Liu Clan Ancestral Site at Bái Hú Lǐng, Zǐ Xī, Nánchāng ("A Nest Exists, Yet Do Not Bury in the Nest" Pattern)

I. Nature of the Site: Tomb (Yīnzhái / Clan Burial Ground)

This case is the tomb of the wife of Liú Jìzhí of the Zǐ Xī Liú clan in the Míng dynasty (buried in the winter of the ninth year of Xuāndé). It belongs to the category of yīnzhái (yin-dwelling) ancestral ground. Its value does not lie in the status of the deceased, but in the fact that it is the classic teaching example of the "a nest exists, yet do not bury in the nest" anomalous-xue pattern recorded in Dìlǐ Rénzǐ Xūzhī—that is, although the front of the xue star presents a nest form, it is an "empty nest without qi," while the true xue flashes instead to a slight bulge on the left side ("an old oyster spits a pearl"). Hence "a nest exists, yet one does not bury in the nest." This precisely confirms form-method theory in the same work: "Within a nest, shallow, narrow, and level is best… Above all avoid a nest that is too broad, or a pitfall inside the mouth… A false nest that has a xue is unfit for piercing" (the meaning of Yáng Yúnsōng's Yí Lóng Jīng: "a sloping hollow cannot be called a nest xue"; inherited in Rénzǐ Xūzhī, juan 3b).

Note carefully: this case is not the same xue as the "Immortal Offers Palm" Liu ancestral site also recorded from the same locale in the same work (local name Ān Xī; the Southern Sòng tomb of first-settler Liú Sào; see the companion piece Research Materials on the "Immortal Offers Palm" Form at Zǐ Xī, Nánchāng). The two differ in local name, sitting-and-facing, interred person, and site-pointing narrative, yet both belong to the Zǐ Xī Liú clan and both come from Rénzǐ Xūzhī. This report discusses only the "nest not to be buried in" case.

II. Documentary Sources and Correction of the Transmitted Text

Title: Chóngkān Rénzǐ Xūzhī Zīxiào Dìlǐ Xīnxué Tǒngzōng (abbreviated Dìlǐ Rénzǐ Xūzhī) Authors: the Míng-dynasty twin brothers from Déxīng, Jiāngxī: Xú Shànjì (style Wéizhì, sobriquet Shàofēng) and Xú Shànshù (style Wéishì, sobriquet Yǎngfēng) Compilation and structure: first printed in the Jiājìng era of the Míng; reprinted with additions and revisions in Guǐwèi, Wànlì (1583). It is the culminating work of the form school (xíngfǎ). The cases it collects are "all those our brothers personally traversed—either pierced by famous masters, or verified without fail."

Category of this case: Rénzǐ Xūzhī, juan 3b · Xue method · nest forms, followed by a discussion of "anomalous forms and strange bodies." The original text states:

"Beyond regular bodies there are further anomalous forms… and cases of having nest and pincers yet not burying in nest and pincers, of having bulges and breasts yet not burying in bulges and breasts—these are strange bodies, hidden and hard to discern… one must receive transmission from a true master before one can recognize such patterns."

The "Liu ancestral site south of Bái Hú Lǐng, Nánchāng" is the example given for the "a nest exists, yet do not bury in the nest" pattern.

Errors in the user transcript (corrected against multiple sources): The user's transcription is heavily distorted by OCR and re-copying. By collation against transmitted editions of Rénzǐ Xūzhī and related excerpts, the following corrections can be made:

