The Eight Mansions School of fung shui places each individual according to their kua or trigram (from the I Ching, or Book of Changes) number into one of two groups: the east and the west. Calculations are derived from the person's year of birth and not month, day or hour. There is also some division based on one's gender but there are certain years when both men and women will have the same number and consequently be in the same group. Those belonging to the east group have the east, north, south and southeast as their best directions, while those from the west group should orient themselves towards the west, northwest, southwest or northeast whenever possible.
While this school of fung shui has its adherents, general perspective can be lost if one focuses on making use of preferable directions without taking into account the overall environment; for instance, it is pointless to face a beneficial direction at work if it means sitting with your back to the door. Similarly, if your head being in a favourable direction when you sleep means there is a toilet right behind you, the benefits of the orientation are negated.
Also, people in the east group should try to avoid living in the eastern or southern part of a country or city. There are more complex non-fung shui issues to take into account when determining where to live; fung shui is simply a portion of the entire picture.
