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I had the good fortune of meeting Prof Wang Qi-Heng 王其亨 in his home three days ago before we flew out of Beijing to Berlin. Prof. Wang is a famous teacher from Tianjin University specialized in researching and teaching the history and philosophy of traditional Chinese architecture. He part wrote and edited one of the best source book on Feng Shui in Chinese called “Research into the Theories of Feng Shui” 風水理論研究, published by the Tianjin University Press (see book cover below). His university department is also responsible for many of the conservation planning around the major historical sites like the Forbidden City and the Ming and Qing Tombs.
During our three-hours meeting I asked him many questions on Feng Shui and architecture, especially about the Qing and the Ming dynasties of which he is an expert. The most memorable one for me was about Yinzhai Feng Shui and my question was, “Do you really think intelligent and capable rulers like the Qing Emperor Qianlong 乾隆皇帝 (1711-1799), would believe that if they bury their ancestors in the best Feng Shui spot, their family would rule forever?” He laughed and replied, “Of course not!”
Then he went on to say that if we research into the historical court documents like he did, then the imperial burial sites were chosen not for selfish gains or un-realistic expectations, but they are in fact imperial site selections and architecture with a strong sense of commemoration in memory of their ancestors, as required by the Confucian Rites.
He followed up by showing me an example in the commemorative tablet erected in the Qing Yu Ling 清裕陵 (Emperor Qianlong’s burial site), where these words were carved in stone:
聖水深巖
Sacred-waters and deep ravines,
靈山翠微
Spirit-mountains and shady retreats,
億年安宅
(We) set down a dwelling for a hundred million years,
築我丕基
(and continue to) build our great foundations.
There was nothing said about tapping into the right kind of earth energy to make the descendants more powerful, richer and happier. It is done to remain them of their heritage and responsibility as a ruler.
Some people actually blamed the Feng Shui of Qianlong’s tomb for the decline of the Qing Dynasty because although he was buried in a Meridian Spot, he choose to face a “Death and Empty Line”, so while his descendants continued to rule another 112 years, they were very mediocre and downright incompetent or died young. It is grossly unfair and downright superstitious to blame Feng Shui and Qianlong on the natural rise and decline of a dynasty and misunderstood the real purpose of Yinzhai Feng Shui.
When I pressed the point, Prof. Wang also pointed out in the official documents, no Feixing calculations were mentioned, the imperial Feng Shui experts selected the sites for burial mainly based on Xingshi 形勢 considerations.
Prof. Wang said the real purpose of a grave or a Mu 墓 is to have a place to admire (pay homage) the ancestors and the character to admire (mu 慕) has the same sound as for a grave although it is written in a different way and this was pointed out by Liu Xi 劉熙 of Eastern Han (25-220AD) in his book “Explaining the Terms and the Burial Rites” 釋名。釋喪制:
墓， 慕也；孝子思慕之處也。
“A grave (has) the same (sound) as to admire, it is a place where a filial son can admire and remember (the dead).”
Prof. Wang said at the same time to bury is to hide from the wind (葬，藏也), to avoid attack by the ants and the worms and flooding by water, rotting the corpse.
Finally he said there is an educated understanding of Feng Shui and an un-educated one (Prof. Wang Yude 王玉德 used the terms “academic” and “folk” Feng Shui to say the same thing), to think that burial in a good Feng Shui spot will bring selfish gains to the descendants is to misunderstand the cultivated way of behaviour in a traditional Chinese society.
Confucian filial piety required a gentleman 君子 to find a good Feng Shui spot to bury, to remember and to pay homage to the dead and not to expect anything in return. Prof. Wang Qi-Heng said this is the real purpose of Yinzhai Feng Shui.
These are my Polish students (with Lidia Sarek, my organizer, first on the left) who are willing to sit for the final examination and submit two case study assignments for marking to get their Certificate of Completion to become a qualified consultant recognized by our school.
