Ancient Rome also taught "feng shui"

Fengshui is the unique contribution of Chinese civilization to the evaluation and planning of human livable environment, and it is the crystallization of ancient oriental wisdom in dealing with the relationship between heaven, earth, people and the environment. However, Feng Shui's idea of seeking a good life for a better life and obtaining a harmonious balance among the three of heaven, earth and man has universal value.

Feng Shui originally originated from the practical alchemy used by primitive primitive people when choosing a residence. The choice of location, water quality, soil quality, vegetation and other geographic and spatial environments, as well as considerations of safety and defensiveness, combined with comprehensive considerations of ancient religions, philosophy, ethnic reproduction, and other factors, constitute Feng Shui thought and its practical operation The basic specifications. Interestingly, not only did the Chinese ancestors

The tradition of living in peace and burial place also had similar concepts and behaviors in ancient Rome. This can be verified from the oldest existing Western architecture monograph "Ten Books" (by Vitruvius, Intellectual Property Publishing House, 2001 edition).

"The Ten Books of Architecture" was written by the ancient Roman architect and engineer Vitruvius between 32 BC and 22 BC. It is the earliest and most influential architectural classic in the West. It contains ten chapters, involving architecture, The basic system and design planning ideas of architect training, mechanical manufacturing, etc., put forward the concept that buildings should be practical, strong, and beautiful. What makes me surprised is that some of the ideas mentioned in the book are so in harmony with the basic spirit of Feng Shui, an ancient Chinese construction planning idea. It can be seen that the problem of choosing a human settlement environment originated from Feng Shui was a common problem faced by all ethnic groups at home and abroad in ancient times.

Let's first take a look at the connotation of traditional Chinese Fengshui in order to contrast with the ideas in the "Ten Books on Architecture" of ancient Rome.

What is Feng Shui? The classic expression is quoted from the ancient version of "The Burial Scripture" written by Guo Pu in the Jin Dynasty. The book states: "The qi of the husband's yin and yang is the wind, rises into clouds, fights into thunder, falls into rain, and walks in the ground to become angry", "Five Qi (that is, the five elements of Qi-

The monograph "Ten Books on Architecture" (by Vitruvius, Intellectual Property Publishing House, 2001 edition) was verified.

Let's first take a look at the connotation of traditional Chinese Fengshui in order to contrast with the ideas in the "Ten Books on Architecture" of ancient Rome.

What is Feng Shui? The classic expression is quoted from the ancient version of "The Burial Scripture" written by Guo Pu in the Jin Dynasty. The book states: "The air of the husband's yin and yang turns into wind, rises to clouds, fights into thunder, falls into rain, walks in the earth and becomes angry", "Five Qis (that is, the air of the five elements-Note) walks to the earth. In this regard, everything arises.” The book also puts forward the criteria for Feng Shui selection: “Come to accumulate, to flush the sun.

Harmony, thick soil and deep water, lush grass and magnificent forests. "

"Shi Ming" says: "House, choose a place, and choose a good place to camp."

"Mozi•Ciguo" said: "When the ancient people were not known as the palace, they lived in the mausoleum and the caves, and the lower moistened and hurt the people. Therefore, the holy king was the palace. The law of the palace said: the room is high enough to be imperial. The words are moist, and the sides are cold enough to wait for frost, snow, rain and dew."

"The Book of the Later Han Dynasty·Zhong Chang Tong Biography" records Zhong Changtong's view of choosing a house: "Enjoy the residence with a fertile land and a large house, with mountains and rivers behind, the ditch and pond are enclosed, the bamboo and wood are surrounded by the cloth, the field is built in front, and the orchard is behind the trees."

