The Dui trigram, also written as “Tui” is associated with the Metal element and the direction of West.  From the I-Ching Oracle, the Dui trigram is pictured as a marsh or shallow lake. People who are labeled the Dui trigram, based on their birth year, will find the direction of West to be a tranquil direction, and the most restful direction for sleeping. Whenever a best personal sleeping direction is described, it is referring to the head direction when laying down. Sometimes this is called the pillow direction or the headboard direction, just to clarify that it is not the direction the feet point to when laying flat.

The symbolism behind all trigrams is profound, but when isolated to describe it in personal attributes, Dui people can be vulnerable to problems with the mouth, teeth, jaw, chest or breasts. This could also extend to the gums or lips. This does not mean that Dui people will conclusively have health issues in these areas, nor does it mean they will not have health issues in other areas. But there is a tendency for those areas to be weaker. And when someone’s house indicates Dui-related problems, then the chances of course go up.

The image of Dui from the Yi Jing is of a marsh or lake. And because Dui is related to the mouth, Dui people can sometimes have the gift of gab, charming voices, or find themselves in careers where their voice is prominent such as singers or radio personalities or salesman.

The Dui person’s personal wealth direction is the Northwest. The influences of the eight basic directions on each person has been partially determined by the Ba Zhai School of Feng Shui. This is just one of several systems used to personalize space. There are two forms of Chinese astrology, Ba Zi and Zi Wei Dou Shu which are even more specific. The Dui person can strive for a Northwest entrance or sit facing northwest while working at a desk.

A secondary wealth-luck direction for the Dui trigram person is Southwest. Each of the eight directions has a 45 degrees span. This can be verified using a compass. If you want to try your own hand at taking a compass reading, it should be done outside since interiors and metal infrastructure can disturb a magnetic compass. Compass Apps are not any more reliable than an old-fashioned compass and the Apps have to be calibrated to show magnetic north instead of True North.

For a Dui trigram person, the direction of northeast is recommended as a good sleeping direction when recuperating from illness and it is the ideal sleeping direction for someone over sixty years of age. This is because the direction is considered not as “yin” as the “Fu Bi” direction, which is West for the Dui person. This means it is not TOO restful which could drag down the overall energy level of an older person.

The eight trigrams repeat perpetually every nine years. Those born in 1948, 1957, 1966, 1975, 1984, 1993, etc. are the Dui trigram. The Feng Shui Solar calendar begins on February 4th or 5th, not on January 1st.

This means that those born in January or the first few days of February would be considered one year older. As well, there are different schools adhering to different guidelines for whether or not to give females a different trigram than males born in the same year. Most Eight Mansion-Ba Zhai practitioners will follow the conventional method and this relegates a different personal trigram to females. However, the origins of Feng Shui indicate that initially the personal trigram was the same for both sexes. This means that the years listed above would apply to both men and women.

One should not cling too tightly to the attributes of the singular trigram associated with year of birth. For example, when a person’s physical or mental health is off, they could manifest or demonstrate the health issues and personality traits of the trigram that is its polar opposite. For Dui people, the opposing trigram is Zhen, associated with East. East is associated with the feet, throat, nervous system and liver.

Author: Kartar Diamond
Company: Feng Shui Solutions (R) Since 1992
From the Health & Personal Matters Blog Series