I have been teaching for nearly 20 years now, both in Australian and Europe and less than 20 students met the standards required so far, so good luck to these brave ones, who worked very hard in the last couple of years to fully complete the Professional Practitioners course.
Traditional Chinese culture has a different way of thinking and naming things. Trying to put Chinese studies into a western pigeonhole is always fraught with problems. Below is a question by Alexey and my reply that illustrated the difficulty.
Dear Howard.
Recently with some colleagues we had a discussion on the term “Chinese Metaphysics”.
The base of the discussion was the formula
形而上者謂之道，形而下者謂之器
Here, 形而上 (形而上學) corresponds with dao, shen 神 and metaphysics. While 形而下 corresponds to qi 器. In Chinese sciences we study more qi than shen, so we are more to 形而下 rather than 形而上, so “metaphysics” seems to be an improper term.
What do you think on that?
Best regards,
Alexey
Hi Alexey,
Aristotle made the distinction between physics and metaphysics and we tried to find the Chinese equivalent in the Chinese sciences, which is never an easy task, because even in a binary relationship of this kind, between the Way (Dao 道) and the Vessel (Qi 器) (with the Way being prior in time and without substance and the Vessel being subsequent in time and has substance), it has a common base in the Form (Xing 形) and cannot be separated as two distinct entities.
Zhang Dai-Nian noted that Wang-Zhi did not accept that the metaphysical and physical are related as above and below form as quoted in the Great Commentary, but he affirmed that form is the basis of what is above form and the metaphysical is not prior to form but an expression of form.
Zhang also noted that Dai Zhen accepted that there is a distinction between what is above and what is below form. That the Qi of Yin and Yang that has not yet become things is the formless, and that is above form and not below it.
So the discussions that you are having with some of your colleagues are also reflected in the history of Chinese philosophy and the discussions that went on between the scholars over time.
My take is that since in the Chinese sciences, we study the form and what is above and what is below all at the same time with varying degrees of mix (not always more qi than shen), so if we have to use the Aristotelian terms, then they are both physics AND metaphysics; I agree with you in the sense that to say it is only “metaphysics” would negate the physical observation of forms in the practice of the Chinese sciences. For example: in the practice of Xiang Shu 相術 (the art of observation) where Feng Shui is one of the methods, it requires us to see the “qi/vessel”in and below the form as well as to contemplate the “shen/spirit”outside and above the form.
Regards,
Howard
The way we relate to the Chinese arts is the same in the way we relate to the Chinese sciences mentioned earlier, Bada Shanren’s paintings below show when a painting has both vessel and spirit in the form, then it becomes a work of art and not just an ordinary painting any more. His work transcends space and time because it is not only physically beautiful but metaphysically enlightening and that is what a traditional gentleman/scholar would tried to achieve – to be practical and transcendental at the same time.
We use the term “Qi” or “Chi” all the time in Feng Shui but it is a term difficult to define. I am reading “The Key Concepts in Chinese Philosophy” by Zhang Dai-Nian (1909-2004) at the moment and the translator, Edmund Ryden does a very good job in summarizing the essential meaning of Qi even though it might have changed over time in Chinese history:
Perhaps the best translation of the Chinese word qi is provided by Einstein’s equation, e=mc2. According to this equation matter and energy are convertible. In places the material element may be to the fore, in others, what we term energy. Qi embraces both. The philosophical use of the term derives from its popular use but is nonetheless distinct. In popular parlance qi is applied to the air we breathe, steam, smoke, and all gaseous substances. The philosophical use of the term underlines the movement of qi. Qi is both what really exists and what has the ability to become. To stress one at the expense of the other would be to misunderstand qi. Qi is the life principle but is also the stuff of inanimate objects. As a philosophical category, qi originally referred to the existence of whatever is of a nature to change. This meaning is then expanded to encompass all phenomena, both physical and spiritual. It is energy that has the capacity to become material object while remaining what it is. It thus combines “potentiality” with “matter”. To understand it solely as “potentiality” would be wrong, just as it cannot be translated simply as “matter”.
