Wenzhou Fengshui Xiangshu
Source: Wenzhou Urban Construction Archives, Zhejiang Province
Xiangshu is one of the three major modes of thinking in ancient China. As a tool and means for metaphor, allegory, and symbolism, it has been widely applied and reflected in urban planning and architecture, especially in the design of royal buildings. The planning layout and spatial development of Wenzhou's ancient city implicitly contain the connotation of "Xiangshu." Whenever we touch upon and ponder it, the phrase "Heaven establishes, humans act" pops into our minds, reminding us of the plaque inscribed by the Neo-Confucian master Zhu Xi on the Buddha Hall of Jiangxin Temple: "Opening the Sky's Aura."
To explore this issue, we must first review the words spoken by the renowned numerologist and founder of Fengshui, Guo Pu, when divining the city layout over 1,600 years ago: "If the city is built outside the mountain, it will suddenly become prosperous, but it will inevitably be subject to the dangers of war, fire, and water. If the city surrounds its peak, enemies will not enter the dipper, and peace and comfort can be preserved for a long time." He also said: "In a thousand years, the qi and destiny will begin to flourish." Reading this today, we feel profound reverence: the historical development of Wenzhou's ancient city, today's
the result was actually foreseen by him over a thousand years ago. Buddhism has the concept that "appearance arises from the mind," which can be said to mean that the appearance of a city is generated by the spirit and energy of its planners.
Wenzhou's ancient city is called "Doucheng" (Dipper City) and also "Lucheng" (Deer City). The term "Doucheng" is recorded in the Song edition of "Fangyu Shenglan": "According to the local gazetteer: When the city was first planned, Guo Pu climbed the mountain and observed the land arranged like the Big Dipper. The areas outside the city are Songtai, Haitan, Guogong, and Jigu, known as the Dipper Gates, while Huagai directly faces the mouth; the three mountains outside Ruian Gate are Huangtu, Xunji, and Renwang, which are similar to the handle of the dipper." The layout of these seven mountains resembles the Big Dipper in the sky, hence the name "Doucheng" (Figure 1). Investigating and studying the development history of Wenzhou's ancient city turns out to be highly consistent with the theory of "star rotation and movement" in Chinese Fengshui. This article takes this as an entry point to discuss many surprising "Xiangshu" phenomena in the development of Wenzhou's ancient city into the modern city.
The Han Dynasty text "He Guan Zi • Huan Liu" describes the Big Dipper in the sky as follows: "When the handle of the dipper points east, it is spring for the world; when it points south, it is summer; when it points west, it is autumn; when it points north, it is winter." The book also states that the bright star Da Jiao leads the handle of the Big Dipper to revolve around the North Star. With changes in position and angle, this forms the four seasons and eight solar terms of a year. People divided time and space into spring, summer, autumn, and winter based on this cyclical trajectory of the Big Dipper revolving around the North Star, as well as the changes in the length of solar shadows projected on Earth at that moment. The law of star rotation and movement reveals the great completeness of the year in the Heavenly Dao, which repeats itself (as shown in Figure 2).
Through years of survey and research, we found that the spatial and temporal development process of "Doucheng" actually contains such a journey. Wenzhou's ancient city, with a width of 7 li from east to west, 5 li from north to south, and an area of about 3.8 square kilometers, developed into the current 170 square kilometers. This exactly corresponds to the journey from "when the handle of the dipper points south, it is summer for the world" (Summer Solstice) to "when the handle of the dipper points north, it is winter for the world" (Winter Solstice).
Below, we explain from several aspects how Wenzhou, from its founding to its development to the present, has achieved the great completeness of the four seasons of the year as shown in the rotation of the stars:
I. Regarding the rule of "When the handle of the dipper points east, it is spring for the world; when it points south, it is summer; when it points west, it is autumn; when it points north, it is winter"
The "Zhou Bi Suan Jing" states: "At the Winter Solstice, the day is shortest; the sun rises at Chen and sets at Shen, yang illuminates three, not covering nine. At the Summer Solstice, the day is longest; the sun rises at Yin and sets at Xu, yang illuminates nine, not covering three." This explains that spring, summer, autumn, and winter are determined based on the Earth's equator as the center line, according to the length of shadows projected by the sun on both sides. The ancient method for measuring solar shadows was to erect a pole. "Yang illuminates nine, not covering three" explains that spring, summer, autumn, and winter are determined based on the Earth's equator as the center line, according to the length of shadows projected by the sun on both sides. The ancient method for measuring solar shadows was indeed erecting a pole and measuring. In the process of erecting a pole and measuring, ancients used different methods (changes in spatial angles and lengths) to depict the changes in solar shadows. In the primitive characters on the black pottery fish-bucket-shaped jar unearthed from the Liangzhu Culture site (about 5,000 years ago), we saw the "Eight-Pointed Star Pattern Symbol" formed by combining the number of heaven five and the number of earth five (Figure 3).
The earth number five placed horizontally in Figure 3 represents the change in the length of the solar shadow projected on the ground, depicting the four seasons and eight solar terms of a year. At the Winter Solstice, the sun rises in the southeast corner (Chen), and the shadow of the pole points to the northwest (Xu); the sun sets in the southwest corner (Shen), and the shadow points to the northeast (Yin). At the Summer Solstice, the sun rises in the northeast corner (Yin), and the shadow of the pole points to the southwest (Shen); the sun sets in the northwest corner (Xu), and the shadow points to the southeast (Chen). This is the earth number five pattern in Figure 3.
