Ming and Qing Dynasties: Collecting the Great Success of Previous Generations

The Ming and Qing dynasties were the heyday of the development of Chinese Fengshui theory and practical activities, and it was also a period of integration. The masterpieces of Fengshui handed down were a great sight, and Fengshui masters also lined up. For example, Liu Bowen, the great strategist who helped Zhu Yuanzhang achieve hegemony, is very fluent, and he has written "Picking the Liver", "Kan Yu Man Xing", "Earth Science Heart Biography", "Zuo Xuan Zhi Zhi", "Qing Nang Tian Ji Austrian Word Preface" and so on. The Changling Tombs of Zhu Di, the ancestor of the Ming Dynasty, was selected by Jiangxi Fengshui master Liao Junqing (a descendant of Liao) and others, and became the beginning of the Ming Tombs. In the minds of literati and doctors, the study of Feng Shui is also a prominent study that shows one's knowledge and knowledge. For example, the famous philosopher Wang Yangming chose the cemetery according to the principles of Feng Shui, which was called "Xian Xia Ba Dou" by the locals. Wei Yuan, a well-known person in the Qing Dynasty, was also an authentic Fengshui believer while advocating to learn from the West to learn Xiyi's long skills. When he was an official in Jiangsu, he found a treasured geomantic place in Zhenjiang, and he did not hesitate to travel thousands of miles and labor.

Li will relocate the remains of his parents who have been buried for many years in Hunan. Examples of Fengshui masters and Fengshui activities can be found in Ming and Qing literati's notes and novels, miscellaneous notes, and even famous works such as "Jin Ping Mei" and "A Dream of Red Mansions".

Feng Shui works in Ming and Qing Dynasties have several characteristics: one is the compilation and annotation of predecessors’ feng shui masterpieces. For example, the thirty-nine volumes of "Instructions for the Son of Geography" compiled by the brothers Xu Jishan and Xu Jishu, refer to the predecessors’ feng shui. There are more than a hundred kinds of books; the second is the works on Feng Shui schools, such as monographs on the situation school (Luantou school) and the Li Qi school; the third is the writings on a certain type and the application of Feng Shui, such as Jiang Pingjie about water dragons (Jiang Dahong) "Water Dragon Scripture", "Eight House Ming Mirror" and "Ten Books of Yang House" devoted to Yangzhai, Ye Jiusheng "Shanfa Daquan" which specializes in mountain law, Wang Daoheng "Composite Interpretation of Compass" which specializes in compass application, etc. .

Famous Fengshui masters and famous authors in the Ming and Qing dynasties include Mu Lecture Monk, Xu Jishan, Xu Jishu, Miao Xiyong, Dong Yuyuan, Xu Zhimo (Xu Shike), Wang Kentang, Jiang Dahong, Zhao Jiufeng, Ye Jiusheng, etc.

Xu Jishan and Xu Jishu are twin brothers, the eighth grandson of Song Taishi Zhongmin, and the Neo-Confucian Qiu Gu. Two brothers young

At that time, my father died early, and his family was in trouble. He studied Feng Shui form to bury his father, and then he couldn't collect it. He traveled to Yan, Qi, Wu, Yue, Chu, Fujian and other places, and visited dozens of famous teachers. Ren, with 30 to 40 years of experience and experience, wrote the book "Guide to the Son of Man, Zi Xiao Geography" (later called "Guide to the Son of Geography"), which was popular at the time, and the scholar-bureaucrats at that time had a good book. . The book is divided into volumes in the order of Gan, Kan to Dui Bagua, detailing the methods of dragon, sand, water, and acupoints, which can be described as detailed and in-depth.

Miao Xiyong was a native of Changshu in the Ming Dynasty. He is a well-known doctor for a time. The "History of the Ming Dynasty" specifically mentioned in the narrative "Li Shizhen Biography" that "Miao Xiyong of Changshu is proficient in medicine and he is very good in curing diseases." In addition to practicing medicine, Miao has a special liking for Fengshui theory, and applies the principles of Chinese medicine to it, and transplants the diagnostic procedures of seeing, smelling, asking, and cutting of Chinese medicine to the acupuncture points for seeking dragons and catching veins, which further strengthens the practicability of Fengshui. And operability, at the same time, it also reflects the fact that Feng Shui shares the same origin with other ancient Chinese science and culture. "Bangjingyi" uses twelve chapters to discuss the original situation, the shape of the investigation, the strange cave, the point disease, the theory of the gorge, the dragon, the sand water of the four beasts, the Mingtang, the remaining qi, the water mouth, the Wangqi, and the burial decree. In terms of "Burial Sutra Wing" as a whole, although it also talks about qi, it has more situations. In fact, since the Ming Dynasty, the Li Qi School also talked about the situation, and the Xingfa Luantou School also discussed the Qi

The method of gossip. "The Burial Sutra Wing" can be seen as a proof of the fusion of the two factions.