So Qi is both matter and energy; it is the seen and the unseen, the form and the formless, the manifested and the un-manifested, the tangible and the intangible, etc. From what we can see, we can contemplate what we cannot see, from we can cannot see, we can also contemplate its potential manifestations.
But unlike Einstein’s’ equation, there is no one fixed and measurable constant we can rely on, instead we make up correlations to investigate the relationship between the two Yin and Yang aspects of the same Qi and the answers are often, depending on the circumstance, more than just one predictable result, which Science demands and is not possible with correlative thinking.
The Chinese made the assumption that everything has Qi and everything that has Qi has Yin and Yang as well. If there is one predictable outcome then there is also many un-predictable counterparts running side by side, so if Science can give us a predictable answer, then Non-Science like Art, its complementary opposite, will always give us more than one “non-answer” answer to the same question, because to the Chinese, even a constant is constantly changing and evolving (“the only constant is change”) and Qi is often used to express this idea, hence some scholar would also equate Qi with the Dao, which is the Way and not the Destination.
Personally, I like this idea of defining “Qi” as “potentiality combines with matter”, which is another way of expressing the Yin/Yang duality, and in the book, “The Tao of Architecture”, Amos Ih Tiao Chang ended his essay with these words,
“The life quality of architecture, like the life-quality of humanity itself, exist not only in the realm of the material but also in the realm of intangibility, the realm that each man must find and conquer for himself”.
In other words, it is finding the Qi in ar-qi-tektur (or the Chi in ar-chi-tecture) and it is this process that transforms a building into architecture!
張岱年 Zhang Dai-Nian
SJ asked me these probing questions below on BZMJ the other day and I gave him my answers, may be those who have learned some Bazhai would find them interesting and would like to make some further comments.
SJ: I recently heard that one could not cure inauspicious Bazhai portents by using a reductive cycle. For example, Liu-Sha (Water) cannot be cured by adding Wu-Xing Wood.
HC: It is true that BZMJ did not mention this way of doing things, but some master like my Master Ren Zhi-Lin said it was a “secret transmission”! I guess they might have been influenced by Shen Shi Xuan Kong Wuxing Shengke to Jiehua (“cures”) where the weakening or the reductive cycle is preferred over a generating cycle to deal with a bad star. Theoretically to me it makes sense, because the wondering star always has it element associates with it as it “wonders”, and we are dealing one type of wondering star at a time.
SJ: I am told that according to BZMJ, in Chapter 91, Yan-Nian (Metal) is needed to counter Liu-Sha (Water). Apparently, a star Qi is necessary to counter another star Qi. Other cases would be Fu-Wei (Yin Wood) to counter Huo-Hai (Earth); Tian-Yi (Earth) to counter Jue-Ming (Metal); and Sheng-Qi (Wood) to counter Wu-Gui (Fire).
With the exception of Fu-Wei (Wood) countering Huo-Hai (Earth), all other relationships are in a generating cycle. Also, as Fu-Wei is Yin Wood and Huo-Hai is Yang Earth, this relationship is acceptable as opposite polarities do not fight each other.
HC: I think you mean in Chapter 81 and not Chapter 91 where it only talked about the Yan-Nian picture (Yan-Nian Tu), whereas in Chapter 81 which is called “Jiu-xing Ji-fu” or how to “Subdue the Nine Stars” and it said, “Sheng-Qi falls on Wu-Gui, Tian-Yi bullies Jue-Ming, Yan-Nian holds down Liu-sha and what Fu-Wei subdue is already arranged (that is the left over Jue-Ming)”.
But what one must remember is when this chapter talks about the four auspicious wondering stars subduing the four harmful wondering stars, one must ask how can they subdue each other when they are constantly wondering at different places at different times and there are two sets of them going at the same time (one set generated by the Zhai Gua and the other by the Ming Gua)? The subduing cannot be done in space, it can only be done with the stove, because the stove can “hold down the sha and welcome the sheng”, which is the same as saying that the stoves should sit on the four harmful directions of a person and face the four auspicious directions of the same person, and this is the unique character of the BZMJ. It is not the same as saying one should use a generating cycle of a good star to counter a bad star in space.
