in that they play the dual roles of suppressing and activating the qi of a house. While we want to suppress inauspicious qi, we want to activate auspicious qi at the same time.

To elaborate, we want to receive good qi in the kitchen, but the kitchen should be suppressing an inauspicious sector of the house. To achieve this, the kitchen door must face an auspicious direction. The direction of the stove is also used to collect auspicious qi. What is the direction of the stove, you may ask. The direction is deemed to be the controls of the stove or, as a literal translation of ancient Chinese language, the fi re mouth, which is where the flame of the stove is controlled.

Auspicious or Otherwise
How do we know our auspicious and inauspicious directions and locations? It is actually quite simple. Based on a person’s Life Gua, we have four auspicious directions and four inauspicious directions. For example, a person who is a Kan Gua (No 1 Gua) should ideally locate the kitchen in the SW and the stove controls should point to the SE.

Also, watch out for the directions that should be avoided each year. You will need to be careful when shifting a stove which, in feng shui, is considered a major project. An alternative to moving the stove would be to use a portable stove for that year.

Birth Years and Their Corresponding Gua Numbers

Year	Male	Female		Year	Male	Female		Year	Male	Female
1900	1	8		1935	2	4		1970	3	3
1901	9	6		1936	1	8		1971	2	4
1902	8	7		1937	9	6		1972	1	8
1903	7	8		1938	8	7		1973	9	6
1904	6	9		1939	7	8		1974	8	7
1905	2	1		1940	6	9		1975	7	8
1906	4	2		1941	2	1		1976	6	9
1907	3	3		1942	4	2		1977	2	1
1908	2	4		1943	3	3		1978	4	2
1909	1	8		1944	2	4		1979	3	3
1910	9	6		1945	1	8		1980	2	4
1911	8	7		1946	9	6		1981	1	8
1912	7	8		1947	8	7		1982	9	6
1913	6	9		1948	7	8		1983	8	7
1914	2	1		1949	6	9		1984	7	8
1915	4	2		1950	2	1		1985	6	9
1916	3	3		1951	4	2		1986	2	1
1917	2	4		1952	3	3		1987	4	2
1918	1	8		1953	2	4		1988	3	3
1919	9	6		1954	1	8		1989	2	4
1920	8	7		1955	9	6		1990	1	8
1921	7	8		1956	8	7		1991	9	6
1922	6	9		1957	7	8		1992	8	7
1923	2	1		1958	6	9		1993	7	8
1924	4	2		1959	2	1		1994	6	9
1925	3	3		1960	4	2		1995	2	1
1926	2	4		1961	3	3		1996	4	2
1927	1	8		1962	2	4		1997	3	3
1928	9	6		1963	1	8		1998	2	4
1929	8	7		1964	9	6		1999	1	8
1930	7	8		1965	8	7		2000	9	6
1931	6	9		1966	7	8		2001	8	7
1932	2	1		1967	6	9		2002	7	8
1933	4	2		1968	2	1		2003	6	9
1934	3	3		1969	4	2		2004	2	1

Gua Numbers and their Corresponding Auspicious Directions in 2005

Gua		1	2	3	4	6	7	8	9
BEST		S	W	SE	S	SW	NE	W	N
		SE	NE	N	E	NE	SW	SW	SE
		E	NW	S	N	W	NW	NW	E
		N	SW	E	SE	NW	W	NE	S
		W	E	SW	SW	SE	N	S	NE
		NE	SE	NW	NW	E	S	N	W
		NW	S	NE	W	N	SE	E	SW
WORST		SW	N	W	NE	S	E	SE	NW

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Disclaimer: Yap Cheng Hai Academy Sdn Bhd does not, and cannot, in any way whatsoever or howsoever represent, warrant or guarantee that the recommendations given in this column mean that the happiness and good fortune of the person(s) who put these recommendations into practice will naturally or necessarily follow