The basic structure of Chinese Fengshui

The basic structure of Chinese Fengshui

On the whole, Chinese ancient architecture is composed of three theoretical systems, namely, Chinese ancient geomantic omen, Chinese architectural architecture, and Chinese garden architecture. Among them, ancient Chinese Fengshui is a very important part, which embodies the pursuit of life ideals deep in the soul of Chinese people, and directly affects the rise and fall of dynasties, political situation, family proliferation, regional changes, personal destiny, and the rich and the poor. Therefore, it can be said that Feng Shui magicians have always had a mysterious influence on Chinese society.

The theory of Chinese Fengshui is based on the rationale and the structure, and promotes the idea of ​​harmony between man and nature. In a nutshell, it is composed of form and principle.

Combing the inner structure of ancient Fengshui, it can be seen that its theoretical framework is mainly the processing method of the three talents of heaven, earth and man. The laws of heaven involve the influence of seasonal changes, disaster conditions, air currents, wind directions, thunder and lightning, sun, moon, and stars on people's lives.

At the geographic level, it mainly studies the direct and indirect impacts of mountains, rivers, trees, tides, topography, soil, etc. on human settlements; at the life level, it mainly focuses on the periodicity and internal laws of human life, old age, sickness and death.

Traditional Chinese thinking believes that life as a foreigner and death as an eternal return. Being born in the world is a temporary journey. Therefore, the destination of death is sometimes more important than life. Therefore, Chinese Feng Shui can be divided into two types: Yin House and Yang House. Moreover, the yin house is often larger and more brilliant than the yang house project, such as the Mausoleum of the First Emperor of Qin.

Complicated feng shui theories all adhere to the three classical principles of harmony between man and nature, balance between yin and yang, and the five elements generating restraint. Whether it is the classification of a thousand feet as a potential, a hundred feet as a shape, or a compass-oriented approach to the head: such as looking for a dragon, inspecting sand, watching water, acupuncture, orientation, and seeking overall introverted centripetal, it can be clear To find its theoretical basis, and to sum it up, it is nothing more than the following set of traditional cultural theoretical tools: Yin and Yang and Five Elements, mutual generation and mutual restraint, stems and branches of the zodiac, four seasons and five directions, Hetu Luoshu, eight trigrams and nine palaces, seven yaws and nine stars, four seasons, astrological division, Beidou Seven stars, twenty-eight nights, primitive legends.

"Li Qi Fa" seeks to observe the form with the eyes, the Qi must be observed, and the body is used in harmony; the "Fu Zhen Fa" is divided into two categories, one is the location symbol town, the other is the time symbol town, the former is set up to avoid evil in the unlucky places In order to seek advantages and avoid disadvantages, the latter mostly use characters to avoid specific days and specific behaviors (such as groundbreaking days and travel days).

The feng shui thought that emphasizes the collection of wind and water, and the unity of nature and man, its intrinsic value pursuit can be summarized in modern language: the pursuit of harmony and unity of human landscape and natural landscape; the pursuit of harmony and unity of artificial environment and natural environment ; Pursue natural coordination and resonance with the same frequency between man and the earth.

For example, for the ideal pursuit of a house, you must first check the entrance and exit of the house. When there is a natural vent, the light and shade should be suitable, and the water port should be twisted and sentimental; the terrain should be low in the front and high in the back; , Xiangyang. The occupants live as a house and choose a place to build. The ground should be thick soil, and the wind directions on all sides should not conflict, especially there is no underground wind; it should be deep in the surrounding area, the terrain should be high and dry, and the water should be circulating and not close to flooding. This is the basic meaning of feng shui.

In addition, it is necessary to pursue the harmony of the overall building, through the layout of the building, space division, orientation adjustment, color application, pattern selection and various unique metaphorical and symbolic methods in Feng Shui to achieve the harmony of body and mind. Peeling away the layers of mist from the inner structure of ancient Chinese Fengshui, it can be briefly summarized as the direct application of the pursuit in the sense of Chinese philosophy in housing and architecture: harmony with nature; harmony with the world; Life is supreme; you should seek peace in your body and mind while you are in action.

