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Day 3: Village Feng Shui
Reported by Bernice Low
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After the high and excitement of the Huang Da Xian temple the day before, Joey had something a little more down-to-earth, but no less unusual,
planned for the students of the Mastery Academy on the China Excursion 2005.
After the hectic pace of the previous day’s visit, where students crammed in two temples, and two meridien spots, it was time for something a little bit
more laid back, in the form of Zhuge Village.
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Zhuge Village is a village in Zhe Jiang Province constructed by the 27th descendant of famous Chinese Metaphysics master, Zhuge Liang, who lived during the era
of the Three Kingdoms. This is a unique village because almost all the inhabitants of the village are direct descendants of Zhuge Liang.
In the ancient days, the Chinese Metaphysics expert was expected to be an all-rounder, in his capacity as an advisor to the Emperor or King whom he served.
So in addition to advising on Feng Shui, a good Chinese Metaphysics expert was expected to handle the selection of suitable able individuals to man different
departments related to matters of state, provide the Emperor or King with suitable strategies when it came to dealing with foreign and state affairs, predicting
the weather for the purposes of crop growing and of course, predicting the course of events in the country.
The Zhuge Village is known as the Village of 8 Trigrams and 9 Palaces, largely because it was built by Zhuge Liang’s descendant in accordance with the
knowledge he passed down through the generations in his books and writing. The question for the students on this practical audit was of course, as always: how
was the actual Feng Shui?
Ancestral Hall = City Hall
On the way in, students had ample opportunity to observe the unique embracing mountains in the vicinity, before taking a short walk to the Ancestral Hall of the
village.
Clearly, evaluating the Feng Shui of a village was something quite different and completely unexpected – after all, the previous days had given the students the
opportunity to see Feng Shui at its highest form: tombs of emperors, aspiring kings and of course, immortal beings. Thus, Zhuge village was a unique test of their
Feng Shui audit skills: how do you do Feng Shui for ordinary people?
The Ancestral Hall immediately gave the students a vigorous challenge. But of course, the China Excursion has never been anything but full of challenges but also,
new experiences for the students when it came to undertaking Feng Shui audits. Opinions were divided on the Feng Shui – some students felt the Feng Shui was poor
because the embrace of the mountains was not tight enough around the area and the water exit was not in the right position.
Joey’s analysis was of course, scintillating and in-depth as always. The reason why student’s began their audit in the Ancestral Hall was because this was where the
official business of running the village was often conducted and also, it was the place where ancestors were honoured. The modern equivalent of the Ancestral Hall in
a town is of course, the town hall or the city hall. Hence, in macro Feng Shui for town planning, any audit must begin in the town hall.
The point of reference was integral when evaluating the Feng Shui of Zhuge Village. What was the 27th Descendant of Zhuge Liang hoping to achieve when he built the
village, following the knowledge passed down through generations by his ancestor? Obviously, the aim was to produce another great master worthy of Zhuge Liang –
if not a prime minister, at least a doctor or two.
What is good about Zhuge village is that is that it is situated in a good area – the surrounding mountain ranges provide the village with a Plum Blossom Carpet
formation (Pian Di Mei Hua Ju) and the Bell Mountain in the distance is correctly situated in the Military Arts Palace, exemplifying ‘right star in the right palace’
principle. This somewhat compensated for the errors made in the Ancestral Hall, where the steep location of the Ancestral Hall makes it difficult for the Qi to collect
and also, where there are clear instances of cutting feet water and cutting shoulders water.
The key takeaway for students here was not to be fixated on water exits or drains without thinking about the effect of those water exits. Building a drain,
without realising that it is actually Cutting Feet Water that cuts the building’s Qi is a precise illustration of such an oversight and a potentially dangerous
oversight it is for any Feng Shui practitioner.
Although it has become somewhat touristy in recent years, Zhuge Village is in fact, a village proper. And despite the negative features, the village has
not done too badly for itself. Sure, no prime ministers or great people emerged from this village, but the village remained unscathed and untouched,
throughout China’s last two dynasties, and survived the turbulent years of the Chinese revolutions to this day. In a day and age when a highway, or a new
township opening up in the area can turn villages into ghost towns overnight, life goes on at Zhuge Village and perhaps, may even become prosperous,
as more and more tourists head to this place that it seems, time forgot.
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