Geography Reference
In-Depth Information
quite cryptic and even mystical. For example: “The Way
is void, yet inexhaustible when tapped” or “Men should
be bland, like melting ice, pure and peaceful like a block
of uncarved wood.”
Daoism evolved as a religion as it mingled with folk
beliefs centered on the worship of nature and spirits. It
stressed the desirable unity of people and nature and the
futility of worldly strivings. A person' s place in nature' s
enormous, eternally changing expanse was insignificant,
“a drop of water in a flowing stream.” Individuals should
practice a kind of effortless action as water does when it
flows around obstacles. This is the ideal of the Way .
Daoist priests and monastic orders developed and tem-
ples were built. What started as an esoteric school of
thought became a mass religion, eventually incorporat-
ing a pantheon of gods and immortals.
Later Daoists practiced alchemy—the mixing of
metals to produce gold. They also searched for the elixirs
of immortality , roaming hills and mountains in search of
appropriate roots and plants. Their search for medicinal
herbs contributed significantly to the evolution of Chi-
nese medicine.
Even Confucianists found Daoism attractive. Daoism
was particularly suitable when things were not going
right, or in old age. Confucian activism and social re-
formism were counterbalanced with Daoist passivity and
“go-with-the-flow” attitude. This dualism was very attrac-
tive in the context of even older ideas concerning the in-
tegral nature and harmonious balance of all things and
the fundamental principles of yin and yang (Figure 10-8).
Yin and yang are two opposing, yet complementary ,
primordial forces that govern the universe and symbolize
harmony . For instance, without dark there is no light. With-
out life there is no death. All phenomena contain elements
of yin and yang that interact and create cyclical change.
Night rolls into day , winter into summer, and so forth. This
is the process of the Dao—the universal situation.
Did you know that East Asia has its own “geographic
tradition?”
the cardinal directions. Numerology was also em-
ployed, with the number three and multiples
thereof considered auspicious. The Heavenly Altar
in Beijing, where the emperor conducted cere-
monies for rain and good harvests, is reached by
nine steps. The top surface comprises nine rings of
stones (Figure 10-9). Gates to the Forbidden City
are covered with nine rows and nine columns of
brass studs. Four, which sounds like the word
“death” in Cantonese, is not a lucky number. So
you would not buy a house numbered 444. This be-
lief is practiced mostly in southern China where
Cantonese is spoken.
Decisions regarding location are made in the
context of yin and yang forces in addition to the
force of Ch' i . Ch' i is the most important element of
feng shui . It is the vital force, the cosmic breath that
gives life to all things. Without ch' i, there would be
nothing. Ch' i is a pervasive concept in Chinese tra-
ditional medicine and acupuncture, and martial arts
such as Gung fu (Kung fu).
The land most influenced by ch' i is the most
habitable. Ch' i spirals around the earth, sometimes
“exhaling” mountains or volcanoes at the earth' s
crust. When ch' i falls short of the surface, there is no
water or flowers, but bad luck. Mountains are viewed
as dragons exhaling cosmic breath. Mountains and
hills are important as defensive sites and are typically
kept to the north in orientation of settlement. “Back
to the north; front to the south.” The worst location
would be on a featureless plain with no protection
from anything. Atmospheric ch' i molds human ch' i .
Balance and harmony of yin, yang, and ch' i are es-
sential to repel negative forces.
Individuals called geomancers are experts in
feng shui. They are consulted to determine the
proper siting of buildings and even interior design
and placement of furniture. Once a house is care-
fully and correctly designed and oriented, a Daoist
priest is called to perform a moving-in or consecra-
tion ceremony . The Hong Kong and Shanghai Bank
stages dragon dances when opening a new branch,
even in overseas locations.
Even colors are subject to feng shui principles.
The south is associated with red, representing joy
and festivity . A south-facing house is auspicious,
and the placement of red door guardians will ward
off evil spirits. Green is related to wood and foliage
and evokes youthful energy and growth. It repre-
sents the dragon and the east. Y ellow was a royal
Feng Shui: The Chinese Art
of Placement
The Chinese have always stressed relative position
in the landscape, the world, and the cosmos. The
forces of feng shui (wind and water) must be dealt
with appropriately . For example, Chung-kuo infers
the Middle Kingdom, a nation at the hub of the
universe. Cities were usually oriented according to
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