Pick your birthday and the sex recorded at birth. You get your kua number, your East or West group, and the four directions that suit you for the bed and the desk — with the 4 February rule that makes other calculators disagree.
Your kua number
Your number: 9 · East groupEast for work and drive, south-east for rest and health · solar year 1985
Quick answer: your kua number comes from your birth year in the traditional solar calendar, which starts on about 4 February, and from the sex recorded at birth. It is 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 7, 8 or 9: 1, 3, 4 and 9 are the East group, 2, 6, 7 and 8 the West group. Pick your birthday above to see your number and the four directions that suit it.
How to use the kua number calculator
- Pick your birthday: the day, the month and the year. Your birthday stays on the page; it is not saved anywhere.
- Pick how your sex was recorded at birth, female or male. The traditional formula counts them differently. Not sure, or doing it for a couple? Press Show both.
- Read your number and its group, then the four directions that suit it: one for work, one for rest, one for a shared bedroom and one for calm and study, with what each is used for. The other four are the directions to avoid.
- The compass shows the same eight directions with north at the top. Copy link to my number makes a link that opens the calculator on your birthday.
How the kua number is worked out
The number uses the year of your birth in the traditional Chinese solar calendar, whose year starts at the solar term called the Start of Spring, on 3, 4 or 5 February. The calculator takes 4 February. Born in January, or on 1–3 February? Your number counts the year before.
By hand, with all four digits of that year:
- Add the four digits, then add the digits of the answer again until one digit is left. For 1985: 1 + 9 + 8 + 5 = 23, and 2 + 3 = 5.
- Recorded male: take that digit from 11. 11 − 5 = 6. An answer of 10 becomes 1.
- Recorded female: add 4 to it. 4 + 5 = 9. An answer above 9 loses 9 (13 becomes 4).
- There is no kua number 5. A 5 becomes 2 if recorded male and 8 if recorded female.
The calculator gives the same number as this method for every year from 1900 to 2100. Many charts teach a shorter way that uses only the last two digits of the year, and that shortcut changes in 2000 (10 and 5 before, 9 and 6 after). Mixing the two up is why two calculators can disagree for a birthday after 1999.
The directions for each number
| Number | Group | Work (face at your desk) | Rest (head of the bed) | Together (a shared bed) | Calm and study |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | East | South-east | East | South | North |
| 2 | West | North-east | West | North-west | South-west |
| 3 | East | South | North | South-east | East |
| 4 | East | North | South | East | South-east |
| 6 | West | West | North-east | South-west | North-west |
| 7 | West | North-west | South-west | North-east | West |
| 8 | West | South-west | North-west | West | North-east |
| 9 | East | East | South-east | North | South |
Every East group number shares the same four directions, north, south, east and south-east, in a different order. Its four to avoid are the West group’s: west, north-west, south-west and north-east. The West group is the mirror: its numbers suit west, north-west, south-west and north-east, and avoid the other four.
Kua number chart by year
For a birthday from 4 February on. Born in January or on 1–3 February? Read the line of the year before.
| Year | Recorded female | Recorded male |
|---|---|---|
| 1940 | 9 | 6 |
| 1941 | 1 | 2 |
| 1942 | 2 | 4 |
| 1943 | 3 | 3 |
| 1944 | 4 | 2 |
| 1945 | 8 | 1 |
| 1946 | 6 | 9 |
| 1947 | 7 | 8 |
| 1948 | 8 | 7 |
| 1949 | 9 | 6 |
| 1950 | 1 | 2 |
| 1951 | 2 | 4 |
| 1952 | 3 | 3 |
| 1953 | 4 | 2 |
| 1954 | 8 | 1 |
| 1955 | 6 | 9 |
| 1956 | 7 | 8 |
| 1957 | 8 | 7 |
| 1958 | 9 | 6 |
| 1959 | 1 | 2 |
| 1960 | 2 | 4 |
| 1961 | 3 | 3 |
| 1962 | 4 | 2 |
| 1963 | 8 | 1 |
| 1964 | 6 | 9 |
| 1965 | 7 | 8 |
| 1966 | 8 | 7 |
| 1967 | 9 | 6 |
| 1968 | 1 | 2 |
| 1969 | 2 | 4 |
| 1970 | 3 | 3 |
| 1971 | 4 | 2 |
| 1972 | 8 | 1 |
| 1973 | 6 | 9 |
| 1974 | 7 | 8 |
| 1975 | 8 | 7 |
| 1976 | 9 | 6 |
| 1977 | 1 | 2 |
| 1978 | 2 | 4 |
| 1979 | 3 | 3 |
| 1980 | 4 | 2 |
| 1981 | 8 | 1 |
| 1982 | 6 | 9 |
| 1983 | 7 | 8 |
| 1984 | 8 | 7 |
| 1985 | 9 | 6 |
| 1986 | 1 | 2 |
| 1987 | 2 | 4 |
| 1988 | 3 | 3 |
| 1989 | 4 | 2 |
| 1990 | 8 | 1 |
| 1991 | 6 | 9 |
| 1992 | 7 | 8 |
| 1993 | 8 | 7 |
| 1994 | 9 | 6 |
| 1995 | 1 | 2 |
| 1996 | 2 | 4 |
| 1997 | 3 | 3 |
| 1998 | 4 | 2 |
| 1999 | 8 | 1 |
| 2000 | 6 | 9 |
| 2001 | 7 | 8 |
| 2002 | 8 | 7 |
| 2003 | 9 | 6 |
| 2004 | 1 | 2 |
| 2005 | 2 | 4 |
| 2006 | 3 | 3 |
| 2007 | 4 | 2 |
| 2008 | 8 | 1 |
| 2009 | 6 | 9 |
| 2010 | 7 | 8 |
Four birthdays, worked out
10 March 1985. After 4 February, so the year is 1985: its digits come to 5. Recorded female, 4 + 5 = 9, East group: east for work, south-east for rest. Recorded male, 11 − 5 = 6, West group: west for work, north-east for rest.
