Complete Guide to Worshipping the Four Corners: Ritual Steps, Supplies, Auspicious Dates, and the Simplified Non-Burning Method for Moving into a New Home

Worshipping the four corners is a traditional folk worship ceremony. The "four corners" represent the four corners of a house, symbolizing the gates of heaven, earth, humanity, and the underworld. In traditional metaphysics, the center is the center of the house, so when paying respects to the four corners, the "center" must also be included, meaning a total of five directions must be worshipped.

Whether buying a new house, a second-hand house, or renting, there are three reasons for bowing to the four corners before moving in.

• Saying Hello

Traditional beliefs hold that every place has its own guardian spirits or lingering deities. Before moving in, people greet them by offering sacrifices, indicating that they are about to become the new homeowners and asking them to "move along peacefully" or coexist peacefully without disturbing them.

• Remove accumulated impurities

Houses that have been vacant for a period of time are prone to accumulating negative energy or bad magnetic fields. The process of offering incense and burning paper money in the four corners is, in folk customs, believed to have both practical and psychological significance in "using fire to drive away bad luck and purify the magnetic field."

• Praying for peace and safety in the home

By performing the four-corner worship ceremony, one prays for good health, smooth work, and abundant wealth for the whole family after moving in, and for no accidents to occur during the renovation and construction period.

Choosing an auspicious day and time for worshipping the four corners can be done by consulting the almanac or online almanac for that year. It's important to note that each day will specify auspicious and inauspicious activities. Generally speaking,Choose a day that is marked as suitable for "offering sacrifices", "praying for blessings", "moving", "moving into a new house", or "breaking ground".Avoid choosing days that are considered inauspicious for all activities, days that are considered unlucky for the year, days that are considered unlucky for the month, or days that are considered unlucky for the day.

Which days should be avoided?

Traditionally, it is not advisable to perform the Four Corners Worship on certain days, including the third month of the lunar calendar (around Qingming Festival), the seventh month of the lunar calendar (during the Hungry Ghost Festival), and the ninth month of the lunar calendar (around Double Ninth Festival).

What time should the prayer for the four corners be completed?

Because worshipping the four corners is meant to dispel negative energy and purify the magnetic field, it must be done when the "yang energy is at its strongest." The best time is to start before 12:00 noon and finish before 5:00 pm (before sunset).

Before the four corners of the house are built, is the move-in date determined?

Ideally, one should offer prayers before breaking ground and before moving in. However, due to practical considerations, such as tight move-in schedules, especially the need to finish renovations or handle furniture and appliance deliveries before moving in, offering prayers twice a year is not feasible. Therefore, the current practice is to offer prayers at the four corners after taking possession of the property and before renovations.

• Paper clothes and incense candles

Landlord's Clothing / Four-Corner Clothing: 5 pieces in total

Stream coins, gold and silver, and Guanyin robes (usually included in the "Worship the Four Corners" set).

Incense sticks: 21 sticks (9 in the center and 3 in each of the four corners)

Red candles: 5 pairs

• Food offerings

Fruit: 5

Raw fatty pork: 1 piece (divided into 1 large and 4 small pieces, can be cut by the butcher)

Raw tofu: 1 block (divided into 5 portions)

Raw sprouts and raw chives: 5 servings (a small amount of each)

Peanuts and candy: 5 servings (a small amount of each)

Baijiu or tea: approximately 500 ml

Mixed raw rice, coarse salt, and tea leaves: 1 cup

• Tool

Five paper plates or dishes (for placing offerings).

15 small paper cups

5 incense burners or alternatives (thick slices of radish or small paper cups filled with sand/rice can be used instead).

Treasure basin (available for purchase at paper money shops)

Lighter (for burning incense)

New broom, dustpan

The procedures and steps for worshipping the four corners can be roughly divided into placing offerings, lighting incense, making a report, walking the route, and burning offerings. The following will explain the process and steps of worshipping the four corners in detail.

Step 1: Preparation and placement of offerings

• Open all the windows and turn on the lights in the new house to let the air circulate and let the sunlight and light illuminate the whole house.

