Characteristics of Feng Shui in the Dai Xilun Lineage (Part 1)
Dai Xilun, courtesy name Litai, was born in the forty-third year of Qianlong (the Wuxu year) of the Qing Dynasty. He styled himself Heyou Shanren and was a native of Taogu in the Gan commandery of Jiangyou, Jiangxi Province. In the first year of Jiaqing he passed the metropolitan examination as a Presented Scholar of the second class, was granted the title of Prefect, and served as Prefect of Gaozhou in Guangdong. He took a wife of the Chen clan, by whom he had two sons and two daughters: the elder son Dai Hongrun and the younger Dai Hongjian.
Dai Xilun is counted among the Six Great Grandmasters of the Guangdong school of feng shui in the Qing Dynasty. Legend holds that before his time he received instruction in feng shui from an extraordinary adept of the Shangyu school; however, that description is open to question. Judged by the technical characteristics of Master Dai's art, it does not resemble the Shangyu lineage: what Zhang Xinyan of Shangyu excelled in was Xuan Kong Da Gua, whose principles differ considerably from those of Dai's school.
Among the materials transmitted is Dai's own Illustrated Essentials for Discerning Truth in Five-Phase Geography. Judging from the emphasis on line method in the Han Ge Fu, one usually infers that Dai's school rested mainly on the Forty-Eight Diagrams, while beyond those one typically used the line method.
The ancient method of the Forty-Eight Diagrams, if subdivided, is usually divided into: eight diagrams of Facing-Water-Facing-Origin, eight of Three Harmony Linked Pearls, twenty-four of the Parents' Three Serial Trigrams, and eight of Borrowing the Storehouse. There is also a branch of the Nine-Star Water Method likewise based on the Forty-Eight Diagrams, claiming continuity with Dai Litai's qi-principle; whether it is truly Dai's original art remains unknown.
Yet most of this is popular lore, concentrating mainly on judging yin dwellings. For yang residences, one may consult the articles Dai himself originally wrote.
As for the characteristics of his feng shui, in Dai's own words: The intercourse of He and Luo discerns male and female; the forward and reverse of the three trigrams fix the directions; the yin and yang of the nine stars distinguish auspicious and inauspicious; the fortune cycles of the three eras know rise and decline.
In his detailed feng shui discussion of the Xinhui Academy in Guangdong, these four sentences serve essentially as the outline:
Xinhui Academy: sitting Zi facing Wu, leaning Gui-Ding; Guan trigram line five facing Da Zhuang line two. Water comes from You and exits Xun. The heavenly sector does not leave the trigram; this belongs to the configuration of Thunder and Wind mutually stirring, Water and Fire not shooting one another.
The method of urging office and rank: wherever there are auspicious positions and stars, one should supplement and assist them. Among peaks for this sitting and facing, none is better than Qian and Xun—this is the facing peak 4 and 9 as friends; the sitting peak must be 1 and 6 sharing one ancestor. In reversing the parents, the essential point is that Wu Qu stands at Xun. This is precisely the regulation of the star-resolving Xuan Kong Great Trigrams in the opening chapter of the Green Satchel's Secret Words of Yang Gong.
At that time the academy was first built with three halls; outside, a gate was opened at Xun, and beside it a gate at Zhen. Both belong to upper-cycle auspicious trigrams. Yet the auspicious peaks had not risen, and literary influence was not manifest—so former worthies repeatedly placed Fu Star at Mao.
In the second year of Tianshun, Commander Zhang Tong built a bell tower at Mao. Upper-cycle auspicious trigram, lower-cycle auspicious star—yet also in fact a lower-cycle baleful ground. Half baleful and half auspicious: in luck, good fortune does not appear as good; out of luck, evil still shows itself.
One should first notice: sitting Guan trigram line five and facing Da Zhuang line two—if placed on an ordinary compass—should fall around 342 degrees of the celestial circuit. That position ought to be Ren leaning Hai. How could it have slipped to Zi-Wu leaning Gui-Ding?