User transcript	Corrected reading	Note
The site on the right is south of Bái Hú Lǐng, Nánchāng	The above site is south of Bái Hú Lǐng, Nánchāng	"The above site" is the standard case heading in Rénzǐ Xūzhī
Its dragon branches from the province; the dragon's flourishing qi leaks through and passes the xue	Its dragon branches from the provincial dragon's flourishing qi, leaking through to form the xue	"Provincial dragon" means the main dragon of the provincial capital (Nánchāng)
peel dragon	the main vein crosses the river to form the provincial capital	"peel" is a corruption of "form"
Xuānshi dé ten years, year yǐmǎo	Xuāndé, tenth year, year yǐmǎo	Xuāndé year 10 = 1435, yǐmǎo year
lù went to view it	suì (thereupon) went to view it
lake-peak fine land, xue hard to pierce	Húfēng fine land, xue hard to pierce
twenty-four spirits… (garbled)	the twenty-four spirits all bow in salute, the thirty-eight generals all face the origin	numbers and phrasing wholly wrong
pounding-medicine pestle sound not yet ceased	pounding-medicine pestle sound not yet ceased
this dragon staff rests the old dragon sleeps	this dragon's staff rests; the old dragon sleeps
chǒu mountain, wèi inverted, kūn towel water	chǒu mountain, wèi facing, kūn-shēn water	sitting and facing
first produces literary timber and hairpin	first produces wénlín and fèngyì (official titles)	civil titles
southern district by security set farms	southern district, northern hamlet set farms
tax money three-seven thousand strings	tax money thirty-seven thousand strings
three generations of prodigies pass the exam; ten-thousand iron trees also smoke	three generations of prodigies pass the exam; even iron trees grow smoke
brothers' four branches all prosper; burn this paperweight jade worm	brothers' four branches all prosper; burn some paper money by the jade censer
one stone of hemp on the border should be added	one stone of sesame should be added

Corrected main text of the case illustration (from the "a nest exists, yet do not bury in the nest" entry in Rénzǐ Xūzhī):

The above site is south of Bái Hú Lǐng, Nánchāng. Its dragon branches from the provincial dragon's flourishing qi, leaking through to form the xue. From Hèxiān Gāng it opens a metal-water curtain, drawn out from within the curtain. At the East City Gate it crosses the gorge; then again reaches Mùzhàng Ridge where the five stars gather in assembly; it opens horizontally the great Immortal Bridge curtain, drawn out from its center. At the West City Gate it again undergoes a major break, rising as the Bái Hú wood star that pierces heaven, pure and lovely. The main vein crosses the river to form the provincial capital. This dragon issues from the side of Bái Hú, forming a regular three-terrace. A single fine thread of vein draws down from the central peak, then rises as a metal star of great yang; the old dragon draws out a tender branch to form the xue. Yet the front is level and open, like a nest yet not a nest—an empty nest without qi. The xue flashes to one side, and drops lower and level, forming a lower gathering. The ignorant may fault the dragon as short. They do not know that this is a flourishing stretch of the great trunk, where every inch is jade. Moreover, a three-terrace forming a xue in a single joint is a pattern of the highest rank. It is only that the xue star has a nest and is not buried in, which is extremely hard to recognize. The true qi flashes to the left side, forming a slight bulge like an old oyster spitting a pearl—extraordinary and rare. Left and right embrace with feeling; the river before the face winds around; wondrous peaks bow in salute—a truly fine site. After the Liú clan buried there in the ninth year of Xuāndé, people and wealth greatly prospered, and examination successes came in unbroken succession. The qianji of Hé Yěyún is recorded below.

In the tenth year of Xuāndé, the year yǐmǎo, I was passing through Zǐ Xī in Nánchāng, and called on Liú Jìzhí of the Liú clan. We met as old friends, and from morning to evening he was tireless. Discoursing with him on yin-yang and geographical theory, I said: "'Divining the dwelling and the tomb, and settling the deceased therein'—this is a great affair of a child. Moreover, since high antiquity, those who have held states and houses have all chosen among mountain and river forms so as to settle both yang and yin dwellings, as a plan for descendants far into the future." Jìzhí assented respectfully. After another ten days or so he told me: "Last winter I buried my late wife on Bái Hú Lǐng; I would like the master to examine it." I consented. Thereupon I went to view it. Seeing that the place was indeed a thousand-year site for pines and catalpas, I left a qianji for later verification.

