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Eastern wisdom, explained simply

Short guides to feng shui, the Chinese zodiac, festivals and temple traditions, written by Master Luo for people discovering them for the first time.

Popular guides

Chinese Zodiac 2027 PredictionsAll 12 signs in the Fire Goat year Year of the Fire Goat 2027Dates, meaning, lucky colors Lucky Days to Move in 2027Every good day, month by month Feng Shui Bedroom Rules9 tips with a floor plan How to Find Your Wealth CornerTwo methods, two minutes
羊Festivals

2027: the Year of the Fire Goat

The Chinese year that begins on February 6, 2027 is the Year of the Fire Goat, written Ding Wei (丁未). Ding is yin Fire, the soft light of a candle; Wei is the Goat, an Earth sign of early summer. Together they describe a warm, gentle, creative year.

After the fast and restless Fire Horse year of 2026, the Goat slows things down. Traditional writers link Goat years with home, family, art, comfort and kindness. It's a good year to put down roots, mend relationships and make things by hand.

Signs that do especially well are the Rabbit and the Pig, which form a harmony triangle with the Goat, and the Horse, the Goat's secret friend. The Ox sits opposite the Goat and faces a year of change, while Goats themselves are in their own year (本命年), a time to stay grounded. Tap your sign on our forecast page for a free preview.

See your sign in 2027 →
風水Feng shui basics

What is feng shui?

Feng shui (風水, "wind and water") is the Chinese art of arranging the spaces we live in so that energy, called qi, moves through them gently. Think of qi like a stream: it should flow and pool, not rush or get stuck.

Three ideas do most of the work. First, the command position: sit and sleep where you can see the door without being directly in line with it. Second, flow: keep paths clear, especially the front entrance, which is called the mouth of qi. Third, balance: mix light and shadow, soft and hard, and the five elements, so no single quality dominates a room.

You don't need to rebuild your home. Most feng shui is rearranging furniture, clearing clutter, fixing what is broken and adding light and living plants. Start with the front door, the bed and the desk, and you will feel the difference.

Room-by-room guide →
財位Wealth

How to find your wealth corner

There are two popular ways to find a home's wealth corner (財位). The first, used widely in Taiwan and Hong Kong, is the bright wealth position: stand inside your front door and look to the far corner diagonally across the room. If the door is in the middle of the wall, both far corners count.

The second is the Bagua map used in Western feng shui. Lay a 3×3 grid over your floor plan with the front door wall at the bottom. The far left square is the Wealth & Abundance area.

Whichever you use, the rules are the same: keep the corner clean, bright and uncluttered. Add one healthy plant with round leaves, such as a jade plant or money tree, or a small bowl of coins. Keep trash cans, dead plants and piles of bills out of it.

Map your wealth corner →
八卦Feng shui basics

The Bagua map, explained

The Bagua (八卦, "eight trigrams") is an octagon of eight symbols, each made of three solid or broken lines. Every trigram stands for a force of nature: Heaven, Earth, Thunder, Wind, Water, Fire, Mountain and Lake.

In home feng shui the Bagua becomes a nine-square map. Each square links an area of your home to an area of life: wealth, fame, love, family, health in the center, children and creativity, knowledge, career and helpful people. Each also has its own element and colors.

Use it as a checklist rather than a rulebook. If your career feels stuck, look at the career area near your front door: is it dark or cluttered? Small, intentional changes there are a way of paying attention to that part of your life.

Explore the Bagua map →
生肖Chinese zodiac

Why your zodiac sign depends on the moon

The Chinese zodiac follows the lunar calendar, not January 1. Each animal year begins on Lunar New Year, which falls on a new moon between January 21 and February 20.

That's why so many people born in January or early February discover they belong to the previous year's animal. Someone born on January 25, 1990, for example, is a Snake, because the Year of the Horse only began on January 27.

Feng shui uses a third date: Li Chun (立春), the Start of Spring, around February 4. Your Kua number and lucky directions are based on that solar year instead. Our tools check the exact dates for you.

Find your true sign →
五行Foundations

The five elements in daily life

Chinese thought describes the world through five elements, or phases: Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal and Water. Each has a season, a color, a shape and a direction.

In the creative cycle, each element feeds the next: Wood feeds Fire, Fire makes Earth (ash), Earth bears Metal, Metal carries Water (condensation), and Water nourishes Wood. In the controlling cycle, Water puts out Fire, Fire melts Metal, Metal cuts Wood, Wood breaks up Earth, and Earth dams Water.

You can use them at home. Too much Fire (red, bright, sharp shapes) in a bedroom feels restless; add Earth tones to calm it. A dull office may need Wood: plants, green, upright shapes. Your birth year also has an element, which is why your lucky colors change from person to person.

Your sign and element →
春節Festivals

Lunar New Year traditions

Lunar New Year (春節) is the biggest celebration of the Chinese calendar. In 2027 it falls on February 6, starting the Year of the Fire Goat.

Before New Year, families clean the whole home to sweep out the old year, pay off small debts, get haircuts and hang red decorations with lucky words such as 福 (blessing), sometimes upside down so that good fortune "arrives". On New Year's Eve everyone gathers for a reunion dinner, often with fish, because the word for fish sounds like "surplus".

On New Year's Day, wear red or bright colors, give red envelopes (紅包) with crisp new bills, and say only kind words. Many people avoid sweeping or taking out the trash for the first days, so they don't sweep their luck away.