The heaven number five in Figure 3-Seven Five represents the change in the angle of the solar shadow projected on the ground, depicting the four seasons and eight solar terms. This shows that the number of heaven displays the law of the universe's operation through multi-dimensional angular changes, while the number of earth displays it through length changes.
In the primitive characters on the black pottery fish-bucket-shaped jar unearthed from the Liangzhu Culture site 5,000 years ago, we saw the "Eight-Pointed Star Pattern Symbol" formed by combining the number of heaven five and the number of earth five. This refers to the fact that the change of star rotation and movement is a complex, multi-dimensional process. It uses geometric circles, squares, and angles to reflect the concept of the sun's shadow measured by the gnomon and sundial, the concept of round heaven and square earth, and the cyclical law of the universe's operation.
In summary, the ancients elaborated on the rules of the four seasons and eight solar terms of a year based on the changes in the position and angle of the shadows produced between the sun and the Earth.
When Guo Pu surveyed Wenzhou's city, he discovered that the topography and landforms of Wenzhou contained this law. Therefore, he called Wenzhou "Doucheng" and predicted the inevitable result of its development a thousand years later based on the rotation rules of the Big Dipper in astronomy. We will now discuss the rationale behind its existence based on the changes in length and angle of the topography and landforms in Wenzhou's urban development.
II. The Eight-Bless Pagoda from Jiangxin Temple to Cihu South Village — The Earth Axis of Wenzhou (Figure 1)
The geographical location on Earth is determined by latitude and longitude lines, among which the longitude lines are formed by the straight line connecting the South Pole and the North Pole of the Earth. Then, a city should also have a positioning line to determine its orientation. If so, where is the positioning line, i.e., the earth axis, of Wenzhou's city?
In the poem "Touring Guyu" by Wen Lin, the Prefect of Wenzhou during the Ming Dynasty, there is a line: "For thousands of years, the rivers and mountains have their root on the earth axis; how many achievements have broken the荒 (barrenness)?" This clarifies that Wenzhou's ancient city has a root earth axis related to Jiangxin Islet, and this earth axis enables Wenzhou's city to achieve groundbreaking accomplishments. According to the "Wenzhou City Gazetteer • Ancient Figures," Wen Lin was "profoundly learned, proficient in Fengshui and divination, with no skill he did not master, and particularly proud of his knowledge of statecraft." From this, we learn that Wen Lin, as a prefect, was a famous Fengshui master at that time. In our search, we also discovered that the Southern Song Dynasty Prime Minister Wen Tianxiang, in his poem "Jiangxin Temple," directly pointed out the relationship between Jiangxin Temple and the earth axis with the opening line: "In the late year, I set foot in Dong'ou, only then did I feel the earth axis floating southeast."
Given this, we began to search for Wenzhou's earth axis around Jiangxin Temple.
We took the landmark building of Jiangxin Islet, Jiangxin Temple, as the starting point, and spent three whole years searching for the endpoint of the "root earth axis" on the map of Wenzhou and in front of the large sand table at the Wenzhou Planning Exhibition Hall. It was only by chance while shooting and editing the book "Wenzhou Ancient Pagodas" that we discovered: on the back hill of Cihu South Village, there is an "Ancient Pagoda Accompanying Clouds," also known as the "Eight-Bless Pagoda," which is surprisingly similar in shape to the East Pagoda of Jiangxin Temple. Further investigation revealed that the line connecting it and Jiangxin Temple actually lies on a "Zi-Wu Line" (North-South line), passing through the peak of Niu Mountain, which has special geographical significance in Wenzhou.
As the root earth axis of Wenzhou, its role in the topography and landforms of Wenzhou is undoubtedly significant. So, what role does it play in "star rotation and movement"?
III. The development of Wenzhou's city from its establishment to today has a magical connection with the number 1680, which has special meaning in our traditional culture, and this number represents the principle of "star rotation and movement"1680 is a magical number in traditional culture. First, in Fengshui, there is the theory of the 28 Lunar Mansions. Multiplying 28 by the 60 Jiazi cycle of the Chinese calendar gives 1680. The 60 Jiazi is a cycle number in the Chinese calendar, meaning 1680 is a cycle number in Fengshui; second, according to the "Dictionary of Buddhism," 16.8 million years is a minor kalpa mentioned in Buddhism, where one life and one destruction are called "one kalpa." Kalpa refers to the cycle of birth and destruction, including the four kalpas of "formation, existence, destruction, and emptiness," referring to the cycle of time, the cycle of life, and the cycle shown by principles and facts.
The topography and landforms of Wenzhou's city constantly manifest appearances related to the number 1680 in both time and space.
From a temporal perspective: Wenzhou's ancient city was built in 323 AD. By 2003, when the administrative center moved from the former Fuqian Street to the current Shifu Road, exactly 1680 years of development had passed. From this, we can see the number that coincides with heavenly will in the temporal manifestation of Wenzhou's urban development journey.
