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In this article we will learn the way to calculate the personal trigram Ming Gua of each person.


Do you remember trigrams?

Let’s remember them together: Kan (water), Li (fire), Zhen (thunder), Dui (swamp or lake), Kun (earth), Gen (mountain), Xun (wind), Qian (heaven).

Each trigram is associated to one number of the magical square Luo Shu that we studied in a previous article.

The trigram Kan corresponds to number 1, the trigram Kun corresponds to number 2, Zhen to number 3, Xun – number 4, Qian – number 6, Dui – number 7, Gen – number 8 and Li – number 9. There is no trigram corresponding to number 5; at the final calculation for the personal trigram, the figure 5 will be replaced by 8 for women and by 2 for men.

The Chinese wise men have classified everything in the universe as being ruled by the energies of one of the eight trigrams. In the article about trigrams we have seen a few correspondences between them and the cardinal points, colours, numbers etc. Each person also has a personal trigram, determined by their sex and year of birth.

As soon as you find out your personal trigram you can calculate from which of the four cardinal points you receive positive energies and from which of them you get negative energies. This way you will know, for example, how to orient the head of the bed or to which cardinal point you should orient your desk in order to reach success in your work.

How to calculate Ming Gua?
There are different formulas for women and for men.

Women There are different formulas for women and for men.
1. 1. Add the figures of your year of birth. For example, for a woman born in 1961 we will have:

1 + 9 + 6 + 1 = 17

2. 2. Add again the resulted figures until you reach a number made of one figure:

1 + 7 = 8

3. 3. Add 4 to the above figure:

8 + 4 = 12

4. 4. The resulting number is your personal trigram. If the resulting number is made of two figures add them again in order to obtain one figure (remember there are only 8 trigrams so we need a one-figure number, not a two-figure number):

1 + 2 = 3

Using the correspondences between trigrams and Luo Shu numbers (shown above) a woman born in 1961 will have the trigram Zhen (3).

Note: if the resulting final figure is 5, women will replace it with 8.

For men, there is a different formula. For example, for a man born in 1954 we will do the following calculation:

1. Add the figures in the year of birth.

1 + 9 + 5 + 4 = 19

2. Add the figures again until you reach a number made of one figure:

1 + 9 = 10; 1 + 0 = 1

3. Subtract the resulted figure from the number 11. If the result is a two-figure number, add the figures again until you get a one-figure number:

11 - 1 = 10; 1 + 0 = 1

4. 4. The resulting number is your personal trigram.

Using the correspondence between the trigrams and the numbers in Luo Shu, a man born in 1954 will have the trigram Kan (1).

Note: if the final figure is 5, men will replace it with 2.

Attention! If you are born within January 1st and February 2nd, use the previous year to your year of birth in order to calculate your personal trigram. If you are born on 3, 4 or 5 of February (considered as first day of the year, according to the year) you need to check with a Chinese calendar in order to establish your year of birth.

In the next article we will find out the attributes of the eight directions and the way we can apply their power in our lives.

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