In the records of other famous masters, however, this site is Gui-Ding leaning Zi-Wu. Obviously the original must have been scrawled, and whoever transcribed it failed to recognize it. The traditional character for Guan resembles that of the Yi trigram; above it was the Da Guo trigram. So the correct degrees are sitting Yi trigram line five, facing Da Guo line five.
Why then say Zi-Wu leaning Gui-Ding? Because on the earth plate, Gui-Ding leaning Zi-Wu coincides exactly with Zi on the heaven plate as Zi-Wu leaning Gui-Ding. From this the data Dai described were taken from the heaven plate—and this likewise matches other ancient famous masters' records.
Thus, in the nineteenth year of Jiajing, Li Wenfeng reformed the four halls, establishing a Kan residence with a Xun gate. From the Xun gate, life was generated; entering through the palace hall one came to the second hall, Heavenly Doctor Ju Men, an Earth star, inauspicious. The Earth star generated the third hall Wu Qu, a Metal star. The third hall was Six Sha Water; the inauspicious water generated the fourth hall Tan Lang Wood, auspicious.
The Zun Jing Pavilion was built behind at the Zi seat, intending to make Tan Lang appear as the principal star—upper-cycle auspicious trigram and auspicious star, with Wu Qu at Wu.
In the sixth year of Longqing, Magistrate Wu Ying built the Heavenly Dynasty Literary Monument on the street before the academy at the Wu position, to supplement the lower-cycle auspicious star, with Ju Men at Xun.
In the twelve year of Wanli, Magistrate Yuan Kui built the octagonal pavilion at the water mouth at the Xun position. With the three auspicious positions rising, both star and trigram were auspicious.
In the thirteenth year (Yiyou), seven men were recommended from the district; in the seventeenth year (Jichou), Chen Zongnian and Zhang Chuyan became Presented Scholars. In the twenty-second year (Renchen), Minister He entered the Hanlin Academy; from then on, examination successes never ceased.
A Kan residence with a Xun gate: Kan and Xun combine to generate—clearly Tan Lang. Thus one enters at the life-generating position of Xun. From Xun one proceeds to the Zhen gate; Kan and Zhen transform into Ju Men. Although Six Sha appears in the middle, Six Sha is also Wen Qu—so one uses Wen Qu water to generate Tan Lang wood.
To make the Tan Lang wood position still stronger, the Zun Jing Pavilion was built at the Zi position, answering the Xun position, so that Tan Lang's elegance might emerge—and talent could be produced.
Yet while the Zi peak rose high, the Xun peak remained low. Later, Magistrate Zhou Siji said literary influence had not shown itself because the Xun sector was low—what form masters call the Azure Dragon drooping its head—and by method it should be supplemented.
He proposed a Zi pagoda but was transferred before completing it. Magistrate Wang carried on; in the thirty-seventh year the pagoda was completed with seven tiers. Three years later, in the Renzi year, fourteen men were recommended from the district; in Guichou, three became Presented Scholars. Literary talent flourished by the day.
In the Jiaqing reign, Zhong Dingchen, Vice Director of Revenue Zhong Yuanfu, and so on—all thanks to the urgent reforms of Magistrates Wu, Wang, and Yuan.
Tan Lang favors tall and elegant forms, so both Zi and Xun should rise high. But the Xun sector was relatively low, hence the drooping Azure Dragon.
So in the thirty-seventh year of Wanli, Magistrate Wang Mingxuan completed the seven-story octagonal Lingyun Pagoda (also Xiongzi Pagoda). Three years later, fourteen men passed the provincial examination; entering the Guichou year, three more became Presented Scholars.
This pagoda stands at the Xun position of Xinhui Academy, its purpose being to supplement the fortune cycles. Ming and Qing scholars took it as a symbol of the literary brush.
For Zi and Xun are both upper-cycle star trigrams, while Wu is a lower-cycle star trigram. If one supplements the lower cycle, then Zi, Xun, and Wu take turns holding the cycle fortune. Later the literary star did not show itself—what was the reason?
