Determining the Facing of a Apartment

Determining the Facing of a Apartment: Different Feng Shui Masters’ Perspectives

This is one of the most confusing aspects in the practice of Feng Shui and I have compiled most of the methods here. Whether the advice given by your Feng Shui consultant works or not is dependent on this factor. Using an incorrect method can mean the whole audit has turned to naught. Take a look and you can see how messy the standards can be. By the way, the term apartment here would refer to high-rise buildings that normally comes with elevators e.g. condominiums.

Disclaimer: Please note that this is not a comprehensive guide but only notes taken along my research journey. There are many factors like concepts of Yin Yang Dong Jing (Yin and Yang aspects, Movement and Stillness aspects), internal and external Luan Tou (Forms) and experiences that cannot be put in writing. Some masters use a few of the different methods and they will choose the method most appropriate depending on the actual situation. There are also masters who sworn by their one method only. There are no hard and fast rules about it. There will be mistakes since I did not learn from the masters personally and thus are based on my deductions only from readings from all possible sources.

The Main Door of the Unit as Facing:

Yap Cheng Hai 叶清海 (Malaysia)
Notes:

This is what Master Yap Boh Chu (the son of Grand Master Yap Cheng Hai) wrote in The Sun Property Plus when asked about the facing of an apartment unit:

(Dated 25th November 2005) You are absolutely right, it is more difficult to define the facing of an apartment. Some feng shui schools consider the balcony as the facing, while others consider the apartment entrance or the main entrance to the block as the facing. For me, it would depend on the circumstances. I would usually consider the apartment entrance as the main facing and my case histories have proven me to be correct.

(Dated 17th February 2006) Problems crop up when determining the facing of a house, especially for a condominium. Certain masters would determine the facing of a condominium from the balcony, basically standing at the balcony door looking outwards. We have found that this is not necessarily correct. In most cases we would use the actual entrance door of your condominium, standing inside the unit and measuring outwards. Why measure outwards? This is the direction the Qi is coming from.

Also, this is an extract from an article in The Sun Property Plus titled “What to do for Condos and Apartments” in which Master Yap Cheng Hai and his son explain more about apartment facing:

(Dated 15th April 2005) For a landed property, the direction it faces is equated to the direction of the main door. There is no quarrel here. But what about condominiums and apartments?

The confusion arises because the owner has to enter the common entrance to the condo or apartment grounds before getting into his or her own unit within the block. So, which entrance is considered the property’s main door? The common entrance (foyer) or the one that leads directly to the owner’s dwelling?

With the popularity of condo and apartment living on the rise, its a question many are asking. We ask Grandmaster Yap and his son, Boh Chu, who point out that there are two options one can consider. This is provided for under two major schools of feng shui — Ba Zhai (8 mansions) and the popular Flying Stars.

Ba Zhai
This school of feng shui is very clear. The entrance to the respective condo or apartment unit is considered its main door. So, this is where the owner should tap his auspicious direction.

On the other hand, while the common entrance to the condo or apartment project is not important to the individual unit owners or dwellers, it is important to the developer.

Flying Stars
Some find this school of feng shui confusing. The entrance is considered as the qi koh or mouth of qi (energy) of the property. In other words, the main door represents the mouth of the property — where the all-important qi is ushered into the premises.

In ancient China where feng shui originated, most dwellings had only one main door and a back door. This is often no longer the case in modern times. Condos and apartments, in particular, have multiple entrances — the guarded gate, at the respective block and, often, the balcony door.

Some feng shui practitioners see the main entrance to a condo block as the most important. Others point to the balcony door instead, reasoning that as the largest opening in the unit, this is where the greatest inward flow of qi is. Yet another school of thought insists that the main entrance of a dwelling should be the unit door itself.

Conclusion
The Yaps consider the specific door to a condo or apartment unit as its main entrance because this is the door that determines one’s entry into the dwelling. The next important things would be the entrance to the condo or apartment block, where relevant.

This is, however, only a guideline and not a definitive answer. Diligent feng shui practitioners should take into account the direction of both doors — common and specific.