SJ: Also, for example, if a bedroom is in the Yan-Nian portent (Yang Metal), it is best to face the bed in the Yan-Nian direction (Metal), and not Sheng-Qi (Yang Wood), as Metal controls Wood and Sheng-Qi direction will not be activated!
HC: Again you are talking about two single wondering stars rather than two groups of matching wondering stars, the priority goes with the grouping of East Four and West Four first. You need to refer to Chapter 31 of BZMJ called “The Position of the Bed” to see the guideline clearly, where it said, “…Matching the Ming direction is the most auspicious, follow by matching the different rooms (location to suit the person), then follow by the sitting mountain and finally by it relationship (of the bed) to the door of the room…” Then we also has to take the wondering stars of the person into consideration as well and they have priority over the Zhai stars according to BZMJ.
SJ: There is also a star/palace method in Bazhai where one can look at the underlying Luo Shu Gua of a portent and compare it with the Star to determine if the portent will be auspicious/inauspicious to begin with. For example, in the case of a Li House (East Four) SE: Tian-Yi (Yang Earth) – Guest Star; Luo-Shu Element (4, Yin Wood) – Host; Host Controls Guest. Inauspicious; Therefore, SE palace has inauspicious Qi even though Ju Men Xing star (Tian-Yi) is present in that portent. Similarly, NE palace with Huo-Hai is not very negative as Luo-Shu (8) Earth has same element as guest star Lu Cun (Huo-Hai).
HC: I teach this in the more advance level, but it is not exactly used in the way you mentioned. There are three ways we can use the theory of palace/star sheng-ke:
1) Use to assess the relationship between the main door and side doors in a house.
2) Use to assess the influence of a larger object near the main door.
3) Use to assess the relationship between the location of the bed and the bedroom door.
The theory behind this is quite complex and that is one of the reason I don’t teach it at the beginners level, and when one look at this method closely one can see how BZMJ is beginning to merge with Yangzhai Sanyao (YZSY – The Three Requirements of a Yang Dwelling) and Feixing (Flying Stars) in the way Ji-Xiong (auspicious and harmfulness) is determined by Wuxing Shen-Ke (the generating and controlling cycle of the Five Elements) between two stars, except the Elements for the wondering stars in BZMJ and YZSY are correlated differently to the flying stars in Feixing.
We had an intensive four days working on a project in the southern part of Germany to redevelop an existing hotel and the adjoining land for residential use.
Our group was small and we worked well together (being mostly environmental designers and familiar with using FS in our work), in the end we feel we have found the right Feng Shui approach to begin the development process. Below showed our group, the Feixing analysis and the black white studies we did to lay the ground work for a solution that can take advantage of the Sheng Qi of the land.
The “before” and “after” B&W study showed how the qi is better assembled within the hotel and the residential complex and also along the street-scape and we have set all the new buildings facing “Wang Shan Wang Xiang” (Prosperous Sitting and Prosperous Facing) for Period 8.
Our display layout and scene of the exhibition last Satuday where Gyda and Tilman showcased our work in the UferHallen Berlin (I went to teach Taijiquan and Qigong in Gniezno, the first capital of Poland instead) :
EXPERIMENTDAYS09
messe für wohnkulturen + nachhaltiges bauen:
kreativ. ökologisch. wirtschaftlich. gemeinschaftlich.
03./ 04. Oktober 2009, UferHallen, Berlin
People think we are only Feng Shui teachers and consultants but in fact we are all full-time working architects experimenting with Kanuyu architecture at the coal-face using principles we teach in the buildings we make.
You can read about our approach to Feng Shui and architecture here:
http://howardchoy.wordpress.com/artarchitecture-2/
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