On the Water Methods Involved in "What the Son of Man Must Know of Geography"

As for the claim that the mountain is uncertain: some discuss the draining of water by the facing head, the receiving of water by the sitting, the joining of water by the incoming dragon, and the release of water by the falling head — this is the uncertainty of the mountain.

Some divide the branch and stem into great, middle, and small spirits, saying the small spirit should flow into the middle, the middle into the great, and the great should not flow into the small or middle directions of branch and stem.

Sanfu notes: what may flow is small into middle, middle into great, middle into small, small into great; only the great may not enter the small or middle spirits. This is Sima Toutuo's method, placing Yi-Xin-Ding-Gui and Chen-Xu-Chou-Wei at the small spirit positions, Jia-Geng-Bing-Ren and Zi-Wu-Mao-Yu at the middle spirit positions, and Qian-Kun-Gen-Xun and Yin-Shen-Si-Hai at the great spirit positions.

Some require only that the great and small spirits combine with Prosperity, Horse, and Nobleman, first using the branch spirits and next the stem dimensions;

Sanfu notes: this builds upon Sima Toutuo's water method with the theory of Prosperity, Horse, and Nobleman; further, first using the branch and then the stem, so as to end with the stem and not suffer the punishments, clashes, controls, and harms of the annual flow.

Some do not use branch spirits within the three turns, but are unconstrained beyond the three turns; some use only the stem dimensions and do not use branch spirits at all.

Sanfu notes: still following the prior method — for water released in three turns, branch spirits are all avoided, to prevent punishment, harm, control, and clash; or whether within or beyond the three turns, only the stems are present. This is what geography calls "releasing water only using the heavenly stems" — yet it must also accord with the theory of small, middle, and great spirits.

Some take Tan, Ju, and Wu — the three auspicious stars — and do not consider the branch and stem spirits.

Sanfu notes: as in the methods governing the nine stars or the Assistant Star, which specifically take Tan, Ju, and Wu as auspicious.

This is the difference in taking and discarding the branch and stem. Some take controlling-out as auspicious and controlling-in as inauspicious; some take controlling-in as auspicious and controlling-out as inauspicious; some take generating-in as auspicious and generating-out as inauspicious. This is the difference in generating and controlling, entering and exiting.

Sanfu notes: this means, as in the Minor Xuan Kong method, relying on the Minor Xuan Kong five elements as primary and discussing its theories of generating-in and controlling-out.

Some discuss water by pure yin and pure yang, some by true yin and true yang, some by Ye Qi's yin and yang. This is the difference in what yin and yang belong to.

Sanfu notes: pure yang/pure yin and true yin/true yang are common enough; speaking of Ye Qi — he was a disciple of Master Yang — hence the discussion.

Some discuss water by the orthodox five elements, some by the Hong Fan five elements, some by the Xuan Kong five elements, some by the trigram five elements. This is the difference in taking and using the five elements.

Sanfu notes: these five elements accord with the prior examples. Of the five elements: orthodox five elements exist, Hong Fan five elements exist, Xuan Kong five elements exist, and trigram five elements exist. But where the taking and using of the five elements differ, so do their positions of birth, prosperity, and tomb.

Some discuss water by lunar mansion degrees; the five elements belonging to those degrees may be metal or wood — the Celestial Mechanism Plain Book and the Cluster Pearls of the Vast Sea, as well as each according to Liang Guan's attributions, all differ. This is the difference in auspicious and inauspicious of the mansion degrees.

Sanfu notes: those who discuss by mansion degrees — the heavenly stars shift — this is hardest to fix. The various schools all differ, each holding it as a secret; yet in substance it ranks with the above.

Some discuss water by saying the coming must be prosperous and the going must be worn and imprisoned; the theory of prosperity may start long life from the three combinations, or from the sitting mountain, or from the orthodox five elements, or from the Xuan Kong five elements. This is the difference in birth, prosperity, weariness, and imprisonment.

Sanfu notes: as discussed before.

Some discuss water by tipping left and tipping right, saying it should flow in or flow out; but tipping left and tipping right have no root in principle. Most earlier traces do not accord. This is the difficulty of trusting left and right, coming and going.