From a spatial perspective, let's look at the connection between Wenzhou's ancient city and the number 1680. Historical verification shows that the most representative site reflecting Wenzhou's historical culture and talented people, Jiangxin Temple, has its main gate facing South-East by 12 degrees, and it lies on the same straight line as the East and West Pagodas on Jiangxin Islet (i.e., East by North 12 degrees, as shown in Figure 1). Taking the earth axis formed by Jiangxin Temple and the Eight-Bless Pagoda as a straight line, subtracting 12 degrees from 180 gives 168. Drawing a straight line at this 168 position, this line just passes through the peak of Songtai Mountain, one of the stars constituting the Big Dipper — the Jingguang Pagoda.
From an astronomical perspective, because there is an angle (the obliquity of the ecliptic) between the Earth's equatorial plane and the plane of the Earth's orbit around the sun (the ecliptic plane). One revolution of the Earth around the sun is called a year. Because "the Earth is tilted," the position where the sun is directly overhead is not always the equator, but fluctuates north and south around the equator. We connect the points where the sun is directly overhead in the Northern Hemisphere to the farthest point, forming a line called the Tropic of Cancer. Similarly, the line where it is directly overhead at the southernmost point is the Tropic of Capricorn. For the Northern Hemisphere, the day when the sun is directly overhead at the Tropic of Cancer is called the Summer Solstice. According to the "Zhou Bi Suan Jing"'s measurement of the 24 solar terms, the length of the solar shadow at the Summer Solstice is 1.6 chi, while the pole length is 8. Calculating through trigonometric laws, the apex angle is exactly 12 degrees (as shown in Figure 4). Thus, this 12 degrees is a specific shadow formed by the Earth's revolution around the sun — the starting point of the important solar term Summer Solstice in spring and autumn. In other words, this line manifests the appearance of Wenzhou's topography and landforms at the beginning of the Summer Solstice in the law of star rotation and movement.
In short, the number 1680 contains the Daoist principles that we cannot see. The number 1680 appears so mysteriously in Wenzhou's topography and landforms and in its historical development. As the sage Laozi said, "The Dao that can be told is not the eternal Dao; The name that can be named is not the eternal name." This fully demonstrates the mystery and extraordinariness of traditional Chinese culture.
IV. The development of Wenzhou from an ancient city to a modern city is exactly the journey from the Summer Solstice to the Winter Solstice in star rotation and movement (Figure 4)
In the previously published article "Exploring the Central Axis of the Ancient City of Wenzhou," we discussed that the central axis of the ancient city of Wenzhou is Jiangxin Temple, the old City Government, and Xun Mountain. The angle between it and the earth axis is approximately 37 degrees, and this angle is the endpoint line of the Summer Solstice in the "Gnomon Shadow Measurement" diagram of the myth of Xihe giving birth to ten days (the starting point of Summer Solstice is 12 degrees).
We then connect the points of the old City Government and the new City Government. The angle formed by this line and Wenzhou's earth axis is approximately 64 degrees, and this degree is the pole line of the Winter Solstice in the "Gnomon Shadow Measurement" diagram of the myth of Xihe giving birth to ten days. The development of Wenzhou from an ancient city to a modern city is the journey from "city surrounding its peak" to the current "city outside the mountain," and also the journey from the Summer Solstice to the Winter Solstice in star rotation and movement.
V. The topography and landforms of Wenzhou's city, whether naturally formed or planned later, hide the momentum of rotation (Figure 1)
The central axis of the ancient city of Wenzhou is Jiangxin Temple, the old City Government, and Xun Mountain. Its angle is 37 degrees, and this angle is the endpoint line of the Summer Solstice in the "Gnomon Shadow Measurement" diagram of the myth of Xihe giving birth to ten days. The length of this central axis of Wenzhou's ancient city is approximately 7 li (i.e., from Xun Mountain to Jiangxin Temple). The "Wenzhou Prefecture Gazetteer, Volume 1" states: "Wen is ancient Dong'ou. Although remote in a corner of the sea, it corresponds to the mansion of Niu above and occupies the position of Shao Yang below." In the "I Ching," 7 represents "Shao Yang" (Young Yang). We then connect Xun Mountain and the new City Government on the map of Wenzhou. The length of this segment is also approximately 7 li. Taking Xun Mountain as the center and 7 li as the radius to draw a circle manifests one of the rotational trends of Wenzhou's topography and landforms.
We then look at the appearance of changes in space (heaven number) from Wenzhou's topography and landforms. As mentioned above, the Han Dynasty text "He Guan Zi • Huan Liu" describes the Big Dipper in the sky as follows: "When the handle of the dipper points east, it is spring for the world; when it points south, it is summer; when it points west, it is autumn; when it points north, it is winter." The book also states that the bright star Da Jiao leads the handle of the Big Dipper to revolve around the North Star. With changes in position and angle, this forms the four seasons and eight solar terms of a year. Baidu describes the Big Dipper as follows: "Relative to the North Star, the position of the Big Dipper is basically unchanged, but the Earth's rotation makes people feel that the Big Dipper is revolving around the North Star (actually revolving around the Earth's axis). If you watch the Big Dipper continuously for a night, you will find it also rotates from east to west, but it cannot be seen when the sun comes out during the day."