It can be seen that the basic meta-concepts of feng shui involve qi (qi), wind, water, soil, direction, acupoints, etc. The basic criteria for determining good or bad feng shui are: embracing yin and yang, surrounded by mountains and water (that is, qi), The case is reciprocal, buckling and sentimental, etc. The specific process of misconception is embodied in a series of complex processes such as the dragon, chasing sand, Xiangtu, tasting water and the dialectical consideration of the combination of yin and yang, five elements and eight trigrams. Li Qipai further integrates the art of azimuth, landscape, superiority, and appearance into the complex and mysterious Yin-Yang and Five Elements restrained system.

Because China has a continental monsoon climate, the north and northwest winds are strong in winter, so in Feng Shui, it is generally emphasized that houses sit north to south, and there must be mountains in the west to cover the "strong wind" from the west; there must be mountains in the northwest. Block the "bending wind" from the northwest; there must be mountains in the north to shield the "big wind" from the north; and mountains in the northeast to block the "violent wind" from the northeast. Such requirements have naturally formed a pattern surrounded by mountains. The "accumulation of wind and gas" in Fengshui is actually closely related to the requirements of these geographical environments. As for the "gathering of wealth" due to the gathering of qi, it is actually the result of being attached with a humanistic connotation. Building to carry Tao is in line with the idea of "writing to carry Tao" pursued in the past dynasties in China.

Now let's take a look at the discussion on the relationship between architecture and location choices, and soil quality, water quality, and other sanitary and healthy environments in the "Ten Books on Architecture". These expositions are in line with the ancient Chinese ancestors "watching its flowing spring", "sweeping its sunset", "the existing scenery is a hill, and its yin and yang" ("The Book of Songs•Gong Liu", later generations called the Fengshui master as Mr. Yin and Yang. .) and Xiangzhai ("Shangshu•Zhaogao" says: "The king is in Feng, and he wants to live in Luoyi, so that Zhaogong will live in the first place", "Zhaogong is both at the house, and Zhougong will go to camp."), Buzhai, Komyo, etc. Consciousness and behavior are exactly the same.

For example, the first book of "Ten Books on Architecture" has "animal health and the health of the land", "the division of buildings in the city and the arrangement of avoiding harmful air currents"; the sixth book has "climate" and "each The orientation of the room", "The construction method of the rural house", etc.; The eighth book specializes in "Water vein exploration", "The nature of various water", etc.; The ninth book specializes in "Sky and planets", " The influence of astronomical knowledge such as the moon and the twelve constellations of the zodiac on architecture.

What is particularly commendable is that in the first section of the first book, "The Training of Architects", the author clearly stated that "in fact, in everything, especially in architecture, there are also the following two things, which are given Meaningful things and meaning-given things. "Architects should be good at writing, be familiar with drawing, be proficient in geometry, have a deep knowledge of various histories, listen to philosophy, understand music, be not at a loss for medicine, be familiar with legal scholars, and have knowledge of astronomy or celestial theory. "Philosophy can make architects magnificent, even if they are not arrogant, gentle and polite, creditable, indifferent and hopeless. This is unparalleled! Because it is really impossible to make any works without credit and integrity. "This paragraph of the argument is in line with the traditional Chinese way of self-cultivation, the heavenly sages, the heaven and the stars, the law of the heavens and the earth, the human and the heaven

In Hede, how similar are the thoughts of looking up at astronomy, looking down at geography, taking things from a distance, and taking the body closer!

1. About the relationship between orientation and building site selection

Due to the Mediterranean sea breeze blowing from the south and the hot sunshine in the south, contrary to China’s standard orientation of sitting north facing south, the ancient Roman architectural orientation chose to sit south to north as "good luck"-for the city itself, "first is Choose the land that is most conducive to health", "If the city faces the sea and faces the west or the south, it is unhygienic. Because through the summer, the southern sky is hot at sunrise and scorching at noon. The sky facing the west is It is warm at sunrise, hot at noon, and scorching at sunset.” Therefore, “when it is necessary to seek sanitation when building a city, there is nothing more necessary than careful research and selection of the most appropriate sky direction.”

