Note: The following are translations of traditional folk customs and symbolic Feng Shui practices. They are presented for cultural reference and do not guarantee financial results or replace practical financial planning.
Coin and red-envelope customs
1. Carry Five-Emperor or Ten-Emperor Coins
People who wish to strengthen their wealth luck may carry Five-Emperor Coins or Ten-Emperor Coins to symbolically improve their financial momentum. The coins may be strung together and worn at the waist, where they are traditionally believed to guard against misfortune and harm caused by petty people. When entering a place associated with mourning or an unclean environment, tradition says to flick the Five-Emperor Coins before entering, keep one foot outside the doorway, and silently say “remove.” After attending a funeral, the coins may be removed and passed three times around the incense burner at a Tiangong altar, or placed before the family shrine for forty-nine days.
2. Make a small red lucky pouch
Prepare a small lucky pouch, or a red pouch decorated with gold, and thread it with a red cord. Place five one-yuan coins inside, together with a piece of red paper bearing your name and birth date. At midnight, hang it above the doorway of the room you enter and leave each day. Traditional belief says that wealth luck will gradually approach.
3. Prepare a Bagua wealth pouch
Make a red cloth pouch and draw or attach a personal Bagua design to it. Place small amounts of five grains—soybeans, black beans, mung beans, red beans, and rice—inside, mix them with salt, and tie the pouch with red cord. During the Spring Festival, hang it at the doorway or in a place that welcomes the wind. The custom calls for replacing it once each year.
4. Wear a symbolic protective accessory
Traditional practice recommends choosing an accessory believed to harmonize with one’s own energy. A Dzi bead, crystal, or Bagua pendant may be worn to symbolize protection and support for wealth luck. A jade bangle is also traditionally associated with protection from petty people, financial leakage, and the strengthening of helpful-person luck.
5. Arrange coins on a round plate
Place five one-yuan coins in a circle on a round plate, then arrange ten ten-yuan coins in another circle around them. Mark the center with red cinnabar while silently thinking of your name and birth information, then call out, “May [your name] become prosperous.” Place the plate near a sunny window or on a balcony. Cover it with red cloth at night and expose it to moonlight on the first and fifteenth days of each lunar month.
6. Keep a red envelope in your wallet
Place several small coins in a red envelope and carry it in a wallet or pocket. Prepare another red envelope containing a piece of red tissue paper. Write the character meaning “full” on yellow paper, wrap it with the tissue, place it in the envelope, and keep it beneath a pillow or mattress. Folk tradition says this symbolizes gradually increasing wealth.
Home and workplace arrangements
7. Arrange the north area for career luck
For those seeking a promotion, salary increase, business opportunity, or unexpected wealth, tradition suggests attaching a sheet of gold paper to the north wall of the home and writing the character for “wealth” on it. Place a red mat beneath the bed, arrange five white crystals in the north, and put a red rug near the entrance. Beneath the rug, place a red envelope containing a new banknote, an old copper coin, a little tea, and a little rice.
8. Use plants and a coin plate
Another custom is to place auspicious plants around the home or office. At the indoor wealth position, set out a round plate containing ninety-nine coins. It is traditionally believed that these arrangements help gather wealth energy, encourage smoother luck, and symbolically transform an unfavorable environment.
9. Enter a temple from the right
When luck feels unfavorable, one folk custom is to visit a temple. Facing the temple, enter from the doorway on the right and leave through the doorway on the left. This is called “entering the dragon gate and leaving the tiger’s mouth.”
10. Pray for blessings and fortune
Praying to Buddhas or Bodhisattvas for blessings is another traditional way of seeking better fortune. One custom says that the twenty-eighth day of the last lunar month is an auspicious time to “borrow treasure.” Fruit, red-date cake, and other offerings may be prepared and taken to a temple to pray for blessings and smoother fortune in the coming year.
11. Display traditional wealth symbols
A three-legged money toad or a treasure bowl may be placed at the wealth position in the home. A picture of the Wealth-Attempting Child or Liu Hai playing with the golden toad may also be hung on a wall. These are traditional symbols used to invite prosperity and encourage the long-term gathering of wealth.
12. Fold a red-envelope wealth boat
Prepare a red envelope and write four characters meaning “bring wealth to me.” Fold the envelope into a paper boat and name it either “Blessings Arrive at the Door” or “A Full Load of Wealth.” Keep it beneath the pillow, then burn it on a day when the family makes offerings. Tradition says the act symbolizes wealth arriving in abundance.
