Xùn

The southeast belongs to Xun (巽), number 4 in the count. In 陽宅十書 the trigrams 震 and 巽 are wood, while 乾 and 兌 are metal. Its three points on the compass ring of the imperial almanac 協紀辨方書 are 辰, 巽 and 巳.

Xun counts among the East Four, a group the book sets against the four western palaces. Its verse, 巽天五六禍生絕延, read around the ring of palaces as we do, sends 生氣 to 坎, 延年 to 震 and 天乙 to 離, all inside its own group. The four unfavorable names in the verse, 五鬼, 六煞, 禍害 and 絕命, land on 坤, 兌, 乾 and 艮, every one a western palace.

A man's count begins at Xun at the start of the middle span of the cycle: the 甲子 that opens the 中元 puts him at 4, and the number falls from there. By the rule, men born in 1987, 1996 and 2005 get Xun. Women get it in 1989, 1998 and 2007, since a woman's number climbs by one each year.