The Lo Shu square is the 3×3 magic square of Chinese tradition — said to have appeared on the shell of a divine turtle rising from the River Lo — in which every row, column, and diagonal sums to fifteen. In Xuan Kong (Flying Star) feng shui its nine cells become the nine palaces of a building: the eight compass directions and the centre. Nine stars, numbered 1 to 9 and each carrying its own element and temperament, "fly" through these palaces in a fixed path; every Chinese solar year a different star takes the centre, and the whole pattern of the year's luck rotates with it.

Trackers like this are called mundane because they read the fortunes of places rather than people: which sector of a home or office carries the year's wealth luck (the 8 White star), where study and romance are favoured (4 Green), and where caution is due — the illness star 2 Black, the quarrelsome 3 Jade, the robbery star 7 Red, and above all the 5 Yellow (Wu Wang), the misfortune star whose sector should stay quiet and undisturbed all year. The year's animal sign also fixes three afflicted directions: Tai Sui (the Grand Duke), Sui Po (the Year Breaker, opposite), and the San Sha (Three Killings) — classical feng shui avoids renovating or disturbing all three.

What this tracker shows

• The full Lo Shu square for any year from 1900 to 2099, in the classical South-on-top orientation
• Each sector's star, element, nature, and practical enhance-or-cure advice
• The year's Tai Sui, Sui Po, and San Sha directions with the traditional cautions
• The centre stars of the coming nine-year round

Remember that the annual chart changes at Li Chun (≈ 4 February), not on New Year's Day, and that in full practice the annual stars are read on top of a building's natal chart. Treat this as the year's feng shui weather report — and for how the year touches your own birth chart, consult a qualified astrologer.