Water, crystal, and wishing practices
13. Freeze nine coins in water
Place nine coins and a sheet of paper bearing your birth information into a bowl filled with water, then freeze it into a block of ice. On a sunny day, allow the ice to melt outdoors and sprinkle the water around the four sides of the home. Dry the coins, place them in a red envelope, and carry them in a pocket or wallet as a symbol of bright wealth.
14. Make a crystal water basin
Prepare a new round ceramic basin. Place one crystal in the center and arrange twenty-one coins around it. Pour in a mixture of hot and cold water, traditionally called yin-yang water, and place the basin diagonally across from the home’s entrance. This arrangement is traditionally associated with inviting unexpected wealth luck.
15. Create a personal wealth box
Prepare a small lidded wooden box or carton. Attach a round piece of red paper to the lid and write your name followed by “wealth mother box,” a traditional term for a treasure-gathering box. Keep the box in a hidden place beneath the bed. Each day after returning home, place loose change from your wallet or bag into the box while silently thinking that your wealth has returned to its proper place. The custom is observed for forty-nine days.
16. Prepare a clear coin bottle
Fill a clean, transparent bottle about seventy to eighty percent full with yin-yang water—a mixture of half natural water and half boiled water. Add ten matching coins and leave the bottle outside overnight. Bring it into the home the next day and sincerely make a symbolic invitation for wealth to flow in.
17. Make a wish with a coin
Hold a coin in your hand and make one wish on an auspicious day listed in the traditional almanac. Throw the coin behind you into a pool or the sea, then leave happily without turning back to see where it landed. Folk belief says that a sincere wish may gradually be realized.
18. Collect sun-and-moon water
Place an empty bowl on a rooftop or balcony for at least seven days. If it collects rainwater—not tap water—bring it inside and place it beside a window reached by moonlight, avoiding direct sunlight. After another seven days, transfer the remaining water into a small bottle and carry it with you, or keep it in a wallet or red envelope. This practice is traditionally associated with improving unexpected wealth luck.
19. Place crystals at the office wealth position
Place five crystals of different colors—white, blue, black, red, and yellow—at the wealth position in an office to symbolize helpful-person luck, career advancement, and better pay. If concentration is difficult or gossip is common, place two rounded ceramic bottles beside the bed. Beneath each bottle, put a red envelope containing a little rice, tea, a new banknote, and banyan leaves.
Seasonal and devotional customs
20. Make a red paper wealth boat
Fold a sheet of red paper into a sailboat. Put clean sea sand into a bowl of water, recite a traditional light or Wealth God mantra forty-nine times, and sprinkle a little of the water onto the boat with a sword-finger gesture. Visualize a Wealth God bringing treasure into the home, then write “wealth arrives” on the boat. After repeating the practice for forty-nine days, place the boat facing inward in the home safe with a stack of paper money beneath it.
21. Prepare a New Year rice jar
At the beginning of the lunar year, prepare a small rice jar or ceramic pot. Place rice at the bottom, wrap red cord around the middle, and place rice cake on top. Attach two red strips bearing the characters for “blessing” and “wealth,” then put the jar in a corner of the kitchen. This custom symbolizes peace, smooth work, and steady wealth luck throughout the year.
22. Arrange a dragon-eye coin plate
Place five old copper coins in a circle on a shallow round plate. Arrange another twelve coins in an outer circle, face upward, then place two longan seeds at the center as the dragon’s golden eyes. Keep the plate where it can receive sunlight. On the fifteenth day of each lunar month, let it absorb moonlight as well. Continue for three months as a traditional symbol of gathering treasure.
23. Keep symbolic “wealth-mother” coins
On an auspicious day, prepare several small-denomination coins. Hide them in important corners or drawers around the home, or attach one beneath a cash register or telephone. These coins are traditionally called the “mother of wealth.” Keep them clean and bright, periodically expose them to sunlight, and visualize money gathering around them.
24. Place new banknotes in a red pouch
Place three new banknotes—traditionally in denominations of one hundred, five hundred, and one thousand—inside a red paper pouch. Write four characters meaning “may wealth flow continuously” on the outside. On an auspicious day during the lunar new year, or on the Wealth God’s birthday, place the pouch beneath incense at the family shrine. The custom is observed for forty-nine days as a symbolic invitation for stronger wealth luck.
Common questions about these traditions
Do these Feng Shui methods guarantee wealth?
No. They are traditional symbolic customs and do not guarantee financial results. Practical budgeting, saving, and informed decisions remain essential.
Must every method be practiced together?
No. In folk tradition, people usually choose one practice that suits their beliefs, space, and circumstances.
Why are red envelopes and coins used so often?
In Chinese tradition, red is associated with auspicious energy, while coins symbolize prosperity, circulation, and the gathering of resources.
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