The qianji says: Húfēng fine land, xue hard to pierce; the immortal palace on the left side—you claim first place. The twenty-four spirits all bow in salute; the thirty-eight generals all face the origin. The pounding-medicine pestle sound has not yet ceased; this dragon's staff rests; the old dragon sleeps. Chǒu mountain, wèi facing, kūn-shēn water; sons and grandsons announce at the golden steps of the jade hall. First will come wénlín and fèngyì; farms will be set in southern district and northern hamlet. Tax money of thirty-seven thousand strings; gold and jade fill the chests beyond the counting of years. Three generations of prodigies pass the exam as if by right; even iron trees grow smoke. If you ask the number of descendants? Count out a full stone of sesame. Brothers' four branches all prosper; burn some paper money by the jade censer.

III. Form-Method Interpretation (Incoming Dragon · Xue · Sha and Water · Sitting and Facing · Nomenclature by Resemblance)

1. Incoming Dragon (Flourishing qi of the provincial dragon; stripping and transformation of noble pattern)

The incoming dragon of this case is defined as the "flourishing qi of the provincial dragon"—that is, a vigorous branch split off from the main dragon of Nánchāng (the provincial capital). The course sequence (restored from the original text):

From Hèxiān Gāng it opens a metal-water curtain (a curtain of metal-water stars, indicating purity and rank) → drawn out from within the curtain;
At the East City Gate it crosses the gorge (binding qi at the pass) → then reaches Mùzhàng Ridge, where the five stars gather in assembly (the five peaks of metal, wood, water, fire, and earth convene—a noble pattern) → opens horizontally the great Immortal Bridge curtain → drawn out from its center;
At the West City Gate, again a major break (a drop-break rising to a summit) → rises as the Bái Hú wood star that pierces heaven, pure and lovely;
The main vein crosses the river to form the provincial capital (the main trunk continues across the river to congeal into the prefectural city of Nánchāng)—this sentence makes clear that what this case occupies is a branch where the provincial dragon's flourishing qi leaks through, not the main trunk;
The dragon that forms the xue issues from the side of Bái Hú, forming a regular three-terrace (the three-terrace star, a pattern of the highest rank) → a fine thread of vein draws down from the central peak → then rises as a metal star of great yang → the old dragon draws out a tender branch to form the xue.

Characteristics of the course: the great curtain, five-star assembly, Immortal Bridge curtain, three-terrace, and metal star of great yang—noble star-peak patterns are complete. "The old dragon draws out a tender branch" is the image of "a flourishing stretch of the great trunk, where every inch is jade." The original text specially rebuts "the ignorant may fault the dragon as short": on the surface the entry is short, but in fact because it is a "flourishing stretch of the great trunk" the qi gathers, and "a three-terrace forming a xue in a single joint" is already of the highest rank—one need not judge by length.

2. Xue (The core of "a nest exists, yet do not bury in the nest")

The front of the xue star is level and open, like a nest yet not a nest—an empty nest without qi (i.e., the false nest that Rénzǐ Xūzhī condemns as "lazy, flat, empty, and void");
The true qi flashes to the left side, forming a slight bulge like an old oyster spitting a pearl—extraordinary and rare. This is "seeking a bulge within a nest": in a nest-form configuration the true xue is not at the nest's heart, but at a slight bulge on the nest's edge. Yáng Yúnsōng's Yí Lóng Jīng, "a nest form must curve like a nest… a sloping hollow cannot be called a nest xue," and Liú Bówēn's Kānyú Mànxìng, "a false nest that has a xue is unfit for piercing; lazy, flat, empty, and void, missing one side," both express this principle;
The xue flashes to one side, and drops lower and level, forming a lower gathering ("lower gathering" means qi gathering at the lower place; one must point the xue at the low place, as opposed to "upper gathering" on high mountains).
This pattern Rénzǐ Xūzhī classifies among the strange bodies of "having a nest and not burying in the nest," "extremely hard to recognize," requiring "transmission from a true master before one can recognize it."

