# Center palace (中宫)

> The center palace is the middle square of the nine palaces, around the centre of the house; in the Lo Shu it holds the number 5 and the Earth element. It connects every direction, so feng shui wants it open, clean and stable.

- Vietnamese: Trung cung
- English: Center palace
- Chinese: 中宫
- Chinese characters: 中宫
- Also called: Trung cung · Centre of the house

## Explanation

Belonging to no direction, the center palace has no trigram. Many schools advise against placing a WC, a kitchen or a heavy closed block there, and prefer shared space or a light well.

Its position depends on the centre found when setting polarity, so an L-shaped house has a center palace that is off the middle of the plot.

## How Home Check uses it

When setting polarity, Home Check finds the centre and center palace from the true shape of the plan, then checks what sits there. — [Feng shui check & fix](https://myhomecheck.ai/feng-shui)

## Related terms

- [Nine palaces (Lo Shu)](https://myhomecheck.ai/learn/glossary/nine-palaces-lo-shu): The nine palaces are a 3×3 grid that divides a plan into eight palaces around a centre palace.
- [Set polarity](https://myhomecheck.ai/learn/glossary/set-polarity): Setting polarity means finding the centre of a house on its floor plan and placing the compass there, turned to the measured facing degree.
- [Light well](https://myhomecheck.ai/learn/glossary/light-well): A light well is a vertical void open to the sky that brings light and air into the middle of a house.

## Questions

### Is a staircase in the center palace a problem?

It depends on the school and the stair. An open staircase is generally accepted; a heavy enclosed block, such as a lift with solid walls, is something many masters advise against. Ask a master to look at the plan after setting polarity.

### Is the center palace the middle of the plot?

Not necessarily. It follows the centre of the house, not of the land; a house built off-centre or with a missing corner shifts it too.

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Original page: https://myhomecheck.ai/learn/glossary/center-palace  
Other languages: [Tiếng Việt](https://myhomecheck.ai/vi/tri-thuc/thuat-ngu/trung-cung/index.md) · [中文](https://myhomecheck.ai/zh/learn/glossary/center-palace/index.md)  
Updated: 2026-10-21