# Early Heaven and Later Heaven bagua (先天八卦 · 后天八卦)

> Early Heaven and Later Heaven are two arrangements of the eight trigrams around a circle. Early Heaven (Fu Xi) places Qian in the south and Kun in the north, describing the balance of heaven and earth; Later Heaven (King Wen) places Li in the south and Kan in the north and is used for directions and change.

- Vietnamese: Tiên Thiên và Hậu Thiên bát quái
- English: Early Heaven and Later Heaven bagua
- Chinese: 先天八卦与后天八卦
- Chinese characters: 先天八卦 · 后天八卦
- Also called: Tiên Thiên / Hậu Thiên bát quái · Fu Xi bagua · King Wen bagua

## Explanation

The Shuo Gua commentary of the I Ching describes Early Heaven as "Heaven and earth set their places, mountain and lake exchange their breath, thunder and wind stir each other, water and fire do not oppose" — each pair of trigrams faces across the centre. Later Heaven begins "the Lord comes forth in Zhen": energy rises in the east and travels through the four seasons.

Home feng shui uses Later Heaven to assign trigrams to the eight directions; Early Heaven appears in some water methods and trigram pairings.

Classical source: I Ching — Discussion of the Trigrams (Shuo Gua)

## How Home Check uses it

The nine-palace grid and bagua ring on Home Check plans follow Later Heaven, with north at the top like a map. — [Feng shui check & fix](https://myhomecheck.ai/feng-shui)

## Related terms

- [Bagua](https://myhomecheck.ai/learn/glossary/bagua): The bagua are the eight three-line trigrams of the I Ching: Qian, Kan, Gen, Zhen, Xun, Li, Kun and Dui.
- [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.
- [Center palace](https://myhomecheck.ai/learn/glossary/center-palace): 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.

## Questions

### Should a home use Early Heaven or Later Heaven?

To assign a direction to each room, home feng shui uses Later Heaven. Early Heaven still appears in some calculations, but not to divide a house into eight sectors.

### Why do old books draw south at the top?

Traditionally the reader faces south, so south is drawn at the top. Home Check draws north at the top to match maps and architectural plans; the trigrams stay in the same places.

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Original page: https://myhomecheck.ai/learn/glossary/early-and-later-heaven-bagua  
Other languages: [Tiếng Việt](https://myhomecheck.ai/vi/tri-thuc/thuat-ngu/tien-thien-hau-thien/index.md) · [中文](https://myhomecheck.ai/zh/learn/glossary/early-and-later-heaven-bagua/index.md)  
Updated: 2026-10-21