3. Sha and Water

Left and right embrace with feeling (Azure Dragon and White Tiger embrace appropriately);
The river before the face winds around (water winds before the xue, bounding and gathering qi);
Wondrous peaks bow in salute (the facing mountains pay court with feeling). Together these form the usual auspicious pattern of "storing wind and gathering qi; sha and water with feeling." It is only that the xue is not in the front nest but in the flashing bulge that it is called strange.

4. Sitting and Facing (Lǐqì; pending verification)

The qianji states clearly: "chǒu mountain, wèi facing, kūn-shēn water." Chǒu mountain, wèi facing lies on the gēn-kūn line (earth-origin dragon); water / water mouth comes from the kūn-shēn direction.

This is the lǐqì sitting-and-facing recorded in the qianji, not measured in local gazetteers; keep as pending;
Moreover it differs from the bǐng facing, combined with wǔ of the "Immortal Offers Palm" case in the same work—further proof the two cases are not one xue;
The Wànlì edition of Rénzǐ Xūzhī already mixed in celestial-star lǐqì; when citing sitting-and-facing one must check the layer of the original text and not treat it as a final conclusion.

5. Nomenclature by Resemblance (Hèxíng)

Primary hèxíng: an old oyster spits a pearl (the image of the slight bulge on the left side);
Supporting images: lake-peak, immortal palace (the qian's "the immortal palace on the left side—you claim first place"), the twenty-four spirits / thirty-eight generals bowing in court (stellar-spirit saluting imagery elaborated in the qian—auspicious literary prophecy, not literal mountain shapes). Hèxíng is for the convenience of memorization; the Xú brothers also held that "in hèxíng one takes the meaning, not the form." This case's "old oyster spits a pearl" should likewise be understood as a figurative expression of "a flashing bulge with feeling."

IV. Site Pointing / Qianji: Identification of Hé Yěyún (Critical)

This case is signed "qianji of Hé Yěyún," dated the tenth year of Xuāndé (1435, yǐmǎo). Yet the name "Hé Yěyún" has been confused between two persons in transmission and must be distinguished:

(1) Hé Yěyún, the "Louse Mother Immortal" of Cháoshàn (1325–1393). According to the Guāngxù Cháoyáng Xiànzhì, juan 13, miscellany: "In the early Míng there was one called Louse Mother Immortal, skilled in the arts of the Green Crow, who came to Cháoyáng to choose sites for people… some say he was Hé Yěyún, who followed Chén Yǒuliàng and, after his defeat, came here feigning madness." Tradition holds him a strategist of Chén Yǒuliàng (or said to be Zōu Pǔshèng), active in Cháoshàn in the early Míng, dying in the twenty-sixth year of Hóngwǔ (1393), and revered as "Dragon-Tail Holy King / Louse Mother Immortal." This person has nothing to do with this case—his year of death (1393) is more than forty years earlier than the qianji's date (1435); he could not have been "passing through Zǐ Xī in Nánchāng" in the tenth year of Xuāndé.

(2) The Fēngchéng geomancer Hé Déhóng (sobriquet Yěyún, 1354–1456). The "Bibliography of Famous Geomancers Cited" in the front matter of Rénzǐ Xūzhī explicitly lists: "Héjiā Shāfǎ, by Hé Déhóng of Nántáng, Fēngchéng, Míng." The Fēngchéng Jiànyì Liútái Hé Shì Dàchéng Zúpǔ records Hé Déhóng (style Déhóng, sobriquet Nántáng, 1354–1456) as a famous early-Míng geomancer who compiled the clan genealogy in his lifetime and described his own origins in detail. His sobriquet "Yěyún" is recorded in the genealogy as received from Emperor Chéngzǔ (Zhū Dì)'s praise "traces like a wild cloud," adopted as his proper name (a claim of modern genealogy research; pending verification). The "Hé Yěyún" of this case's qianji fits the dates of Hé Déhóng (1435, then about eighty-one years old), and Rénzǐ Xūzhī records his Héjiā Shāfǎ—the person intended is this Fēngchéng line of Hé Déhóng, not the Cháoshàn Louse Mother Immortal.

