Glimpses Through a Feng Shui Telescope (VII)

At Qilu Mountain I visited the site traditionally attributed to Master Yang's burial work for the Zhang clan, said to take the form of a swan descending into water.

An old legend holds that Master Yang ordered the Zhang clan to have eighteen bare maidens carry earth to build the tomb, but when work began, Master Yang stood by laughing; the patrons thought they were being mocked, so the women stopped after carrying only one load each, leaving the site insufficient.

This account is largely unbelievable, with many doubtful points; the tomb is so large that if eighteen bare women were truly ordered to carry earth, how could they simply stop at will.

In my view, this merely describes the insufficiency of the dragon's power; the earth that was needed was largely meant to mound and nourish the dragon, but the work was never completed.

The tomb receives qi from the Qian direction and faces the Xun direction. Behind the tomb lies a stretch of fields, which in ancient times served as a pond. Beside the cave, the incoming vein has a protrusion, but it suffers from wind cutting and water assault, and so could not be used. In front of the hall, a cement road has been built and the land has largely been damaged. Nearby is a small pond; ahead a mountain form rises into a protrusion, said by people to resemble an official's hat, though its form is rather flawed. Further inspection shows the outer hall's water outlet emerging at the Gen direction.

As for the method of concentrated burial, it gathers the dragon's qi; the well before the cave also serves to halt the dragon.

This site never produced officials or nobles, and wealth was limited; however, the lineage remained adequate—Zhang Shibalang and Zhang Shijiu-lang were once produced and became deities. Many believe in them, incense offerings are abundant, and to this day there are deity processions and gatherings, with the temple standing beside the tomb.

Yet people only see that it failed to produce wealth and office, and many speak of it with criticism.