• Write the address of the new residence and the names of the residents on the "Great Explanation" on the "Noble Person's Note" within the "Four Corners".

• Divide the offerings—the landlord's robe/four-corner robe, incense burner, incense and candles, small paper cups filled with tea/wine (3 cups per person, just a little in each cup), and food offerings placed on paper plates—into 5 portions. Starting from the center, arrange them clockwise to the four corners of the room (place the large piece of pork in the center).

Step 2: Light the incense and candles

• First, light the incense and candles at the center of the offering area.

• Starting clockwise, place offerings in each of the four corners and light a pair of red candles in each corner.

Step 3: Worship and Report

• Holding the lit incense sticks, first bow three times towards the center of the hall, then insert the nine incense sticks.

• Then walk clockwise to the four corners, bow three times at each corner and insert three incense sticks.

• While offering incense, whisper: "Today, believer (your name) has come to our new home (new house address) to sincerely report to the local dragon god and the spirits of the five directions and five elements. We are about to move into our new home (or are about to begin renovations), and today we offer incense, candles, and other offerings. We pray that the spirits will bless us with safe travels, prosperity for our home, a smooth renovation project, and great fortune."

Step 4: Burn the clothes

• When the incense has burned down to about half its original size, grab the raw rice, coarse salt, and tea leaves with your hands and start scattering them from the center outwards to the four corners and along the walls.

• When about two-thirds of the incense has burned, start burning the four corner pieces in the center into the altar, and then burn the remaining four corner pieces clockwise.

• After the burning is finished, the tea or wine that was just offered can be poured around the entire pot of offerings (commonly known as "offering wine", symbolizing completeness).

Step 5: Clean up the site

• Wait until all the incense and candles have completely extinguished and the brazier has cooled down.

Using the newly bought broom and dustpan, sweep from the four corners of the house toward the center of the hall (representing "accumulating wealth"), and clean up the salt, rice, tea leaves, extinguished incense sticks, and offerings that were just scattered.

Because burning paper offerings is prohibited in some modern buildings/private buildings, a simplified version of the four-corner worship has emerged. The method is actually similar to the traditional method, which involves preparing five offerings, including incense and candles, raw fruit, fatty pork, raw tofu, raw sprouts, raw leeks, peanuts and candy, white wine or tea, and a cup of mixed raw rice, coarse salt and tea leaves.

Then, begin placing the offerings in the center of the room, proceeding clockwise, and sincerely present your prayers (the content of your prayers can be found above). If incense and candles cannot be lit, LED electronic incense can be used instead.

• Avoid wearing linen clothing and sexy outfits on the day of the prayer ceremony.

• The offerings made after worshipping the four corners can be collected and eaten, while the remaining incense and candles can be discarded after confirming that they have burned out completely.

• Do not blow out the incense and candles with your mouth; simply extinguish them with your hand.

• The worship of the four corners does not require the participation of the whole family. If the auspicious day clashes with the zodiac sign of a resident, other residents can perform the ceremony on their behalf.

• Pregnant women, menstruating women, older adults, and children should avoid attending the four-corner worship ceremony.

• When entering a house, do not speak carelessly, use foul language, or curse loudly.

• Do not step over the offerings during the worship ceremony.

• Before moving in, firewood, rice, oil, salt, soy sauce, vinegar, and tea are placed in the kitchen, symbolizing a prosperous and abundant family life.

• Boiling water and turning on a fan or air conditioner symbolize good fortune and prosperity.

• Avoid arguments on the day of moving in, as it symbolizes harmony and prosperity in the family.

• Use a new broom

Worshipping the Four Corners of the house is believed to bring divine protection and peace of mind to a new home; however, the most practical way to ensure home security is to purchase home insurance.

Currently, Home insurance can provide substantial financial compensation and legal protection against unexpected accidents such as typhoon-induced water leaks, fires, theft, or appliance damage. Combining traditional customs with home insurance is the most comprehensive and wise way to secure your home, ensuring a truly worry-free new life.