Ground-breaking ceremonies
When building a house, people often hire a feng-shui master (also called a Mr. Yin and Yang) to observe the foundation, detremine the directions and the central point of the house with the help of a feng-shui Compass, and finally hold the ground-breaking ceremony. In the ceremony, people often set off firecrackers, burn paper money, scatter cinnabar, insert peach wood charms and so on, in order to guide qi to the site of the house. Before starting the construction, people should offer fruits and incenses to the God of the Land in order to beg his pardon for digging the ground and ask for their blessings.
After the sacrifice, one person leads the way with a burning joss stick in hand, and another person (usually a senior citizen with great virtue and high prestige) digs a little soil with a hoe. Then all the craftsmen burry to start the work, such as digging trenches, laying stones, ramming earth, and setting the foundation of the house. At the same time, one person leads a chorus, and the other workers echo the song which is filled with auspicious words. A more orthodox ground-breaking ceremony is to be held at the “center” of the house, which is carefully measured by feng-shui divinations. People should set up a tall pole on which a long piece of red cloth is tied; near the pole there is a ploughshare to be used to dig into the soil when the construction begins on a lucky day.