We connect Xun Mountain and Renwang Mountain, which constitute the handle of the dipper, extending southwest to intersect with Niu Mountain, which is on Wenzhou's earth axis, forming a straight line (Figure 1). The record in "Yongjia County Gazetteer — Volume 1: Fenye" states: "Yongjia (Wenzhou was called Yongjia in ancient times) belongs to the fourth degree of Niu." The "Wenzhou Prefecture Gazetteer, Volume 1" states: "Wen is ancient Dong'ou. Although remote in a corner of the sea, it corresponds to the mansion of Niu above and occupies the position of Shao Yang below." Both records mention "Niu." Mr. Chen Zunqi explained in "History of Chinese Astronomy": "In ancient methods, the Jiao mansion actually starts from Da Jiao. It and the two stars of the Jiao mansion form the shape of an ox's head. Because it is the brightest, it is listed as the first of the twenty-eight mansions." Therefore, the ancients named the peak on the earth axis "Niu Mountain" (Ox Mountain) with deep roots, implicitly referring to the bright star Da Jiao in the sky. As an earth axis, it rotates. The above confirms the second manifestation of the rotational trend in Wenzhou's topography and landforms of the saying that Da Jiao leads the handle of the Big Dipper to revolve around the North Star, forming the four seasons and eight solar terms with changes in position and angle.
We then take the old City Government as the center and the distance to Niu Mountain as the radius to draw a circle. The new City Government is on this circle. This is the third manifestation of the rotational trend of star rotation and movement in Wenzhou's topography and landforms. In short, the topography and landforms of Wenzhou's city, whether viewed from the perspective of natural formation or later planning, hide many appearances related to the rotation of star rotation and movement. We will not detail them one by one here.
VI. Wenzhou's ancient city has three main roads, reflecting the planning concept of star rotation and movement (Figure 4)
According to materials from the "Proceedings of the 6th Annual Conference of the Architecture History Branch of the Chinese Institute of Architects and the Academic Symposium on Guo Pu's Planning Thoughts for the 1680th Anniversary of the Construction of the Ancient City of Wenzhou," the waterways within the ancient city of Wenzhou are mainly structured by three longitudinal waterways. These three waterways are the Dajie River (now Jiefang Road), Xinhe River (now Xinhe Street), and Jiusan River. These three longitudinal backbone waterways form the water network of the city's waterways with transverse alleys. The directions of these three longitudinal waterways are: Dajie River is South-East by 32 degrees, Xinhe Street is South-East by 19 degrees, and Jiusan River is South-East by 37 degrees. These degrees are the dividing lines for spring, summer, autumn, and winter in the "Gnomon Shadow Measurement" diagram of the myth of Xihe giving birth to ten days. 37 degrees is the endpoint line of the Summer Solstice; 19 degrees reflects the angle from the beginning to the end of the Winter Solstice in the "Gnomon Shadow Measurement" diagram. 32 degrees is the bisector from the Summer Solstice to the Winter Solstice, i.e., 64 degrees, which is also the dividing line for the Spring Equinox and Autumn Equinox in Figure 4-2.
64 degrees is both the endpoint line and the starting line of the new year in the "Gnomon Shadow Measurement" diagram of the myth of Xihe giving birth to ten days. The number 64 is also the number of hexagrams in the "I Ching." No wonder Zhu Xi said in "I Ching and Calendar": "The sixty-four hexagrams are all arranged naturally by the Heavenly Principle... originally not adding a single bit of human wisdom." So it is.
VII. The terms "Deer City" and "Turtle City" actually implicitly refer to the theory of spring, summer, autumn, and winter, and also contain the connotation of star rotation and movement
In the process of consulting a large amount of historical and literary materials, we unexpectedly discovered that Wenzhou was called "Lucheng" (Deer City) in ancient times not only because of the legend that over 1,000 years ago, when the city walls were difficult to build and people were worried, colorful auspicious clouds rose in the sky, and a white deer carrying fragrant flowers descended from the sky and ran rapidly around the city. It actually has a deeper meaning:
On page 66 of the book "Introduction to Archaeoastronomy," it says, "The character 'Lu' (Deer) can be used for 'Lu' (Land). Four 'Lu's mean four lands, which is the meaning of the four seasons of spring, summer, autumn, and winter." Therefore, Wenzhou's alias "Lucheng" should contain the meaning of star rotation and movement. It has a similar subtle use to Wenzhou being called "Doucheng" (Dipper City).
In our article "Re-analyzing the Ancient City of Wenzhou as a Turtle City from the Perspective of Image, Principle, and Number" (published in "Urban Construction Archives" and "Zhejiang Construction"), we elaborated that the topography and landforms of Wenzhou's ancient city are like a divine turtle floating at the mouth of the Ou River. Liu Xiang of the Han Dynasty said about the spiritual turtle: "Its four toes rotate to respond to the four seasons, and its patterns manifest the twenty-eight mansions." The "four seasons" in the text refers to "spring, summer, autumn, and winter," and the "twenty-eight mansions" is also a cycle number. Therefore, Wenzhou's ancient names "Doucheng" (Dipper City), "Lucheng" (Deer City), and "Turtle City" all contain the heavenly meaning of star rotation and movement.
The journey from the development of Wenzhou's ancient city to the new Wenzhou city today manifests the journey of spring, summer, autumn, and winter in the star rotation and movement of astronomy. In the development journey of Wenzhou's topography and landforms, we discovered the true reality of "Humans follow the Earth, Earth follows Heaven, Heaven follows Dao, and Dao follows Nature."