Conclusion: In the Nánchāng Bái Hú Lǐng case of Rénzǐ Xūzhī, "Hé Yěyún" should refer to the Fēngchéng geomancer Hé Déhóng (1354–1456); he and the Cháoshàn "Louse Mother Immortal" Hé Yěyún (1325–1393) are different persons of the same name, often conflated in later transmission. The signature and date of this case's qianji agree with the bibliographic record in Rénzǐ Xūzhī and may corroborate each other. Yet Hé Déhóng's specific life relies largely on modern genealogy (the Fēngchéng Hé Genealogy) and later hearsay; third-party historical evidence for claims such as "Zhū Dì's state preceptor / Directorate of Astronomy" is insufficient. Therefore his complete life story and the precise relationship to this case remain pending investigation.

V. Present-Day Location and Relationship to the Two Cases in the Same Work

1. Present-day location

Zǐ Xī = today's Jiànxiá Village, Xiàngtáng Town, Nánchāng County, Jiāngxī Province (ancient Zǐ Xī Village). This is already recorded in multiple local gazetteers, genealogies, and local histories. Jiànxiá Village "leans south on the saddle, gazing at the peaks," borders the Fǔ River to the east, and lies near the Luò River (Chìbì) to the west—the same region as the "local name Ān Xī" of the "Immortal Offers Palm" case in Rénzǐ Xūzhī.
Bái Hú Lǐng: the original text says "south of Bái Hú Lǐng, Nánchāng." Searching modern place-name databases does not turn up an official "Bái Hú Lǐng" in Nánchāng County, but the following clues may be consulted:
- The Preface to the Origins of the Zǐ Xī Liú clan genealogy records the scenic situation of Zǐ Xī: "Jiàn Lake irrigates from the north; one looks south to the saddle; Zǐ Xī alone is a vast single body of water." There was originally a Jiàn Lake (or Bái Hú) water body nearby;
- The same preface also says "Crane Ridge, White Elephant and other peaks face it like a screen"—"Crane Ridge" corresponds exactly to this case's "from Hèxiān Gāng opens a metal-water curtain." Several of the original text's hèxíng place-names (Hèxiān Gāng, Bái Hú, Mǎ'ān) are thus stylized names of real mountains and waters around Zǐ Xī;
- Today Huángmǎ Township, Nánchāng County, has place-names such as "Báihǔ Lǐng" (about 28.32°N, 116.01°E); "Bái Hú / Báihǔ" may have been mixed in writing due to dialectal near-homophony.
- In sum, Bái Hú Lǐng should lie around Jiànxiá Village (ancient Zǐ Xī), near the Jiàn Lake / Crane Ridge area; the specific ridge awaits on-site field verification.

2. Relationship to the "Immortal Offers Palm" case (two cases from the same clan in the same work)

Rénzǐ Xūzhī collects two cases from the Zǐ Xī Liú clan; they should be read together but not conflated:

Item	Immortal Offers Palm (Ān Xī)	A nest exists, yet do not bury in the nest (south of Bái Hú Lǐng)
Local name	Ān Xī	south of Bái Hú Lǐng
Interred person	First-settler Liú Sào (moved in Qiándào year 3 of the Southern Sòng, 1167)	The wife (late spouse) of Liú Jìzhí, buried winter of Xuāndé year 9 (1434)
Sitting and facing	bǐng facing, combined with wǔ (fire configuration)	chǒu mountain, wèi facing, kūn-shēn water
Site-pointing narrative	Elder Tuō (Jiāngxī Tōngzhì / Rénzǐ Xūzhī · Miscellany)	Qianji of Hé Yěyún (Hé Déhóng of Fēngchéng)
Xue pattern	Palm form / official-star attesting the xue (anomalous high-mountain flat-palm xue)	A nest exists, yet do not bury in the nest (anomalous flashing-bulge lower-gathering xue)
Verified response	Jìqīng, Zǐsù… Grand Secretary Liú Yījǐng; continuous examination successes	"People and wealth greatly prospered; examination successes came in unbroken succession" (auspicious prophecy in the qian)