2. About the various elements of the body and their composition

Similar to the ancient Chinese Five Elements theory that gold, wood, water, fire, and earth are the basic elements that make up everything, the book proposes "When setting up a city, I think we must pay attention to the direction in which the wind blowing from the summer land can spread to the human body. .And everything

In the same way, the human body is made up of what the Greeks called Stoeckia. The elements are composed of heat, humidity, earth and air,

Because nature (to mix them) in the correct proportions, the nature of all animals in the world is varied. "

"Therefore, when heat is dominant among the various elements in such a body, this thermal element destroys and melts other elements with hot heat... If moisture occupies the blood vessels of the body and induces the balance of the various elements, then other elements The elements will be diluted just as they are eroded by moisture, and their bonding power will be weakened. This defect on the body comes from the cooling of the moisture of the wind and breeze. Similarly, the air and the ground are too much or too much in the body. The natural combination of less land will also weaken other elements. The earth element depends on the enrichment of food, while the air relies on gravity to drop." In the second book, the section "Elements of Everything" states:

"In the beginning, Tellis believed that water was the element of all things." "Herakritos of Ephesus believed that fire was the element." "The disciples of Pythagoras actually added air and earth to water and fire." "All things seem to be formed by the combination of these elements, and all things are created by nature in countless kinds, so I think they should be explained. The types and differences of uses and the nature of the buildings. In this way, those who want to build will not make mistakes as long as they pay attention to them, and can prepare materials during construction and use them appropriately."

"Qi" has an absolute core position in ancient Chinese Feng Shui thought, and is the true spirit of Feng Shui. The qi emphasized by Chinese Fengshui has both material aspects, such as air current (mouth), wind, anger, turbid qi, auspicious qi, and evil qi; it also refers to the spiritual side, which is Tao, reason, "the beginning of heaven and earth" and " Mother of all things". As far as the emphasis on Qi is concerned, ancient Chinese and ancient Roman philosophers have similarities.

3. About the material objects and modality of Qi

Qi is a key issue in Chinese Fengshui thought-the so-called pursuit of "accumulating wind and gas". Qi is directly related to wind, and one of its forms is wind. Of course, the meaning of "qi" in Chinese Fengshui thought is not simple wind, but anger, aura, the qi of qiyun (rhyme), the qi of heaven and earth, etc. "The Ten Books of Architecture" did not raise the Qi to the level of Hunyuan Tiancheng like the philosophical traditions of ancient Chinese Confucianism and Taoism, but described it straightforwardly at the level of wind: "Wind is a constant flow of air waves." And clearly pointed out: "Build a city wall around, then divide the building land in the city, and set the streets and alleys according to all directions of the sky. If you carefully block the wind from the alleys, it will be the correct design. Cold stool

Harmful, heat will (make people) feel lazy, and moisture will cause injury. "This concept is consistent with the architectural paradigm of "high in the west and low in the east" in ancient China. Just like the ancient Chinese divided wind into eight winds according to the eight trigrams, Vitruvius also divided wind into eight types. Namely east wind, south wind, west wind, north wind, southeast wind, southwest wind, northeast wind, northwest wind, according to the method similar to sundial shadow measurement, use compasses to draw eight wind positions on the circle. "The rest of the entire circle. The same as the above is divided into three parts on the left and right, so that the positions of the eight winds that are equally divided are drawn on the map. I think the angle between the two winds at this time can point to the line of the streets. "Vitruvius further elaborated, "Actually, according to this theory and this arrangement, many houses and streets will block the annoying wind. When arranging the street in the direction of the wind, (wind) blows from the open space of the sky from time to time, blocks it into the alleyway, and swirls violently with stronger force. Due to this fact, the direction of the street should avoid the direction of the wind. In this way, when the (wind) blows to the corner of the block, it will be frustrated, blocked, and dissipated. "This kind of disposal method is the same as the ancient China's emphasis on avoiding strong westerly winds, strong north winds, harsh northeast winds, and northwest winds.