Speaking of Wenzhou's topography and landforms, thinking about the development journey of Wenzhou's city, it reminds us of the words once spoken by the scientist Mr. Qian Xuesen: Science cannot be defined and divided by people's subjective consciousness at present. Here, we directly sigh at the profound wisdom and far-sightedness of ancient masters. At the same time, it also triggers our thinking: The ancients said that humans are formed by essence, qi, and spirit. Cities should also have them. So, how should current planners reflect the essence, qi, and spirit of Wenzhou's city?
the result was actually foreseen by him over a thousand years ago. Buddhism has the concept that "appearance arises from the mind," which can be said to mean that the appearance of a city is generated by the spirit and energy of its planners.
Wenzhou's ancient city is called "Doucheng" (Dipper City) and also "Lucheng" (Deer City). The term "Doucheng" is recorded in the Song edition of "Fangyu Shenglan": "According to the local gazetteer: When the city was first planned, Guo Pu climbed the mountain and observed the land arranged like the Big Dipper. The areas outside the city are Songtai, Haitan, Guogong, and Jigu, known as the Dipper Gates, while Huagai directly faces the mouth; the three mountains outside Ruian Gate are Huangtu, Xunji, and Renwang, which are similar to the handle of the dipper." The layout of these seven mountains resembles the Big Dipper in the sky, hence the name "Doucheng" (Figure 1). Investigating and studying the development history of Wenzhou's ancient city turns out to be highly consistent with the theory of "star rotation and movement" in Chinese Fengshui. This article takes this as an entry point to discuss many surprising "Xiangshu" phenomena in the development of Wenzhou's ancient city into the modern city.
The Han Dynasty text "He Guan Zi • Huan Liu" describes the Big Dipper in the sky as follows: "When the handle of the dipper points east, it is spring for the world; when it points south, it is summer; when it points west, it is autumn; when it points north, it is winter." The book also states that the bright star Da Jiao leads the handle of the Big Dipper to revolve around the North Star. With changes in position and angle, this forms the four seasons and eight solar terms of a year. People divided time and space into spring, summer, autumn, and winter based on this cyclical trajectory of the Big Dipper revolving around the North Star, as well as the changes in the length of solar shadows projected on Earth at that moment. The law of star rotation and movement reveals the great completeness of the year in the Heavenly Dao, which repeats itself (as shown in Figure 2).
Through years of survey and research, we found that the spatial and temporal development process of "Doucheng" actually contains such a journey. Wenzhou's ancient city, with a width of 7 li from east to west, 5 li from north to south, and an area of about 3.8 square kilometers, developed into the current 170 square kilometers. This exactly corresponds to the journey from "when the handle of the dipper points south, it is summer for the world" (Summer Solstice) to "when the handle of the dipper points north, it is winter for the world" (Winter Solstice).
Below, we explain from several aspects how Wenzhou, from its founding to its development to the present, has achieved the great completeness of the four seasons of the year as shown in the rotation of the stars:
I. Regarding the rule of "When the handle of the dipper points east, it is spring for the world; when it points south, it is summer; when it points west, it is autumn; when it points north, it is winter"
The "Zhou Bi Suan Jing" states: "At the Winter Solstice, the day is shortest; the sun rises at Chen and sets at Shen, yang illuminates three, not covering nine. At the Summer Solstice, the day is longest; the sun rises at Yin and sets at Xu, yang illuminates nine, not covering three." This explains that spring, summer, autumn, and winter are determined based on the Earth's equator as the center line, according to the length of shadows projected by the sun on both sides. The ancient method for measuring solar shadows was to erect a pole. "Yang illuminates nine, not covering three" explains that spring, summer, autumn, and winter are determined based on the Earth's equator as the center line, according to the length of shadows projected by the sun on both sides. The ancient method for measuring solar shadows was indeed erecting a pole and measuring. In the process of erecting a pole and measuring, ancients used different methods (changes in spatial angles and lengths) to depict the changes in solar shadows. In the primitive characters on the black pottery fish-bucket-shaped jar unearthed from the Liangzhu Culture site (about 5,000 years ago), we saw the "Eight-Pointed Star Pattern Symbol" formed by combining the number of heaven five and the number of earth five (Figure 3).
The earth number five placed horizontally in Figure 3 represents the change in the length of the solar shadow projected on the ground, depicting the four seasons and eight solar terms of a year. At the Winter Solstice, the sun rises in the southeast corner (Chen), and the shadow of the pole points to the northwest (Xu); the sun sets in the southwest corner (Shen), and the shadow points to the northeast (Yin). At the Summer Solstice, the sun rises in the northeast corner (Yin), and the shadow of the pole points to the southwest (Shen); the sun sets in the northwest corner (Xu), and the shadow points to the southeast (Chen). This is the earth number five pattern in Figure 3.
The heaven number five in Figure 3-Seven Five represents the change in the angle of the solar shadow projected on the ground, depicting the four seasons and eight solar terms. This shows that the number of heaven displays the law of the universe's operation through multi-dimensional angular changes, while the number of earth displays it through length changes.
