A fire stem at the front of Li, and the house that faces it
Many houses built to face the sun do not face Wu. A door turned a little east of south reads 160 or 165: a Bing facing, with the house sitting on Ren. The facing is what the door looks at: the street, the building across it, the open ground or slope.
As a seat, Bing is the reverse, a stone or house with its back to the south by east and its face to the north by west, used less, and only where the land in front asks for it. As an incoming dragon or a water mark, Bing is read like the others, by form first; its fire is noted, not acted on.
Supreme Subtlety and the six elegant mountains
Taiwei is the Supreme Subtlety enclosure, the asterism the old astronomers took for the imperial court: court, rank, government. On the luopan it is a common star, but Bing itself is one of the six elegant mountains, so a peak or dragon on Bing has standing of its own.
The school's habit on a Bing facing is to check the court star last: first whether the building or hill across the street is level-topped and in proportion, then whether the road runs past rather than straight in, and only then the star, the sky nodding to what the street already showed.
What this means on the ground
Stand inside the front door, back to the door, luopan level, and read outward three times with no steel near the dial. A figure from 157.5 to 172.5 is a Bing facing. For a grave, stand behind the stone and read its face.
Where the figure falls inside Bing matters more than on most mountains, because the north line at 157.5 is also the line between Xun and Li. A reading of 158 is riding two trigrams and two elements, and a master moves it. A reading of 171 leans on Wu, still Li, a mild lean. The clean figure is 165.
Common mistakes
Calling a Bing door a south door. It faces south by east, not south, and the mountain is Bing, not Wu, 15 degrees and a whole mountain away. Reading a Bing facing from a map or a listing plan, which gives true bearings and often a tidy 180 the door does not have. Measuring the front door from the living room or the back of the house.
Taking the name of the court star as a verdict on rank or career. And buying a Bing-facing house for the six elegant rank alone, without looking across the street. The rank belongs to the direction; the house is judged by what stands in front of it.
Questions people ask
What direction is Bing on a feng shui compass?
Bing is south by east, 157.5 to 172.5 degrees on the luopan with 165 in the middle. Si lies on its north side and Wu on its south. It is a fire stem, so it has no animal or hour.
Is a Bing-facing house good?
Sitting Ren facing Bing is a common pairing for a house turned a little east of south, and Bing is one of the six elegant mountains. Whether a particular house is good depends on what the door looks at and what the land behind it does.
What is the star on Bing mountain?
Taiwei, Supreme Subtlety, the court asterism, read in the Tianxing school as court, rank and government. It is a common star. It confirms a sound hill or building on Bing and says nothing about a bad one.
Buying a house that faces Bing? A site reading, or a bazi reading matched to the facing, is the place to start.