Fourth, the application of human body structure and the organic whole view of the earth

In ancient Chinese Fengshui thought, there is a clear cognition of the organic view of the earth, and the meridians, acupoints, blood vessels and torso ratio of the human body are often compared with residential construction. A typical example is the quadrangle courtyard corresponding to the body's limbs and torso. The courtyard is like a human universe, the main room is like the head, the penthouse extends out like two shoulders, and the wing room is just like two human arms. In the "Ten Books of Architecture", there are similar ideas. As mentioned in the section on "Temple Equilibrium": "Proportion is a method of creating equilibrium in all the details and the whole of the building subject to a certain modulus. In fact, without a balanced ratio, there can be no temple. Arrangement. That is, similar to a beautiful human body, it must have properly allocated limbs.” “Therefore, if the human body is naturally constituted so that the limbs correspond to all other comprehensive shapes in proportion, then the ancients seem to have a basis to stipulate: in completion The details of the construction should be correct in terms of the overall appearance. Therefore, this French style has been passed down in all buildings, especially in the temples, and the praise and criticism often lasts forever." Then, "So, if you agree with the number, It is discovered by the joints of the human body, and a certain part of each limb is a measure of the overall appearance of the body

Worthy of being worthy, then all that is left is to support these people: when they build the temples of the immortal gods, they stipulate the proportion and balance of the architectural details, so that the arrangement of these parts and the whole becomes harmonious and consistent. "Of course, the Chinese emphasize the correspondence with the human body. Essentially, they emphasize that the building should have a building brain and soul just like a human being.

5. About the direction of the temple

The requirements set forth in the "Ten Books of Architecture" are the same as the general system of Chinese temples. It proposes: "Which direction should the temple of the immortal gods face? It should be determined as follows. That is, if there is no reason to hinder it, whatever it becomes, then the temple and sitting The statues in the main hall must face the direction of the western sky. In this way, people who approach the altar to make offerings and sacrifices will be able to worship the statues in the temple toward the eastern sky. After doing this, people who sincerely make wishes can worship the statues. And the eastern sky, and the gods themselves appear from the east, watching the crowd holding their hands in prayer and sacrifice.” At the same time, he pointed out, “But if the terrain does not permit it, then this direction must be changed. , So as to be able to see as many parts of the city as possible from the seat of God. Similarly, build on the river

When building a temple, such as near the Nile in Egypt, it should be facing the bank at this time. Another example is a temple with gods and gods surrounding the road. It must be arranged so that the people passing by can pay attention to it and worship in person. "

Six, on the usage of numbers

In construction, regulation is very important. In China, there is a saying that the ninth-five-five-zun, and the yang number is mostly used. For example, when building towers, steps, number of rooms, tripods, and buckets, etc., the emperor’s house uses nine, and the general princes and ministers cannot go beyond its regulations. The "Ten Books on Architecture" also put forward the principles of using five or seven. For example, the height of the stage in the Roman theater "must be no higher than five feet, so that people who have seats on the performance bench can see the full body poses of the actors." And below the theater auditorium "becomes the starting point of the stairway." The number of places is seven, and the remaining five indicate the composition of the stage. That is, the one facing the center should be used as the entrance and exit of the monarch, and the position of the guest (entrance) should be indicated on the left and right, and the two places at the end The passage towards the wing (the entrance and exit)."

Seven, about the orientation

In ancient China, the first priority of Yangzhai Fengshui in construction was to establish the orientation of a house and pay attention to the impact of housing construction in different regions of the east, south, west and north on human health. Similarly, the "Ten Books of Architecture" of ancient Rome also has a very consistent idea, such as, "In the north, I think houses should be covered with roofs, especially to make them closed rather than open, and facing a warm direction; On the contrary, in the south under the strong sun, due to the weight of the heat, it should be as open as possible, and towards the north and northeast. If there is natural harm in one direction, it must rely on technology To remedy it. Other positions should be adjusted in the same way to adapt to the configuration of the sky’s tilt to the universe.” This adjustment approach is similar to Chinese Fengshui’s emphasis on north and west heights, such as building a taller house on the west side. Feng Shui Building, etc., the starting point has similarities.