Sanfu notes: the theory of tipping left and right is easy to confuse when discussed; for if one reverses it, auspicious and inauspicious reverse with it, and there is no standard by which to judge the examples.

Some discuss numbers by the nine stars Tan, Ju, Lu, Wen, Lian, Wu, Po, Fu, and Bi — called three wraps of Tan Lang: edge-rising kills the edge, center-rising kills the center — and take Tan, Ju, and Wu as the three auspicious.

Sanfu notes: rising Tan Lang by the Kun-Ren-Yi formula and circling three wraps by the twenty-four mountains — hence "three wraps of Tan Lang."

There is a six-spirit water method, discussing water by Azure Dragon, White Tiger, Vermilion Bird, Black Tortoise, Gouchen, and Tengshe, pairing Azure Dragon with wood, White Tiger with metal, and so on.

Sanfu notes: this may refer to the Heavenly Generals formula; if as in the Plum Blossom formula, taking the Grand Mystery numbers and pairing them with Qian, Kun, Gen, and Xun as 9-8-7-6, then calculating Kun-Ren-Yi as a fire configuration, and all others by analogy — arranging the twelve heavenly generals and converting the twelve growth stages into nine stars.

Some discuss water by the nine stars Tai Yin, Tai Yang, Metal, Water, Heavenly Wealth, Purple Qi, Tiangang, Dry Fire, Sweeping Away, and Lone Luminary, dividing them into four inauspicious and five auspicious — this is the difference between the five stars and the nine stars.

Sanfu notes: this is the discussion of the Thunderbolt lesson configurations.

Some take step counts for the white star as auspicious and matching the water method; some say one step governs three years, some say one year is tied to three steps — this is the difference in white stars of step counts.

Sanfu notes: this is the method of the compass-ruler white star, discussed by step counts, as if measuring the depth and height of the residence.

Some discuss water by Prosperity, Horse, and Nobleman; the method of rising Prosperity, Horse, and Nobleman may be from the sitting mountain, from the facing head, or from the deceased's life fate — this is the difference in Prosperity, Horse, and Nobleman.

Sanfu notes: rising Prosperity, Horse, and Nobleman from sitting mountain, facing head, or deceased's life fate — mountain and facing easily confuse; life fate is hard to verify.

Some discuss water by the true needle of Zi-Wu, some by the seam needle of Ren-Zi and Bing-Wu, some by the copper-plate needle of Zi-Gui and Wu-Ding — this is the difference in the earth-gauge and compass.

Sanfu notes: this is the distinction among Heaven, Earth, and Human plates.

There are further methods such as Ziwei, Chanyu, Plum Blossom, as well as Green Satchel, Dipper Handle, Kui Star, Four Gates Facing the Ancestor, Heavenly Father and Earthly Mother — many schools in all.

Sanfu notes: Ziwei is one formula, Chanyu another, Plum Blossom still another; following the theory of the Heavenly and Earthly Parent trigrams, this is the Assistant Star method.

Each holds one view; believing this one loses that, following Jia this violates Yi — with no fixed basis, how can this be principle! Alas! These are all speculative yin-yang, ensnaring fortune and misfortune, without true transmission or clear insight.

Sanfu notes: it is often said that the Five Star Song has it: "The water methods above thoroughly penetrate the mysterious subtle; the nine-star trigram examples are exhausted — yet pure yin and pure yang truly confuse the world; Ziwei and the trigrams only visit their falsity; Chanyu and Plum Blossom are not orthodox discussions; how can the heavenly-star ancestral temples be known?" And again: "The nine-star water methods have no basis."

Yet this is wrong; it must be a later defamatory text falsely attributed to worthies. For the Plum Blossom formula claims itself as Master Yang's method and must have come later; likewise the nine-star water method also claims to have obtained Master Yang's method — both later issues — how could they receive Master Yang's judgment?

These Ming and Qing polemical texts falsely attributed to ancient worthies have long confused the world. In every school of feng shui there is what can be taken and what is lacking. Only by broadly seeking wide knowledge, discerning the principles, verifying them against actual cases, summarizing the theories, and gathering them into a single tradition is this the correct path.