In the primitive characters on the black pottery fish-bucket-shaped jar unearthed from the Liangzhu Culture site 5,000 years ago, we saw the "Eight-Pointed Star Pattern Symbol" formed by combining the number of heaven five and the number of earth five. This refers to the fact that the change of star rotation and movement is a complex, multi-dimensional process. It uses geometric circles, squares, and angles to reflect the concept of the sun's shadow measured by the gnomon and sundial, the concept of round heaven and square earth, and the cyclical law of the universe's operation.
In summary, the ancients elaborated on the rules of the four seasons and eight solar terms of a year based on the changes in the position and angle of the shadows produced between the sun and the Earth.
When Guo Pu surveyed Wenzhou's city, he discovered that the topography and landforms of Wenzhou contained this law. Therefore, he called Wenzhou "Doucheng" and predicted the inevitable result of its development a thousand years later based on the rotation rules of the Big Dipper in astronomy. We will now discuss the rationale behind its existence based on the changes in length and angle of the topography and landforms in Wenzhou's urban development.
II. The Eight-Bless Pagoda from Jiangxin Temple to Cihu South Village — The Earth Axis of Wenzhou (Figure 1)
The geographical location on Earth is determined by latitude and longitude lines, among which the longitude lines are formed by the straight line connecting the South Pole and the North Pole of the Earth. Then, a city should also have a positioning line to determine its orientation. If so, where is the positioning line, i.e., the earth axis, of Wenzhou's city?
In the poem "Touring Guyu" by Wen Lin, the Prefect of Wenzhou during the Ming Dynasty, there is a line: "For thousands of years, the rivers and mountains have their root on the earth axis; how many achievements have broken the荒 (barrenness)?" This clarifies that Wenzhou's ancient city has a root earth axis related to Jiangxin Islet, and this earth axis enables Wenzhou's city to achieve groundbreaking accomplishments. According to the "Wenzhou City Gazetteer • Ancient Figures," Wen Lin was "profoundly learned, proficient in Fengshui and divination, with no skill he did not master, and particularly proud of his knowledge of statecraft." From this, we learn that Wen Lin, as a prefect, was a famous Fengshui master at that time. In our search, we also discovered that the Southern Song Dynasty Prime Minister Wen Tianxiang, in his poem "Jiangxin Temple," directly pointed out the relationship between Jiangxin Temple and the earth axis with the opening line: "In the late year, I set foot in Dong'ou, only then did I feel the earth axis floating southeast."
Given this, we began to search for Wenzhou's earth axis around Jiangxin Temple.
We took the landmark building of Jiangxin Islet, Jiangxin Temple, as the starting point, and spent three whole years searching for the endpoint of the "root earth axis" on the map of Wenzhou and in front of the large sand table at the Wenzhou Planning Exhibition Hall. It was only by chance while shooting and editing the book "Wenzhou Ancient Pagodas" that we discovered: on the back hill of Cihu South Village, there is an "Ancient Pagoda Accompanying Clouds," also known as the "Eight-Bless Pagoda," which is surprisingly similar in shape to the East Pagoda of Jiangxin Temple. Further investigation revealed that the line connecting it and Jiangxin Temple actually lies on a "Zi-Wu Line" (North-South line), passing through the peak of Niu Mountain, which has special geographical significance in Wenzhou.
As the root earth axis of Wenzhou, its role in the topography and landforms of Wenzhou is undoubtedly significant. So, what role does it play in "star rotation and movement"?
III. The development of Wenzhou's city from its establishment to today has a magical connection with the number 1680, which has special meaning in our traditional culture, and this number represents the principle of "star rotation and movement"1680 is a magical number in traditional culture. First, in Fengshui, there is the theory of the 28 Lunar Mansions. Multiplying 28 by the 60 Jiazi cycle of the Chinese calendar gives 1680. The 60 Jiazi is a cycle number in the Chinese calendar, meaning 1680 is a cycle number in Fengshui; second, according to the "Dictionary of Buddhism," 16.8 million years is a minor kalpa mentioned in Buddhism, where one life and one destruction are called "one kalpa." Kalpa refers to the cycle of birth and destruction, including the four kalpas of "formation, existence, destruction, and emptiness," referring to the cycle of time, the cycle of life, and the cycle shown by principles and facts.
The topography and landforms of Wenzhou's city constantly manifest appearances related to the number 1680 in both time and space.
From a temporal perspective: Wenzhou's ancient city was built in 323 AD. By 2003, when the administrative center moved from the former Fuqian Street to the current Shifu Road, exactly 1680 years of development had passed. From this, we can see the number that coincides with heavenly will in the temporal manifestation of Wenzhou's urban development journey.
From a spatial perspective, let's look at the connection between Wenzhou's ancient city and the number 1680. Historical verification shows that the most representative site reflecting Wenzhou's historical culture and talented people, Jiangxin Temple, has its main gate facing South-East by 12 degrees, and it lies on the same straight line as the East and West Pagodas on Jiangxin Islet (i.e., East by North 12 degrees, as shown in Figure 1). Taking the earth axis formed by Jiangxin Temple and the Eight-Bless Pagoda as a straight line, subtracting 12 degrees from 180 gives 168. Drawing a straight line at this 168 position, this line just passes through the peak of Songtai Mountain, one of the stars constituting the Big Dipper — the Jingguang Pagoda.