Jiang Dahong is a figure who has made outstanding contributions to both the theory and application of Feng Shui. Jiang was a late Ming dynasty. He was born in the 48th year of Ming Shenzong Wanli (1620 AD) (or 1616). When he was a boy, he followed the celebrity Chen Zilong, and later went to Fujian to follow the Ming and Tang king Zhu Yujian, and served as Yushi. In 1646, Fujian was destroyed by the Qing soldiers and died in the country by taking drugs. In addition to compiling, compiling and commenting on a large number of classic Feng Shui works such as "Geography", "Pingsha Jade Ruler", "Guihoulu", "Guide to Yangzhai", and "Water Dragon Scripture", he also transformed the cumbersome compass and replaced the original site. The three-in-one plate with the combination of the human plate and the sky plate was transformed into a three-dimensional plate with only the site reserved (also known as the Jiang plate by later generations), which greatly facilitated the application of the compass. He is also the master of the Sanyuan Xuankong School of Feng Shui Li style, and he has a lot of disciples.

"Water Dragon Scripture" was compiled and annotated by Jiang Dahong, and is a representative work of the Ming Dynasty monograph on water dragons. One of its major characteristics is the theoretical explanation of how to correctly treat and apply water dragons in the plains without mountains and no cities. It highly summarizes the flat ocean and regards the water system as the principle transplantation method of mountain dragons. Before each volume of the book, there is a general theory or a general theory. First, it gives a theoretical overview, and then a detailed

The illustrated illustration can be said to correspond to the image and text, and each is suitable.

Other influential works of the Xingfa School in the Qing Dynasty include Zhao Jiufeng's "Five Jue of Geography" and Ye Jiusheng's "Shanfa Daquan".

"The Bright Mirror of Eight Houses" is the most widely circulated and used Fengshui classic of Yangzhai during the Ming and Qing dynasties. The book was compiled by the Taoist Ruoguan of the Ming Dynasty. The name of the Taoist Ruoguan and the date of his birth and death are unknown. From the preface of the book, it is inferred that the author of this book was from the late Ming and early Qing dynasties. The book proposes a new and self-contained system of Dong Si Ming and Xi Si Ming, corresponding to Dong Si Zhai and Xi Si Zhai (hence the name Ba Zhai), and is accompanied by a complete set of ternary method, great travel year method, and hexagram turning. The complete theory is a masterpiece of the Eight House School of Liqi Fengshui.

"Ten Books on the House of the Yang" is extensive and a bit complicated. The book is divided into ten chapters, respectively introducing the Yangzhai Fengshui theory and the problems in its practical application, including Yangzhai theories such as the Fuyuan Method, the Great You Nian Method, the East Four Houses and the West Four Houses, as well as examples of hexagrams, star fate, and day selection. The specific introduction of the town symbol, etc. also involves all aspects of the construction elements of the house. One of the outstanding advantages is the graphic form, which focuses on the various good and bad conditions of the house and the appearance of the house, which can be described as clear at a glance.

In the Qing Dynasty, Yangzhai Fengshui was prosperous, and there are many books on this aspect. In addition to the above two books, there are "Three Importants of Yangzhai", "Yangzhai Aizhong Pian", "Xiangzhai Classic Compilation", and "Yangzhai Huixin Collection". "Complete Book of Yin and Yang Two Houses", "Lu Ban Jing", etc.

According to textual research, the concept of feng shui and feng shui techniques had already gone abroad in the Tang Dynasty at the latest, spread to the Korean Peninsula, Japan and other places, and later had a profound influence on the entire East Asian Han cultural circle. From the middle and late Ming Dynasty to Qing Dynasty, Fengshui was gradually introduced into the mainstream Western society and even academia due to missionaries to China. The term "feng shui" and "Chinese Kung Fu" have become one of the symbols of traditional Chinese culture. Joseph Needham, a famous historian of Chinese science and academician of the British Academy of Sciences, once said that if you don't understand Feng Shui, you don't understand Chinese culture. Today, when the problems of environmental protection and ecological civilization are prominent, Chinese Fengshui thoughts and theoretical systems have regained the attention of Western academic circles. Fengshui in China is gradually becoming a "significant study" worldwide.

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