Both are "fengshui footnotes" to the Liú clan's examination-success narrative, but they belong to different periods, different xue, and different site-pointers. This suggests: (1) Rénzǐ Xūzhī collected more than one auspicious site of the Zǐ Xī Liú clan, reflecting that clan's status as a holder of "famous sites" in Míng form-method discourse; (2) "attributing famous sites from elsewhere to famous masters" is a common narrative motif in fengshui literature (both Elder Tuō and Hé Yěyún are tied to Liú auspicious sites); when citing, one should check the layer of the original text.

VI. Timing Calibration (Important)

This case's "after the Liú clan buried there in Xuāndé year 9, people and wealth greatly prospered, and examination successes came in unbroken succession," together with the examination-success lineage of the "Immortal Offers Palm" case in the same work, both point to the flourishing of the Zǐ Xī Liú clan in the Míng. In measuring their relationship, one must observe the limits of timing and not stretch them without bound:

Distance between burial year and examination successes: The wife's tomb in this case was buried in Xuāndé year 9 (1434). The Liú clan's Míng examination peak ran from Jǐngtài to Wànlì (Jìqīng and Zǐsù from 1451; Grand Secretary Liú Yījǐng in 1595)—a gap of roughly one hundred to one hundred sixty years, about six or seven generations. If the "issuing of rank" of this tomb refers to the clan's Míng examination successes, the gap still falls within what can be said of a "flourishing stretch of the great trunk." But to hang the entire clan's centuries of examination successes on a single wife's tomb already exceeds the sole power of one xue.
Multiple layers of blessing: The qianji elaborates "wénlín and fèngyì; farms and tax money; prodigies passing the exam; brothers' four branches all prospering." These are literary auspicious prophecies, not item-by-item verifiable evidence. Its "examination successes in unbroken succession" should be distinguished from the real examination-name lineage listed for the "Immortal Offers Palm" case in the same work (which matches clan history)—the former is a prophetic qianji; the latter is a list of already-verified honors set out by the Xú brothers.
Assigning primary causes: The Zǐ Xī Liú clan "from the Sòng through the Qīng, continuous examination successes—nearly fifty jìnshì; more than twenty in the Míng; four ministers; one Grand Secretary" (see the study of the Immortal Offers Palm case). Primary causes lie in: (1) several centuries of clan growth, demographic and economic base; (2) cultural capital accumulated from a southern-migration official family (father Liú Yǔndí, jìnshì of Lóngxīng); (3) the broader environment in which Jiāngxī examination successes led the empire in the Míng; (4) a family tradition of "plowing and reading as an inheritance, honoring teachers and valuing education." The claim of ancestral-tomb response (including both this "nest not to be buried in" case and the "Immortal Offers Palm" case) may be understood culturally as a symbol of literary lineage. It is not appropriate to let fengshui alone claim the credit, still less to stretch the timeline without bound to fit later glory.
This case is a wife's tomb: The interred person is the wife of Liú Jìzhí ("the late spouse"); in form-method narrative she is a "secondary formation" / branch. Attribution should be more cautious and not placed on a par with the first-settler's tomb.

VII. Four-Dimension Assessment: Offspring, Wealth, Rank, Longevity

7.1 Basic framework

Yīnzhái influence can be assessed along four dimensions: offspring (dīng), wealth (cái), rank (guì), longevity (shòu). Offspring, wealth, and rank are key; longevity is auxiliary. Timing must not be stretched without bound, at most five generations. Clan prominence is the result of multiple factors; fengshui may be treated as a corroborating reference, not the sole cause.