20 January 1986. Before 4 February, so the number counts 1985 and is the same as the birthday above: 9 if recorded female, 6 if male.
1999 and 2000. 1999 gives 8 recorded female and 1 male; 2000 gives 6 and 9. This is the year the two-digit shortcut changes, and where a wrong chart shows up first.
3 February 1985. One day before the solar new year, so the year is 1984: 8 recorded female, 7 male. The Start of Spring falls on the 3rd in some years, so for a birthday on the 3rd, 4th or 5th of February the calculator also shows the number of the other year: here 9 and 6.
Using your directions at home
- At a desk, face your work direction while you sit, if the room lets you, with a solid wall behind you and the door in view.
- In bed, point the head of the bed toward your rest direction. A couple with two numbers can use the relationships direction of either one, or pick a direction both of them share.
- The room comes first. A bed with a solid wall behind it, and a desk that sees the door, matter more in feng shui than a direction. When the room and your number disagree, the room wins.
The free feng shui bed placement checker and feng shui desk placement checker draw your own room and find its best spots. To lay the nine areas of the bagua over your home, use the bagua map generator.
Common mistakes
- Using the calendar year for a January birthday. The kua year starts on about 4 February, so a birthday in January counts the year before.
- Using the lunar new year. Chinese New Year moves between 21 January and 20 February. The kua number follows the solar year instead, which starts on 3, 4 or 5 February every year.
- Mixing the two-digit shortcut across 2000. The shortcut for the 1900s gives the wrong number for a birthday from 2000 on, and the other way round. The four-digit method above works for both.
- Turning everything to the number. The number adds one tradition’s preference to a layout. It does not outweigh a door, a window or a walkway.
Kua number: questions people ask
How do I calculate my kua number?
Add the four digits of your birth year until one digit is left. Recorded male, take it from 11; recorded female, add 4; reduce to one digit again, and a 5 becomes 2 (male) or 8 (female). Born before 4 February? Use the year before.
What is my best direction to sleep?
Your rest direction: the one the head of the bed points toward. It is east for kua 1, west for 2, north for 3, south for 4, north-east for 6, south-west for 7, north-west for 8 and south-east for 9.
Why is there no kua number 5?
In the traditional formula 5 has no direction of its own, so it is replaced: by 2 if recorded male and by 8 if recorded female. Both are West group numbers.
What does kua number 9 mean?
9 is an East group number. Its directions are east for work, south-east for rest, north for a shared bedroom and south for calm and study. It avoids north-east, west, south-west and north-west.
What does kua number 1 mean?
1 is an East group number. Its directions are south-east for work, east for rest, south for a shared bedroom and north for calm and study. It avoids west, north-east, north-west and south-west.
Why do kua calculators give different numbers?
Usually for one of three reasons: a January birthday counted in the calendar year, the lunar new year used instead of the solar one, or a two-digit shortcut for the 1900s used for a birthday from 2000 on.
Is my birthday saved?
No. The number is worked out on the page, and the page address never holds your birthday. Only a link you copy or share carries it, so it opens on your number.
Read next
- Home office desk setup
- Office and spare bedroom combos
- Small bedroom ideas
- Meditation room layouts
- Study desk decor
To draw your bedroom or your office with its furniture, to scale, use the free 2D planner.
The numbers, their groups and directions, and the 4 February start of the solar year come from Placechi’s feng shui engine, the layout engine of the Placechi room planner app, read October 17, 2026. The kua number is part of a centuries-old design tradition: layout suggestions, not predictions.