8. About the relationship between housing and health

Due to the differences in physique and temperament of different races caused by different regions, these differences must also be considered in residential construction.

"If various regions have different types due to the inclination of the sky, the result is that the nature of the race is no matter the spiritual nature.

They should all be different from each other in terms of physical, physical, or aptitude, so don't hesitate to arrange the construction method of the house to suit the characteristics of the ethnic tribe, because nature itself has already guided us ingeniously. "The author emphasizes this in particular, "In terms of quality, the residence should specify the physical appearance suitable for the race, just as it adapts to the movement of the sun and the inclination of the sky. "

Nine, about the composition of the space in the house

In the Yangzhai theory of Chinese Fengshui, the third thing that Yangzhai must first pay attention to is how to deal with the spatial relationship between the door, the stove and the master bedroom, so that it can serve as a blessing and health aid. As for the "six things in the house" in the house, it further considers how to arrange toilets, livestock, warehouses, and grinds in the house. In "Ten Books of Architecture", we discovered concepts and construction rules that are very close to Chinese Fengshui thought. For example, in Chinese Feng Shui , the situation where the door is facing the stove and the toilet facing the bedroom is regarded as a great taboo of Feng Shui. In ancient Rome, the truth is the same, but due to different climate and culture, the disposal rules are different. For example, "The stables should be arranged in the hottest place in the house, but the situation of facing the fire should be excluded. Because if the stables are arranged near the fire, it is used for driving.

The horse and cattle will be untamed. "Furthermore, it is not without merit to leave the kitchen and build a corral eastward in a wide area around it. Because in the winter on a sunny morning, you can bring the cow inside, receive the sun and chew the feed, it will be more healthy. It seems that warehouses, hayhouses, barns, and toasters should all be built outside the house, because in this way, they will be safer from the danger of fire . "

Regarding the orientation of the bedroom, Vitruvius proposed, “The bedroom and the library should face the east. Because the light is required for use in the morning, and the books in the library will not corrode.” This pragmatic view is actually in line with the Chinese Fengshui's proposal for the bedroom and the study. Generally facing east and southeast (the side where life is vital, the side where everything is born full of vitality, and the side that belongs to wood) are exactly the same. It's just that the cultural context is different. For example, Chinese Feng Shui said that the kitchen and water room (toilet, shower room) should not be together because of water and fire. However, ancient Rome only believed that “the bath should also be connected to the kitchen. It’s not too far to take care of the bath.” This arrangement naturally makes sense. Because in ancient Greece and Rome, under the influence of the Mediterranean Sea, the south was relatively hot and dry, so the bath was a standing facility and was built with the kitchen.

At the same time, they can take care of each other functionally, and at the same time, because the climate is hot, it will not make the kitchen humid. However, in terms of the climate of China's mainland, especially the cold winter in the north and the humidity in the south all the year round, the Chinese people have not considered the setting of the bathroom since ancient times. Instead, the toilet is used as a place for air removal, which must be suppressed. Fang, the kitchen and toilet should not be placed in the same place as a special reminder.

In short, the theory of feng shui originated from the integration of Chinese sages' cultural and technical skills on livability, safety, health, and harmony with the environment. Practical, reasonable, qi (energy), ethics, and harmony are the basic considerations. From the wonderful conclusions in the "Ten Books of Architecture" in ancient Rome, we can also see that the relationship between livability and the environment is equally important to all mankind. This is the common material and spiritual heritage of all mankind. Blindly rejecters, in fact, neither understand nor understand Eastern culture, nor the origin of Western civilization; if they do not understand historical evolution, in fact, they cannot escape the immutable truth of social needs.

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