2027 lunar calendar →
鬼月Festivals

Ghost Month: the Chinese Halloween

In the seventh lunar month, tradition says the gates of the underworld open and spirits return to visit the living. In 2027 Ghost Month runs from August 2 to August 31, with the Ghost Festival (中元節) on August 16.

It is less spooky than it sounds. Families honor their ancestors, temples hold ceremonies, and in Taiwan businesses set out tables of food and drink as offerings for wandering spirits. Many people also choose to hold off on big moves, weddings and launches until the month ends.

Popular customs include not whistling at night, not hanging laundry out after dark, and not swimming far from shore. Whether or not you believe, it is a beautiful reminder to remember those who came before us.

Ghost Month guide →
龍Culture

The Chinese dragon: luck, not menace

In Western stories dragons are monsters to be slain. In China the dragon (龍) is the most auspicious creature of all: a bringer of rain, ruler of rivers and seas, and a symbol of strength and good fortune.

Chinese dragons have no wings. They fly through the clouds on their own power, with the antlers of a deer, the scales of a carp, the claws of an eagle and long flowing whiskers. Imperial dragons have five claws. They are often shown chasing a flaming pearl, a symbol of wisdom and prosperity.

That's why dragon dances open Lunar New Year parades, and why parents in the Year of the Dragon often hope for a "dragon baby". Seeing a dragon is good news.

Meet the dragon →
符Temple traditions

Fu charms, moon blocks and fortune sticks

Walk into almost any temple in Taiwan and you'll see three traditions. Fu (符) are paper charms written in red on yellow paper. People carry them for safety, love, study or wealth, and often pass them over the temple's incense burner to receive its blessing.

Moon blocks (筊杯) are two red, crescent-shaped wooden blocks. You ask a yes-or-no question and drop them. One flat side up and one round side up is a holy yes. Two flat sides mean the gods are laughing; two round sides mean no.

Fortune sticks (籤) come in a bamboo tube. You kneel, ask your question and shake until one stick falls out. Its number matches a short poem that a temple volunteer can help you read. You can try both in our temple corner.

Visit the charm shop →
易經Foundations

The I Ching in plain English

The I Ching (易經), or Book of Changes, is one of the oldest books in the world, more than 2,500 years old. It describes 64 situations, called hexagrams, each made of six solid or broken lines.

Traditionally you ask a question and toss three coins six times to build a hexagram from the bottom up. Some lines are "changing" and turn into their opposite, giving a second hexagram that shows where things are heading.

The I Ching doesn't predict a fixed future. It offers a way of looking at your situation: when to act and when to wait, when to push and when to yield. Many people use it as a structured way to think through a hard decision.

Ask the I Ching →
面相Culture

Face and palm reading in China

Chinese face reading (面相) and palm reading (手相) are thousands of years old. Face reading divides the face into areas linked to parts of life: the forehead for career, the eyebrows for friends and siblings, the eyes for relationships, the nose for wealth and the mouth for communication.

Palm reading looks at the shape of the hand and its main lines. The heart line speaks of emotions, the head line of thinking style, the life line of energy and big changes, and the fate line of career. A short life line does not mean a short life.

Today most people enjoy these readings as a way of reflecting on themselves, not as fixed destiny. Our AI readings follow the traditional symbolism and keep everything kind and positive.

Try an AI reading →
食補Lifestyle

Seasonal eating in Chinese tradition

Chinese food culture has long followed the seasons and the 24 solar terms. The idea is simple: eat what nature offers now, and balance "warming" and "cooling" foods for the weather.

In winter, families make warming soups with ginger, jujube dates and slow-cooked meats. In summer, cooling foods such as mung bean soup, watermelon and cucumber are favorites. On the Winter Solstice (December 22 in 2026), many families share tangyuan, sweet rice balls that symbolize reunion.

These are food traditions to enjoy, not medical treatments. If you have a health condition, are pregnant or take medication, talk to your doctor before making changes to your diet.

Lunar calendar →
租Feng shui basics

Feng shui for renters and small apartments

You don't need to own a house, or move walls, to use feng shui. Most of it is about how you arrange what you already have, and almost all of it is renter-friendly.

Start at the front door: keep it clear, well lit and easy to open, with a doormat that you like. Inside, put your bed in the command position, where you can see the door without being in line with it; a headboard and a solid wall behind you add support. In a studio, use a bookcase, curtain or tall plant to separate sleeping from working.

Mirrors are powerful in small spaces: use one to bring in light or a view, but don't hang it facing the bed or directly facing the front door. Add living plants, fix anything broken (dripping taps, stuck drawers, dead bulbs) and keep the wealth corner diagonally across from your door tidy and bright. Small, cheap changes add up.

Room-by-room guide →
桌Feng shui basics

The best desk position for focus and career

Your desk is where your career lives, especially if you work from home. The single most important rule is the command position: sit so you can see the door to the room without sitting directly in line with it.

Try to have a solid wall behind you rather than a window or a walkway; feng shui calls this the "mountain" that supports you. If you can't move your desk, a high-backed chair or a small mirror that shows the door works as a fix.

Keep the desk surface clear, with only what you are working on. Put a plant or a lamp in the far left corner of the desk, its own little wealth corner, and keep cables tidy. If you know your Kua number, face one of your four lucky directions while you work. Our free tools calculate it from your birthday.

Find your lucky directions →