The East Zone: Eight Family Placements

A son's or daughter's placement lasts only while they are unmarried and living at home; when one marries, the younger brothers or sisters move up a place. For how the zones are found and family members ranked, see How to Read Your Home Map.

Father: The Unexpected (天雷无妄)

A married man who sleeps in the East forms The Unexpected, which takes its meaning from an unexpected disaster. Even after a divorce, the placement holds while children still live with him. The wife who shares his room forms Return.

Character: He is firm and stubborn and does not listen to others, so he draws petty people and throws himself into disorder.

Career and money: Business goes better for him, but he must guard against people lurking in the shadows; there is danger in the money he makes. A man born in the Year of the Pig or the Rat who forms this placement brings great wealth into the home, but a plot hides in all of it. In public service he is easily driven by greed to take dangerous risks. Seeking money draws danger; if he has lived here two full years without changing the placement, it comes true.

Family: He must guard against harm coming to his children. Of men born at the same time, some have no son, and some have sons who turn against their father. The cause is that the father has forced himself into the eldest son’s position; the eldest son has lost his own place, and trouble follows.

Mother: Return (地雷复)

A married woman who sleeps in the East forms Return. A woman in the mold of Mulan, whose marriage is poor, who holds the family up alone, and who is skilled with both pen and sword, is always in this placement.

Character: She presents some masculine inclinations. She goes into battle in her husband’s place and yields nothing to any man.

Career and money: The placement especially favors military officials, that is, people working in the military, the police, law or diplomacy; it brings advancement in office, not in business. It is especially favorable for those born in the Year of the Tiger or the Rabbit.

Marriage: Husband and wife do not get along. The wife has more drive than her husband, and he cannot match her; he is also tangled in lawsuits and disputes, which makes the marriage worse still.

Eldest son: Thunder (震为雷)

The Eldest son who sleeps in the East forms Thunder.

Character: He is capable, beyond doubt the family’s treasured son.

Career and money: His path in public office runs smoothly, but only before he marries. Business also goes well, but only if he is the one in charge.

Study and exams: He wins academic honors and ranks at the top.

Marriage: He marries when his destiny says: the year the Red Phoenix star stirs is the year he marries.

Family: He has the strength to inherit the family business and make it greater.

Second son: Difficulty at the Beginning (水雷屯)

The Second son who sleeps in the East forms Difficulty at the Beginning. The placement forms only while his eldest brother is unmarried and lives in the same home. For a man born in the Year of the Dog it is very dangerous, and more so in a Dog year. A man born in the Year of the Ox who sleeps here is ruled by his wife, turns his back on the family and neglects his parents.

Character: He oversteps his place: his drive exceeds his eldest brother’s, and his character shows it too.

Career and money: His career surpasses his eldest brother’s, and his talent and ability are far above his brother’s.

Marriage: He marries before his eldest brother, and two years earlier than others born at the same time. For a man born in any year other than the Dog or the Ox, the placement means no more than an early marriage.

Family: When the family business is handed on, the father passes it to the second son, and the eldest son falls out of favor. It works the other way too: finding this placement in a home tells you that this is so. The birth chart and the house placement must be read together. Of two second sons born at the same time, the elder brothers may share a zodiac sign but not always the hour of birth, so the outcomes differ.

Third son: Nourishment (山雷颐)

The Third son who sleeps in the East forms Nourishment, the image of food and caring for the body.

Career and money: He succeeds young and prospers early.

Health: His health is sound. Others born at the same time who are in poor health can use this placement to recover, drawing in the essence of nature and settling even their moods.

Marriage: He marries five years earlier than others born at the same time.

Family: Whether he sleeps in this placement naturally or a feng shui master moves him into it, it points to a son of the same father by a different mother. It works the other way too: such half-brothers are often found sleeping in this placement.

Eldest daughter: Increase (风雷益)

The Eldest daughter who sleeps in the East forms Increase.

Character: She presents some masculine inclinations. The people who help her are men; the petty people against her are women.

Career and money: Her income is ample, and she has a family inheritance; at work she outdoes men. A path in public office goes well, but she must never be greedy for pay; greed brings disaster.

Marriage: Her marriage does not happen, or it forms and then breaks.

Second daughter: Biting Through (火雷噬嗑)

The Second daughter who sleeps in the East forms Biting Through. An unmarried woman who is someone’s mistress also forms this placement; a divorced daughter forms it only if she lives with her widowed mother. A girl who loves to bite from childhood and does not stop when told is the image of Biting Through.

Character: She has a fiery temper, often takes revenge by biting, and nags without end. She presents some masculine inclinations; her thinking and manner lean toward a man’s.

Career and money: She succeeds young; women who came up through show business and grew famous young are all in this placement. Her career goes very smoothly, but a woman born in the Year of the Rooster in this placement ends up living off her savings until nothing is left.

Marriage: She marries a man of soft, gentle temperament. She marries six years later than others born at the same time: where they marry at twenty-six, she marries at thirty-two.

Third daughter: Following (泽雷随)

The Third daughter who sleeps in the East forms Following. This is one of the most common placements today.

Career and money: She puts everything into her career and uses any means to reach her goals; at times she holds a high position at the side of a head of state or a company chairman.

Marriage: If her destiny makes her marriage favorable, this placement marries her into a wealthy, distinguished family, four years earlier than others born at the same time. If her husband is not wealthy, they part in the end.

Remedy: If her destiny also holds ill for marriage and this is seen in advance, she moves to sleep in the Southeast, where she forms Great Exceeding (泽风大过), which resolves the trouble this placement brings.

Source: The Way of the Earth's Veins (天纪：地脉道)