From an astronomical perspective, because there is an angle (the obliquity of the ecliptic) between the Earth's equatorial plane and the plane of the Earth's orbit around the sun (the ecliptic plane). One revolution of the Earth around the sun is called a year. Because "the Earth is tilted," the position where the sun is directly overhead is not always the equator, but fluctuates north and south around the equator. We connect the points where the sun is directly overhead in the Northern Hemisphere to the farthest point, forming a line called the Tropic of Cancer. Similarly, the line where it is directly overhead at the southernmost point is the Tropic of Capricorn. For the Northern Hemisphere, the day when the sun is directly overhead at the Tropic of Cancer is called the Summer Solstice. According to the "Zhou Bi Suan Jing"'s measurement of the 24 solar terms, the length of the solar shadow at the Summer Solstice is 1.6 chi, while the pole length is 8. Calculating through trigonometric laws, the apex angle is exactly 12 degrees (as shown in Figure 4). Thus, this 12 degrees is a specific shadow formed by the Earth's revolution around the sun — the starting point of the important solar term Summer Solstice in spring and autumn. In other words, this line manifests the appearance of Wenzhou's topography and landforms at the beginning of the Summer Solstice in the law of star rotation and movement.
In short, the number 1680 contains the Daoist principles that we cannot see. The number 1680 appears so mysteriously in Wenzhou's topography and landforms and in its historical development. As the sage Laozi said, "The Dao that can be told is not the eternal Dao; The name that can be named is not the eternal name." This fully demonstrates the mystery and extraordinariness of traditional Chinese culture.
IV. The development of Wenzhou from an ancient city to a modern city is exactly the journey from the Summer Solstice to the Winter Solstice in star rotation and movement (Figure 4)
In the previously published article "Exploring the Central Axis of the Ancient City of Wenzhou," we discussed that the central axis of the ancient city of Wenzhou is Jiangxin Temple, the old City Government, and Xun Mountain. The angle between it and the earth axis is approximately 37 degrees, and this angle is the endpoint line of the Summer Solstice in the "Gnomon Shadow Measurement" diagram of the myth of Xihe giving birth to ten days (the starting point of Summer Solstice is 12 degrees).
We then connect the points of the old City Government and the new City Government. The angle formed by this line and Wenzhou's earth axis is approximately 64 degrees, and this degree is the pole line of the Winter Solstice in the "Gnomon Shadow Measurement" diagram of the myth of Xihe giving birth to ten days. The development of Wenzhou from an ancient city to a modern city is the journey from "city surrounding its peak" to the current "city outside the mountain," and also the journey from the Summer Solstice to the Winter Solstice in star rotation and movement.
V. The topography and landforms of Wenzhou's city, whether naturally formed or planned later, hide the momentum of rotation (Figure 1)
The central axis of the ancient city of Wenzhou is Jiangxin Temple, the old City Government, and Xun Mountain. Its angle is 37 degrees, and this angle is the endpoint line of the Summer Solstice in the "Gnomon Shadow Measurement" diagram of the myth of Xihe giving birth to ten days. The length of this central axis of Wenzhou's ancient city is approximately 7 li (i.e., from Xun Mountain to Jiangxin Temple). The "Wenzhou Prefecture Gazetteer, Volume 1" states: "Wen is ancient Dong'ou. Although remote in a corner of the sea, it corresponds to the mansion of Niu above and occupies the position of Shao Yang below." In the "I Ching," 7 represents "Shao Yang" (Young Yang). We then connect Xun Mountain and the new City Government on the map of Wenzhou. The length of this segment is also approximately 7 li. Taking Xun Mountain as the center and 7 li as the radius to draw a circle manifests one of the rotational trends of Wenzhou's topography and landforms.
We then look at the appearance of changes in space (heaven number) from Wenzhou's topography and landforms. As mentioned above, the Han Dynasty text "He Guan Zi • Huan Liu" describes the Big Dipper in the sky as follows: "When the handle of the dipper points east, it is spring for the world; when it points south, it is summer; when it points west, it is autumn; when it points north, it is winter." The book also states that the bright star Da Jiao leads the handle of the Big Dipper to revolve around the North Star. With changes in position and angle, this forms the four seasons and eight solar terms of a year. Baidu describes the Big Dipper as follows: "Relative to the North Star, the position of the Big Dipper is basically unchanged, but the Earth's rotation makes people feel that the Big Dipper is revolving around the North Star (actually revolving around the Earth's axis). If you watch the Big Dipper continuously for a night, you will find it also rotates from east to west, but it cannot be seen when the sun comes out during the day."
We connect Xun Mountain and Renwang Mountain, which constitute the handle of the dipper, extending southwest to intersect with Niu Mountain, which is on Wenzhou's earth axis, forming a straight line (Figure 1). The record in "Yongjia County Gazetteer — Volume 1: Fenye" states: "Yongjia (Wenzhou was called Yongjia in ancient times) belongs to the fourth degree of Niu." The "Wenzhou Prefecture Gazetteer, Volume 1" states: "Wen is ancient Dong'ou. Although remote in a corner of the sea, it corresponds to the mansion of Niu above and occupies the position of Shao Yang below." Both records mention "Niu." Mr. Chen Zunqi explained in "History of Chinese Astronomy": "In ancient methods, the Jiao mansion actually starts from Da Jiao. It and the two stars of the Jiao mansion form the shape of an ox's head. Because it is the brightest, it is listed as the first of the twenty-eight mansions." Therefore, the ancients named the peak on the earth axis "Niu Mountain" (Ox Mountain) with deep roots, implicitly referring to the bright star Da Jiao in the sky. As an earth axis, it rotates. The above confirms the second manifestation of the rotational trend in Wenzhou's topography and landforms of the saying that Da Jiao leads the handle of the Big Dipper to revolve around the North Star, forming the four seasons and eight solar terms with changes in position and angle.