7.2 Four-dimension assessment for this case

Dimension	Fengshui pattern	Timing verification	Assessment
Offspring	Anomalous true xue flashing (old oyster spits a pearl); qianji "water before the face, mountains in court"	Clan growth is the overall accumulation of the Zǐ Xī Liú clan	Upper-middle
Wealth	Water gained before the face, mountains in court	Attached to official rank; the Liú clan became prominent through examinations, not commerce	Middle
Rank	Anomalous noble pattern; qianji of Hé Déhóng	Míng Liú examinations flourished; peak of examination successes about seven generations after the Xuāndé 1434 burial; yet this is the joint result of multiple ancestral tombs	Upper-middle (cannot claim sole credit)
Longevity	No record	Pending	Pending

Core analysis: This case is the tomb of Liú Jìzhí's wife (a wife's tomb, a "secondary formation"). Its qianji's "examination successes in unbroken succession" is a literary auspicious prophecy. The Liú clan's Míng examination peak should be attributed to the clan's literary-educational accumulation, the broader examination environment, and the joint effect of multiple ancestral sites including the first-settler's "Immortal Offers Palm"—it must not be hung on this wife's tomb alone.

VIII. Open Questions Pending Investigation

Present-day location of Bái Hú Lǐng: the specific ridge awaits on-site field verification (suspected near Jiàn Lake / Crane Ridge; or "Bái Hú / Báihǔ" mixed by near-homophony).
Lineage of Liú Jìzhí: his precise generational place in the Zǐ Xī Liú genealogy, and his degree of kinship with first-settler Liú Sào and Grand Secretary Liú Yījǐng, is not readily available in genealogical records; the original Zǐ Xī Liú Genealogy must be consulted.
Hé Yěyún (Hé Déhóng) and this case: Hé Déhóng's life relies largely on modern genealogy and hearsay; third-party historical evidence for "Zhū Dì's state preceptor / Directorate of Astronomy" is insufficient. Whether he personally came to Zǐ Xī, Nánchāng, and whether the qianji is his own brushwork or a later inscription, remain pending.
Sitting and facing "chǒu mountain, wèi facing, kūn-shēn water": lǐqì recorded in the qianji, not measured in local gazetteers; and the Wànlì edition of Rénzǐ Xūzhī mixed in celestial stars—when citing, check the layer.
Textual variants: differences among the Lóngqìng, Wànlì, and Qīng editions of Rénzǐ Xūzhī for this case, and a comparison of the "nest not to be buried in" illustration with the "Immortal Offers Palm" illustration, await checking against the original illustrations.

IX. Principal References

Note: primary documentary sources (original prefaces and postfaces, case texts), official histories and local gazetteers, and Sòng-Míng form-method classics form the backbone. Modern punctuated editions and place-name searches are auxiliary only and are marked as such. Fengshui self-media / columns (Sohu fengshui, Weibo fengshui posts, etc.) are used only to restore transcription errors and are not cited as settled doctrine.

I. Primary documents (original work and case texts)

Xú Shànjì, Xú Shànshù, Chóngkān Rénzǐ Xūzhī Zīxiào Dìlǐ Xīnxué Tǒngzōng, Wànlì Guǐwèi (1583) reprint. This case is in juan 3b · Xue method · nest forms · anomalous forms and strange bodies, "a nest exists, yet do not bury in the nest" pattern (the main text of this article's illustration is corrected by collation of multiple transmitted editions; see also the Huàlíng Press 2021 punctuated edition by Zhèng Tóng, Illustrated Dìlǐ Rénzǐ Xūzhī, "Forbidden City Collection, Divination Series," based on the Míng Lóngqìng edition held in the Palace Museum).
The same work's front-matter "Bibliography of Famous Geomancers Cited" lists "Héjiā Shāfǎ, by Hé Déhóng of Nántáng, Fēngchéng, Míng"—a clue to the identity of "Hé Yěyún" in this case's qianji.
The same work's "Miscellany" section quotes from Jiāngxī Tōngzhì the entry "Elder Tuō pierced the tomb of the Liú elder of Zǐ Xī" (the basis of the Immortal Offers Palm case; see the companion piece).