But what is regrettable is that this pursuit has been concealed in the dust of thousands of years of history, and has been swayed by various mysterious statements, but has lost its clear guiding significance and form. This cannot but be said to be a great regret of Chinese culture. . If Feng Shui can span the dynasties with a clear framework, the current Chinese village Tian Chou will not be so messy. The chaos of reality is the concrete manifestation of chaos in theory.

Modern Exploration of Fengshui Theory——Ideal Landscape

Fengshui is in a marginal position today when science is prosperous, and the general public no longer regards it as a serious learning. However, now some people have begun to study it from a new perspective, which may be the result of the influence of contemporary Western social thoughts. After the industrial revolution in Europe and America, people have begun to examine the relationship between man and nature from a unique perspective.

The three major problems in modern life, namely poverty, population, and environmental problems, have made some wise men realize that the house is not only a machine filled with various wires and equipment, but the building itself is spiritual and living. Driven by this thought, scholars found that there is indeed a "housing disease" in modern society, and more than 30 diseases of the human body can be said to be directly related to housing.

Urban planning scholars have also discovered that the thermal, photo-acoustic treatment and greening, water body, wind direction, residential and leisure environment design in the city have a profound impact on people's lives and even the rise and fall of the city. Therefore, serious Chinese architectural scholars have also begun to study Chinese Fengshui issues, and gradually formed the results of research on ideal landscapes, which is also a response to today's social problems.

However, after careful comparison, you will find that Western architecture emphasizes unobstructed vision and has a preference for commanding heights and control points, while Chinese Fengshui architecture emphasizes hidden and shielded spatial structures.

For example, the good feng shui described in traditional language is: left green dragon, right white tiger, front Suzaku, and back Xuanwu—requires Xuanwu to hang the head, the red bird dances, the green dragon winds, and the white tiger tames. In modern language, it can be translated as: The cave is located at the end of the mountain range, backed by the rolling peaks, and adjacent to the open plains. The clear stream around the cave is tender and affectionate. The two sides are surrounded by mountains. For example, the Ming Tombs in Beijing were selected as the site of the imperial tombs that Liao Junqing, a famous Fengshui master in Jiangxi, took two years to determine. This is based on this principle of thinking.

Good feng shui is actually protecting and shielding, isolating and fetal breath (Feng Shui thought regards the earth as a living whole, fetus, refers to acupuncture points, like a woman’s pregnancy; breath, breath, the child is in the cell In feng shui, the breath of breath flows from the navel to the mother’s breath, which is called fetal breath.) Find coordination among several factors, and pay attention to the use of objects and symbols to adjust the gap (in Feng Shui, the gap can be understood as the door facing the house. Objects or elevators, etc. We often say "open to the door", here we can also compare "mountains" to "mouths") and corridors, such as pavilions, bridges, pavilions, towers, doors, and feng shui forests, etc., to achieve a kind of Psychological satisfaction. Therefore, some scholars have summarized the ideal landscape in Chinese Fengshui as an image metaphor: the gourd in the mountains or on the side of the mountain may have the Kunlun Mountain model: an isolated island on a high mountain; Penglai model: a fairy island on the sea; Hutian model: small The entrance of the pot-mouth style widens the large pot cavity; the model of Tao Yuanming: winding corridors with gaps and a basin inside; and the hill-and-water painting style of the hills and rivers inside the camp.

This ideal model implies several meanings of shelter, defense, isolation, and spatial identification. For example, Fengshui pavilions and towers are statements about territories, doors, archways, and walls can prevent evil and evil, Fengshui forests can gather wind and air, and Siheyuan emphasizes the creation of an ideal living environment.

It should be said that the study of this ideal landscape is a great advancement of traditional Fengshui. However, compared with the content of classical Fengshui, there are obvious shortcomings, that is, the level and scope involved are much smaller and shallower than that of traditional Fengshui. In particular, it cannot fully reflect the philosophical level and outlook on life of traditional Fengshui, and its impact on reality. The guidance is also unclear. In any case, as a good start, this kind of research created a modern research direction in Feng Shui.

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