We then take the old City Government as the center and the distance to Niu Mountain as the radius to draw a circle. The new City Government is on this circle. This is the third manifestation of the rotational trend of star rotation and movement in Wenzhou's topography and landforms. In short, the topography and landforms of Wenzhou's city, whether viewed from the perspective of natural formation or later planning, hide many appearances related to the rotation of star rotation and movement. We will not detail them one by one here.
VI. Wenzhou's ancient city has three main roads, reflecting the planning concept of star rotation and movement (Figure 4)
According to materials from the "Proceedings of the 6th Annual Conference of the Architecture History Branch of the Chinese Institute of Architects and the Academic Symposium on Guo Pu's Planning Thoughts for the 1680th Anniversary of the Construction of the Ancient City of Wenzhou," the waterways within the ancient city of Wenzhou are mainly structured by three longitudinal waterways. These three waterways are the Dajie River (now Jiefang Road), Xinhe River (now Xinhe Street), and Jiusan River. These three longitudinal backbone waterways form the water network of the city's waterways with transverse alleys. The directions of these three longitudinal waterways are: Dajie River is South-East by 32 degrees, Xinhe Street is South-East by 19 degrees, and Jiusan River is South-East by 37 degrees. These degrees are the dividing lines for spring, summer, autumn, and winter in the "Gnomon Shadow Measurement" diagram of the myth of Xihe giving birth to ten days. 37 degrees is the endpoint line of the Summer Solstice; 19 degrees reflects the angle from the beginning to the end of the Winter Solstice in the "Gnomon Shadow Measurement" diagram. 32 degrees is the bisector from the Summer Solstice to the Winter Solstice, i.e., 64 degrees, which is also the dividing line for the Spring Equinox and Autumn Equinox in Figure 4-2.
64 degrees is both the endpoint line and the starting line of the new year in the "Gnomon Shadow Measurement" diagram of the myth of Xihe giving birth to ten days. The number 64 is also the number of hexagrams in the "I Ching." No wonder Zhu Xi said in "I Ching and Calendar": "The sixty-four hexagrams are all arranged naturally by the Heavenly Principle... originally not adding a single bit of human wisdom." So it is.
VII. The terms "Deer City" and "Turtle City" actually implicitly refer to the theory of spring, summer, autumn, and winter, and also contain the connotation of star rotation and movement
In the process of consulting a large amount of historical and literary materials, we unexpectedly discovered that Wenzhou was called "Lucheng" (Deer City) in ancient times not only because of the legend that over 1,000 years ago, when the city walls were difficult to build and people were worried, colorful auspicious clouds rose in the sky, and a white deer carrying fragrant flowers descended from the sky and ran rapidly around the city. It actually has a deeper meaning:
On page 66 of the book "Introduction to Archaeoastronomy," it says, "The character 'Lu' (Deer) can be used for 'Lu' (Land). Four 'Lu's mean four lands, which is the meaning of the four seasons of spring, summer, autumn, and winter." Therefore, Wenzhou's alias "Lucheng" should contain the meaning of star rotation and movement. It has a similar subtle use to Wenzhou being called "Doucheng" (Dipper City).
In our article "Re-analyzing the Ancient City of Wenzhou as a Turtle City from the Perspective of Image, Principle, and Number" (published in "Urban Construction Archives" and "Zhejiang Construction"), we elaborated that the topography and landforms of Wenzhou's ancient city are like a divine turtle floating at the mouth of the Ou River. Liu Xiang of the Han Dynasty said about the spiritual turtle: "Its four toes rotate to respond to the four seasons, and its patterns manifest the twenty-eight mansions." The "four seasons" in the text refers to "spring, summer, autumn, and winter," and the "twenty-eight mansions" is also a cycle number. Therefore, Wenzhou's ancient names "Doucheng" (Dipper City), "Lucheng" (Deer City), and "Turtle City" all contain the heavenly meaning of star rotation and movement.
The journey from the development of Wenzhou's ancient city to the new Wenzhou city today manifests the journey of spring, summer, autumn, and winter in the star rotation and movement of astronomy. In the development journey of Wenzhou's topography and landforms, we discovered the true reality of "Humans follow the Earth, Earth follows Heaven, Heaven follows Dao, and Dao follows Nature."
Speaking of Wenzhou's topography and landforms, thinking about the development journey of Wenzhou's city, it reminds us of the words once spoken by the scientist Mr. Qian Xuesen: Science cannot be defined and divided by people's subjective consciousness at present. Here, we directly sigh at the profound wisdom and far-sightedness of ancient masters. At the same time, it also triggers our thinking: The ancients said that humans are formed by essence, qi, and spirit. Cities should also have them. So, how should current planners reflect the essence, qi, and spirit of Wenzhou's city?