II. Official histories and local gazetteers

Guāngxù Cháoyáng Xiànzhì, juan 13, miscellany: "In the early Míng there was one called Louse Mother Immortal… some say he was Hé Yěyún, who followed Chén Yǒuliàng and was defeated"—the gazetteer basis for the Cháoshàn Louse Mother Immortal Hé Yěyún (1325–1393).
Kāngxī Jiāngxī Tōngzhì, Nánchāng Fǔzhì, Nánchāng Xiànzhì: geographic and clan records of the Zǐ Xī Liú clan of Nánchāng and Jiànxiá Village, Xiàngtáng (cross-referenced with genealogies).
Míng History: biographies of examination figures of the Zǐ Xī Liú clan such as Liú Bóyuè and Liú Yījǐng.

III. Genealogies (folk documents, cross-evidenced with gazetteers; original editions pending)

Zǐ Xī Liú Genealogy (transcribed on Jiāpǔ network) and Jìngjiāng Zǐ Xī Liú Genealogy · Study of Ancestral Tomb Illustrations: record the lineage and examination names from Liú Sào (the Elder) downward, and the scenic description "Zǐ Xī lies seventy lǐ from Yùzhāng city… Jiàn Lake irrigates from the north; one looks south to the saddle; Crane Ridge, White Elephant and other peaks face it like a screen."
Fēngchéng Jiànyì Liútái Hé Shì Dàchéng Zúpǔ (modern research on Hé Déhóng / Hé Yěyún's life is based on this; third-party historical evidence still to be supplied).

IV. Classic Sòng-Míng form-method works

Yáng Yúnsōng (attributed / transmitted), Yí Lóng Jīng: "a nest form must curve like a nest… a sloping hollow cannot be called a nest xue" (the general form-method principle of true and false nest forms, which this work inherits).
Liú Bówēn (attributed), Kānyú Mànxìng: "a false nest that has a xue is unfit for piercing; lazy, flat, empty, and void, missing one side" (a popular statement of the "a nest exists, yet do not bury in the nest" theory).
Zhāng Zǐwēi (Sòng), Yùsuǐ Zhēnjīng · Form-Image Xue Essence: source of the hèxíng system.
Guō Pú (Jìn), Zàng Shū: burial-site theories such as "riding the wind it disperses; bounded by water it stops."

V. Modern punctuated editions (edited texts, not the original appearance of the classics; quotations must be checked against the original)

Xú Shànjì, Xú Shànshù; punctuated by Zhèng Tóng, Illustrated Dìlǐ Rénzǐ Xūzhī, Huàlíng Press, 2012.

VI. Modern place-name searches (location reference only; pending on-site survey verification)

Map and gazetteer database searches: coordinates of Jiànxiá Village, Xiàngtáng Town, Nánchāng County; Báihǔ Lǐng, Huángmǎ Township (about 28.32°N, 116.01°E), and other place-names, supporting the distribution of ridges in the Bái Hú Lǐng area.

Appendix: Cross-reference with the companion piece

Research Materials on the "Immortal Offers Palm" Form at Zǐ Xī, Nánchāng (another case of the same clan and locale: the Southern Sòng tomb of first-settler Liú Sào; bǐng combined with wǔ; site pointed by Elder Tuō; official-star attesting the xue pattern; examination-success lineage and timing calibration).
Read together, the two cases show how Rénzǐ Xūzhī collected famous sites of the Zǐ Xī Liú clan one after another, and reveal the narrative structure of "recognizing anomalous xue" and "attributing beauty to famous masters." They also show that "the limits of timing" are indispensable in fengshui interpretation.