Because the Literary Monument at the Wu position had blown down and was not repaired. There was only the upper-cycle auspicious star, without the lower-cycle auspicious star.
The Discerning Truth says: the wondrousness of Heaven and Earth's flowing qi is auspicious when it accords with the times and baleful when it turns against them.
Hence the nine stars and eight trigrams are in themselves never inauspicious; yet at times they are inauspicious, rooted in the Qian position. So before the Xinwei year of Jiaqing, sixteen or so men often appeared on the provincial list—examination success was never lacking.
Regarding how once the lower cycle arrived Xinhui's scholars fell short: Dai held that the failure to repair the Wu-position monument meant the lower cycle's auspicious stars could not exert themselves; by changing the road and opening the gates, the lower cycle's qi was again received.
The Fa Qiao school's annual-trigram examples merely consult the year's spirit-kills; urging fortune and office do not depend on them. If the residence's fortune is prosperous, even Jue Ming and Wu Gui are auspicious; if declining, what use are Tian Yi and Fu De?
Moreover, contemporary masters recklessly alter former institutions, so that the Fire star does not rise. They opened wrongly the pagoda base at the Bing position of the Metal Ox mountain.
They requested Magistrate Shen Baoshan to levy a quota; the pagoda was completed in the fifteenth year of Jiaqing. Who knew that the new pagoda at the Metal Ox head was Bing leaving the trigram—a zero-god baleful star, the lower-cycle baleful qi position—baleful piled upon baleful, opposite the Xun pagoda where auspicious was piled upon auspicious.
Though Xun is the gentleman, it has lost its cycle; though Bing is the petty person, it gains power—aiding the tyrant in his cruelty.
Although Tan Lang wood has emerged, it still needs fire to open its elegance—following Lai Buyi's fire-star sand arrangement. Dai opposed the Bing pagoda chiefly because that position leaves the trigram and occupies the zero-god baleful star.
The star-and-trigram method here is neither common traveling-years flipping nor Xuan Kong flying stars, nor Zhang Xinyan's lineage—once quite secret. Dai himself said that after more than ten years of study he still had not reached the end of feng shui.
The lower-cycle auspicious star of the Zun Jing Pavilion is low and sunken—is this not the gentleman's way declining? To this day the autumn and spring provincial lists fail to clear.
In sum: the baleful is nowhere worse than the Bing pagoda; the upper-cycle both auspicious nowhere better than the Xun pagoda; the lower-cycle both auspicious nowhere better than the Qian pavilion.
Remove the Bing pagoda, restore the Zun Jing Pavilion as before. When the upper cycle holds and Qian is out of cycle, Xun gains the cycle; when the lower cycle Xun is out of cycle, Qian gains the cycle—this is the configuration of the three cycles never failing.
Dai held that the key to making both cycles flourish lay in working Qian and Xun—exploiting the property of the two cycles inverting each other.
These two peaks, Qian and Xun, in qi principle encompass the myriad phenomena.
For the Zi palace with the Qian peak: the heavenly sector's sitting peak generating completion—one and six sharing the ancestor. For the Wu facing with the Xun peak: the facing peak generating completion—four and nine as friends.
The Zi palace should have a Xun pagoda; the Wu facing a Qian pavilion. This is the purport of the Appended Statements: Heaven's numbers are five, earth's numbers are five; the five positions each find their counterpart.
These are the numbers of the He Tu's intercourse. In the Jiashen year of Daoguang, entering the eight-white Gen cycle, Master Xie Tiecheng added a high pavilion on Ma Mountain at the Mao-Yi position. In the Yiwei year Luo Fang took the provincial first place; the Renmao and Dingyou years also responded. The lower cycle's urging-office auspicious stars: Zi, Mao, and Wei.
This is the ordinary use of the Kun formula: Zi, Mao, and Wei are Lu Cun three; the response in the You year is due to the Mao-Yi pavilion stirring the qi of the opposite palace.