Integration of the feng-shui stories

The mathematical demonstration of the Yellow River Chart and the Luo River Chart

The ancient feng-shui theory gave rise to the mystery of “The Book of Chnages”, and some ideas derived from the development of the theory of changes were added to the feng-shui theory. The Yellow River Chart and the Luo River Chart were channels in which the theory of changes became integrated into feng-shui. A legend goes that when the Yellow Emperor was holding a sacrificial ceremony by the Luo River, a giant tortoise came out of the water and carved on its back was a mysterious chart composed of many dot and circles. The Yellow River Chart is composed of a set dots numbering from 1 to 10, and the white dots stand for odd numbers while the black dots for even numbers. The placement of the dots corresponds to the five positions of the east, the west, the south, the north and the center. The Luo River Chart is composed of 45 black and white dots, and the white dots stand for odd number while the black dots for even numbers. If the dots are converted into members, they will be put in order from 1 to 9; therefore the Luo River Chart is also called “the picture of 9 numbers”. The sums in each of the three rows, the three columns and the two diagonals are all 15. Researchers have put forward many different interpretations of the Yellow River Chart and the Luo River Chart, but it is widely accepted that the two mysterious charts were used to explain the origin of the Eight Trigrams and the theory of changes with pictures of numbers. Therefore, they collectively constitute “the mathematical demonstration of the Yellow River Chart and the Luo River Chart.” The Yellow River Chart and the Luo River Chart are related to feng-shui in that they exerted considerable influences on house design and construction of the ancient people.

Yin and yang

In addition, the systematic theory of feng-shui was built upon the fusion of the theories of yin and yang and the Five Elements with the system of the Eight Trigrams. The concepts of yin and yang originated from the phenomenon that an object can be facing the sun (yáng) or hiding in the shadow (yīn). They developed into the basic way for the ancient people to understand the world due to their primitive worship of the sun. the two opposite concepts of yang and yin were extended to cover the dichotomies of days and nights in time, ups and downs in position, sky and land in geography, men and women in sex, life and death in moral existence, white and black in color, odds and evens in numbers, and hot and cold in climate. Everything is the world is composed of yin and yang which are opposed to each other but can change into each other under certain conditions. Laozi (circa the 6th century BC the founder of Taoism) established yin and yang as a philosophical principle. Everything in the world comes from a kind of musicale and almost imperceptible material called “qi”. Everything in the world comes into existence and undergoes changes when its “qi”, originally in a state of chaos, is separated into two violently interacting elements of yin and yang. Yang-qi is the heaven and yin-qi is the earth and the two complement and benefit each other, leading to the alternating nature of the 64 Hexagrams. This theory had great influence of the development of feng-shui.

Five Elements

As old as the concept of yin and yang, the concept of the Five Elements might have originated from the primitive people’s worship of the number five and later developed into the method of analyzing the material composition of everything on earth. The key point is that the whole world is composed of Five Elements, namely metal, wood, water, fire and earth, while all the phenomena in the human society can be summarized with the features of the Five Elements. The Five Elements have mutually beneficial and prohibitive effects. The whole system is used to explain the generation and evolution of the natural world and the human society. The Five Elements are interdependent upon one another and have a generating circle and an overcoming circle. This theory is very close to the concept of yin and yang and helps to explain the cosmos with the perpetual circle of mutual generation and transformation of yin-qi and yang-qi. Meanwhile, the Five Elements are more concrete than the invisible and imperceptible yin and yang. In their development, the theory of yin and yang and the theory of Five Elements gradually combined into one. Eventually a complete philosophical system of yin and yang and the Five Elements took shape after two separate theories were integrated into one by Zou Yan (circa the 3rd century BC), a great scholar in the Warring States Period.

Locating houses with feng-shui

In Chinese history, the house-locating in the time of the Three Legendary Dynasties (circa 22th century BC to the 3rd century BC) depended on experience, tools and divination. The house-locating augury was characterized by the variety of its objects and the universality of its interpretation, but it could not meet all the specific needs arising from the development of house locating and house construction. In the Warring States Period (476-221BC), it developed into the astrological house-locating based on observing the celestial entities and choosing lucky days for major events. It aims at choosing the site of the house and predicting good or evil omens by observing astrological phenomena and picking up the lucky days and time. In the Qin Dynasty, the method of observing the geographical phenomena appeared as a natural counterpart of observing the astrological phenomena, and the geographical house-locating with feng-shui implications began to take a dominant role. Actually, the tendency of feng-shui’s development was from common sense to superstition and from a technique to witchcraft. In the Han Dynasty (206 BC-AD220), “kanyu” emerged. “Kan” is the heavenly principle and “yu” the earthly principle; therefore, “kanyu” means “Tao of Heaven and Earth”. In the perspective of the historical development of feng-shui, it is generally accepted that the appearance of “kanyu” marks the transition of feng-shui from house-locating to a mystical art.

Deduction of mystic parameters: divination and symbolization

The examples of house-locating through “kanyu” can be found in “A Discussion on the Balance” by Wang Chong (circa 27-97): “if a house is built in the position of ‘zi’(the 1st of the 12 Earthy Branches), then the position of ‘wu’(the 7th of the 12 Earthy Branches) will be unlucky. Therefore, nothing should be built there”. It means that if the planet of Jupiter is in the north of the sky and at the same time a house us built in the north of the ground, then the south which is opposite to the north is not suitable for construction. Otherwise, “zi” and “wu” will be offensive to each other and unlucky incidents will be doomed to occur. The feng-shui masters call such unwanted situation a “bad luck situation”, which should always be avoided. We can see that the most distinct feature of “kanyu” is a combination of both astrological and geographical considerations in house-locating. With the help of such parameters as topographical conditions, directions and orientations, and by observing the changes of constellations and hours, the feng-shui masters can predict whether the construction will bring about good or bad luck. There are four basic features of “kanyu”. First of all, the deduction of mystic parameters is frequently applied, replacing the role of common sense. Secondly, the focus is shifted from choosing a suitable residence to improving the well-being of the people. Thirdly, the arbitrary use of technical terms and symbols adds a mysterious flavor to the previously common-sense experience of house-locating. Fourthly, there is the combination of all kinds of mystic parameters.

feng-shui in “The Book of Changes”: communication between human beings and nature

The orthodox feng-shui is based on the cosmic view as related cultural phenomena. The central idea is that human beings and the nature are of the same origin, since humans and all the other things on earth come from the same source (the movements and changes of yin and yang and the Five Elements). The natural world consists of both the external side (the environment) and the internal side of human beings (the compassion between the fellow members of the society). Therefore, the essence of feng-shui can be summed up as the interaction between human beings and the nature. The residential environment must be carefully chosen and managed, so that people can observe and follow the movements and changes of yin and yang and the Five Elements and achieve harmony between human beings and the nature. In this way, happiness and blessings can be obtained, disasters and misfortunes can be avoided, and human being can live as long as Heaven and Earth can allow. All in all, the purpose of practicing feng-shui is to improve the communication between the human beings and nature.