Building-age & house direction check
Enter your lunar birth year to see whether a year is affected by Kim Lâu, Hoang Ốc or Tam Tai, which years are good to break ground, and the house directions that suit you (Eight Mansions / Bát trạch).
Found a good year? Start with the right design.
HICONIQUE × PQT advises on layout, orientation and placing the main door, kitchen and altar to suit the owner — and delivers design-and-build turnkey.
Checking your age before building: Kim Lâu, Hoang Ốc, Tam Tai and Eight Mansions
What does “checking the age to build a house” involve?
By Vietnamese custom, before construction starts the owner’s age in the planned year is checked against three rules: Kim Lâu, Hoang Ốc and Tam Tai. A year free of all three is considered good. The age used is the lunar age (tuổi mụ) = build year − birth year + 1.
What is Kim Lâu?
Divide the lunar age by 9: remainder 1 is Kim Lâu Thân (harm to oneself), 3 Kim Lâu Thê (to the spouse), 6 Kim Lâu Tử (to the children), 8 Kim Lâu Lục Súc (to livestock / livelihood). Example: lunar age 37 → 37 mod 9 = 1 → Kim Lâu Thân.
What is Hoang Ốc?
Hoang Ốc maps age onto a cycle of six palaces: Nhất Cát, Nhì Nghi, Tam Địa Sát, Tứ Tấn Tài, Ngũ Thọ Tử, Lục Hoang Ốc. Age 10 starts at Nhất Cát, 20 at Nhì Nghi, 30 Tam Địa Sát, 40 Tứ Tấn Tài, 50 Ngũ Thọ Tử, 60 Lục Hoang Ốc, 70 back to Nhất Cát; each extra year moves one palace on. Tam Địa Sát, Ngũ Thọ Tử and Lục Hoang Ốc are unfavourable.
What is Tam Tai?
Tam Tai is a run of three unlucky years, by the triad of your birth-year branch: Thân–Tý–Thìn meet Dần, Mão, Thìn years; Dần–Ngọ–Tuất meet Thân, Dậu, Tuất; Hợi–Mão–Mùi meet Tỵ, Ngọ, Mùi; Tỵ–Dậu–Sửu meet Hợi, Tý, Sửu. 2026 is Bính Ngọ, so Hợi, Mão and Mùi people are in Tam Tai.
Can I still build in a bad year? What is “borrowing an age”?
Traditionally the owner borrows the age of a male relative or close acquaintance whose age is good that year; he performs the ground-breaking, foundation and roofing ceremonies while the owner stays away, then the house is symbolically “bought back”. It is a spiritual ritual — keep it simple and inexpensive.
How is the life palace (Eight Mansions) calculated?
Add the digits of the lunar birth year until one digit remains (x). Male: 11 − x; female: 4 + x (reduce again if above 9). Numbers map to palaces: 1 Khảm, 2 Khôn, 3 Chấn, 4 Tốn, 6 Càn, 7 Đoài, 8 Cấn, 9 Ly; a 5 becomes Khôn for men and Cấn for women. This matches the familiar last-two-digits method (male 10 − y before 2000, 9 − y from 2000; female 5 + y before 2000, 6 + y from 2000). Khảm, Ly, Chấn, Tốn form the East group; Càn, Khôn, Cấn, Đoài the West group.
What do the four good and four bad directions mean?
Good: Sinh Khí (prosperity), Thiên Y (health), Diên Niên (harmony, longevity), Phục Vị (stability). Bad: Tuyệt Mệnh, Ngũ Quỷ, Lục Sát, Họa Hại. The main door, stove, altar and bed head are ideally turned towards good directions; when the plot does not allow it, an architect can angle the door and arrange the lobby and interior to balance it.
Should I rely on this entirely?
Age checking is a cultural practice that gives peace of mind. A good home first needs a design that fits your needs, a safe structure, good ventilation and daylight, and a realistic budget. Use these results as a reference while planning.