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Day 2 [China Excursion-Extension] : Yin House with New Eyes
By Di Grobler |
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28 April 2006 (Day 2- China Excursion Extension)
As we set off on the penultimate day of the Mastery Academy China Excursion Series Option II, there was just as much excitement as we had the day before at Yong Ling. So far we have been on tour for nine days, each of which has revealed a new and unique concept in Classical Luan Tou (form) feng shui. I wondered whether Joey was going to be able to find another different type of land form for us to find in the surroundings.
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We arrived at the Fu Ling Tombs where Nuerhachi, the first Manchu Chief, was buried. He was considered the first Emperor of the Qing Dynasty who ruled from 1616 to 1626. After climbing the 108 stairs, we came to the area where the tomb was located. We walked around looking at the landform, trying to find mountains and water, and trying to find what made the tomb good. The more we considered the land form the more we felt that this was not consistent with good feng shui but until now we had only seen good forms and good quality feng shui used at the burial sites, ancient villages, and palaces. “Why would this be any different?” I asked myself, especially as this was the first emperor of a dynasty of 12 Emperors. “It cannot be bad as they would not have survived as a Dynasty.” I thought.
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Finally we had no option but to come to the conclusion that the tomb had less that good quality feng shui. The tomb is located on a slightly raised area with a very wide open, low embrace, together with a very low table mountain. The Hun River was visible in the distance in front of the entrance to stairs to the tomb. Although this is a Fairy Bow Formation it was clear to us that he had missed the Meridian Spot (Long Xue). It was extremely windy at the top where the entrance to the tomb was and we were able to find where the correct location of the Spot was. It was much more protected and the qi was clearly able to collect. Joey explained to us where the correct placement of the tomb should be in the Fairy Bow formation.
There was also no supporting dragon or ghost mountain (Gui Shan) which would be required with this formation for it to be good. It was clear that this formation would last for one generation only which is indicative of the history of the dynasty. Although the dynasty continued, the grandson of Nuerhachi died at age 24.
The interesting lesson from this audit was that even Emperors make mistakes with their own feng shui. It is all very well laying out the tomb with good qi distribution and collection but if there is no qi to collect then it is of any use at all. This is a concept we could all take away with us, in that in our own yang feng shui which we practise at home, we need to make sure that we have good quality qi being collected at the home before we try to correct the internal feng shui of a home. Joey has a good saying for this. “If you don’t have hair, you cannot perm it!” How true this has proved to be! And, yes, Joey, another unique formation!
Dragon of a Different Vein
After lunch we headed off to Zhao Ling Tomb or North Tomb. This tomb is located in the city center and thus offered a good example of how students should approach Flat Land Dragon within a cosmopolitan urban context. Zhao Ling is the tomb of Huang Tai Ji, the son of Nuerhachi and is a very good example of the theory of Flat Land Dragon. In the morning one of the students had asked Joey if it was possible to create a mountain and water and he had replied that if it was large enough then it would be all right. Little did we know that we would be able to see just that at Zhao Ling.
On the long ride up to the area of the Tombs, we could see that there was a large man-made lake, on either side of the driveway leading up to the tombs. We also crossed a river.
We were told by the tour guide that the soil removed, when creating the lake, was used for the supporting mountain at the back of the tomb, as well as the large mound created over the tomb. Over and over in my mind I could hear Joey’s words “Flat land Dragon is Yang and we must look for Yin.”
After being given time to try to find out what we could see, we all reported back to share our findings, some of which was correct and, of course, much more which we had missed. Joey explained to us how to use the Yang to find the Yin. He then explained to us where the incoming dragon was, citing Han Long Jing (Arousing the Dragon Classics) and Snow Heart Classics regarding flatland dragon. While this was a repeat visit, the discussion level was significantly more advanced, compared to the level of audit conducted during the 2004 Excursion.
“Why was it necessary to build such a large dome over the Tomb?” asked a student. Joey was then able to explain that the size of the dome and the supporting mountain were the example of the size needed to be able to create mountains in the environment. The supporting mountain was being used successfully behind the tomb, to give it support, and the shape of the dome was metal as was the shape of the curvature in the river to the Southwest of the Tomb. This metal shape formed a Military Arts shaped mountain. We were also reminded by Joey that if you create man-made mountains, then the qi takes a longer time to collect. The water located in the Southwest was correctly located in the Indirect Spirit for when Huang Tai Ji was buried. He was buried in 1643 which was Period 8 .
A student asked about the water holes he spotted at the tombs and thought that perhaps they were Water Dragon exits. These water holes were in fact drainage systems designed to avoid flooding around the tomb area. In any case, as Joey informed the student, so called ‘water dragon formulas’ that are popular today, derived from classics like Shi Er Chang Sheng and Di Li Wu Jue are mid or end of Qing Dynasty classics. This tomb, is the tomb of the 2nd Emperor of Qing Dynasty –those classics WEREN’T even written yet when the Feng Shui for the Emperor’s tomb was undertaken.
Joey explained to us how the internal forms were used as the table mountains and there was also a good example of Qi distribution which was reinforced by the Three Harmony Three Divide, thus giving a good quality Qi into which the tomb could tap.
Finally Joey showed us how to find the Water Mouth in Flat Land Dragon, something which was new to many of us. The most important thing in Flat Land Dragon, Joey says, is to be able to determine the incoming dragon formation by observation of the water formation. If this is not done, then the entire Feng Shui assessment is not possible. One has to experience the locating of Water mouth and water formation in person. Words cannot do justice to the walking the mountains experience we have here in China.
By Di Grobler
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