“In our opinion and experience, the balcony door does not qualify as the main door. This is taking into consideration that the doorway is defined by the action of entering and exiting a property, and in the process, bringing in the qi from outside the property,” say the Yaps.

One can’t possibly walk in through the balcony door, nor can one exit from the balcony door to leave the unit.

Imagine if your unit were on the 20th floor. It would be impossible to ‘enter’ the balcony from the outside unless you are into extreme sports, rappelling from the roof or with the help of a helicopter!

The same applies to windows. They cannot be considered ‘entrances’.

Peter So 苏民峰 (Hong Kong)
Notes:
In his instructional videos titled "Feng Shui Lecture Of Master So Vol 1 & 2", he has explained that the main door of your own unit is the facing, never the balcony or the windows since you do not enter your home via them. We should use the elevator door on our level as the facing reference if we are analyzing the feng shui of the entire level. The main entrance of the whole building is used only if you are the developer or owner of the whole building.

The Most Yang Side of the Unit as Facing:

Pak Hok Ming白鹤鸣 (Hong Kong)

Joseph Yu (Canada)

Larry Sang (United States)

Lynn Yap (Singapore)

Heluo aka Roel Hill (The Netherlands)

Kartar Diamond (United States)

Chen Bo Yu 陈柏瑜 (Taiwan)

Eva Wong (United States)

Fan Rong 梵羢 (Taiwan)

The Most Yang Side of the Unit as Facing Provided the Main Door Is Not At Sitting Side:

Tan Khoon Yong (Singapore)

Neo Zhen Jue (Singapore)

The Facing Is Based On the Level of the Unit:

Edward Li Kui Ming 李居明 (Hong Kong): For level 1 to 5, use the main entrance of the whole building. Level 6 and above, use the unit’s door facing.

Lilian Too (Malaysia): For level 1 to 8, use the facing entrance of the whole building. Level 9 and above, the side with a view from the balcony or patio will be used as the facing since this is akin to living in the high mountains and the Qi distribution will be different.

Cecil Lee (Singapore): For level 1 to 7, use the unit’s door facing. Level 8 and above, the side with a view from the balcony or patio will be used as the facing.

The Facing Is Based On the Facing of the Whole Building:

Joey Yap 叶威明 (Malaysia)

Vincent Koh (Singapore)

Song Yin Chen宋英成 (Taiwan)

The Facing Is Based On the Main Entrance of the Whole Building:

Yeung Dengkwong 杨椗光 (Hong Kong)

Johnny Chan陈癸龙 (Hong Kong)

Stephen Skinner (Malaysia)

Lum Kwok Hung 林國雄 (Hong Kong)
Notes: In his book on Xuan kong Flying Stars, he wrote:
“我的经验是以门为向。就是在建筑物的大门外度坐向。如果有多支门的，就以写有门牌或建筑物名字的那一支为向。”

Below are some interesting apartment floor plans, which do you think is the facing side of each of them?

Are the methods above applicable to these apartments? I firmly believe that Mr "Qi" will not arrive and enter an apartment unit just because a famous feng shui master says so. It comes in accord to the landscape and the physical structure both externally and internally. Is it able to understand the facade that the architect had intended the building to have? Can it be contained in a skeletal structure (with minimal walls and multiple openings) and influence every household under that same roof? Will it come knocking at an entrance facing a Ming Tang or another entrance used by most of the occupants? A young master from my neighboring country says that he has learned from many Hong Kong masters whose expertise are in high-rise buildings' feng shui and his method of determining the facing is the correct one. But if this is so, how come the few most famous Hong Kong masters (see the list above) could not agree on a standardized method and none of them uses this young master's method?

As for the use of the main door, Master Howard Choy has indicated to me the parts in Shen Shi Xuan Kong classic that states that it is not used to determine the facing of a house. Here is one of the page from the classic:




















Also, in the Bazhai classic "Jin Guang Dou Lin Jing" (Classic of the Dipper Casting its Golden Light) , there's indication that the house's facing is not the main door's facing.


Regards
Alvin Chua