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59-770: Construction on the palace began in 919, at the beginning of the Goryeo Dynasty; it was built south of the Songak Mountains for good Feng Shui . The palace was divided into two major sections; the Kungsŏng (궁성, 宮城), where the king and royal family resided, and the Hwangsŏng (황성, 皇城), where affairs of state were conducted. Large buildings such as the Changhwa (장화전, 長和殿), and Wŏndŏk (원덕전, 元德殿) Halls contained shrines and living quarters, while Hoegyŏng Hall (회경전, 會慶殿),

118-426: A lacquered , two-sided board with astronomical sightlines. The earliest examples of liuren astrolabes have been unearthed from tombs that date between 278 BC and 209 BC. Along with divination for Da Liu Ren the boards were commonly used to chart the motion of Taiyi (Pole star) through the nine palaces. The markings on a liuren/shi and the first magnetic compasses are virtually identical. The magnetic compass

177-442: A compass) Others Traditional feng shui was a system designed to aid rural villages from the effects of weather and natural disaster. As a set of consistent rules, feng shui can facilitate collective consensus on development without the need of centralized leadership. Understanding that one's actions could damage the feng shui and fortunes of the entire village, individuals were incentivized to know these rules and carefully manage

236-578: A cosmological explanations of events, feng shui allowed for the expression of otherwise impermissible political opinions. During the Boxer Rebellion , feng shui was used to justify attacks on western missionaries and colonial infrastructure. Under the perceptions of these infrastructural projects and groups were generating bad feng shui, rebels were able to incite their local communities into revolt against foreign influence. Geomancy Geomancy translates literally to "earth divination," and

295-528: A large plaza. It stands on a north–south axis with another building that apparently housed communal activities. Regional communities may have used the complex. A grave at Puyang (around 4000 BC) that contains mosaics— a Chinese star map of the Dragon and Tiger asterisms and Beidou ( the Big Dipper, Ladle or Bushel )— is oriented along a north–south axis. The presence of both round and square shapes in

354-442: A paradigmatic example of pseudoscience. It exhibits a number of classic pseudoscientific aspects, such as making claims about the functioning of the world that are not amenable to testing with the scientific method . The Yangshao and Hongshan cultures provide the earliest known evidence for the use of feng shui. Until the invention of the magnetic compass , feng shui relied on astronomy to find correlations between humans and

413-657: A place with ideal qi . It also considers the time of important events such as the birth of the resident and the building of the structure. The Compass branch is a collection of more recent feng shui techniques based on the Eight Directions, each of which is said to have unique qi. It uses the Luopan , a disc marked with formulas in concentric rings around a magnetic compass. The Compass Branch includes techniques such as Flying Star and Eight Mansions . More recent forms of feng shui simplify principles that come from

472-520: A political institution and instead became an increasingly private affair. Many feng shui experts and diviners sold their services to the public market, allowing feng shui to quickly grow in popularity. During the Late Qing dynasty , feng shui became immensely popular. Widespread destitution and increasing government despotism led to feng shui becoming more widely practiced in rural areas. The Qing dynasty attempted to crack down on heterodoxy following

531-414: A series of binary trigrams (as opposed to tetragrams used in geomancy) that are generated at random, the resulting figures of which are taken in combination. However, the figures are not added or reorganized as in geomancy, but are instead taken to form a single hexagram. While there are 2 , or eight, trigrams, there are 2 , or 64, hexagrams. This yields a smaller set of resulting charts than geomancy. In

590-1081: A wide range of other occult and fringe activities, including Earth mysteries and the introduction of ley lines and Bau-Biologie . Geomancy was one of the most popular forms of divination throughout Africa and Europe in premodern times, but was considered a forbidden practice in Renaissance Europe. In other regions and cultures, geomancy practices include Sikidy and Ifá (found in Africa), I Ching and Feng shui (found in China), Kumalak (found in parts of Central Asia ), Vastu shastra (in India), Kahuna kuhikuhipu'uone (in Ancient Hawai'i ). The word geomancy , from Late Greek * γεωμαντεία * geōmanteía , translates literally to ' earth divination ' . In Latin it becomes geomantia . Earlier Greek renditions of this word borrowed

649-655: Is a traditional form of geomancy that originated in Ancient China and claims to use energy forces to harmonize individuals with their surrounding environment. The term feng shui means, literally, "wind-water" (i.e., fluid). From ancient times, landscapes and bodies of water were thought to direct the flow of the universal Qi – "cosmic current" or energy – through places and structures. More broadly, feng shui includes astronomical , astrological , architectural , cosmological , geographical , and topographical dimensions. Historically, as well as in many parts of

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708-458: Is a type of geomancy practiced in Kazakhstan , Tuva , and other parts of Central Asia . Kumalak makes use of a three by three grid, wherein a shaman will ritually place up to 41 beads. These shamans use kumalak more to connect with their ancestors and spiritual guides than to obtain information through divination. Further, shamans who use kumalak must be initiated and taught how to perform

767-405: Is an emphasis on continual compromise and balance in order to maintain harmony. Feng shui has been observed to play an important role in the mediation of rural conflict. Through its amoral explanation of differential fortunes, feng shui provides a universal set of cosmic rules communities seek to abide by. This can promote community unity while also creating numerous points of polarization. Through

826-404: Is inherently a form of ancestor worship . Popular in farming communities for centuries, it was built on the idea that the ghosts of ancestors and other independent, intangible forces, both personal and impersonal, affected the material world, and that these forces needed to be placated through rites and suitable burial places. For a fee, a Feng shui practitioner would identify suitable locations for

885-851: Is the oldest branch of feng shui. Qing Wuzi in the Han dynasty describes it in the Book of the Tomb and Guo Pu of the Jin dynasty follows up with a more complete description in The Book of Burial . The Form branch was originally concerned with the location and orientation of tombs ( Yin House feng shui ), which was of great importance. The branch then progressed to the consideration of homes and other buildings ( Yang House feng shui ). The "form" in Form branch refers to

944-401: Is to balance yin and yang in the body, the goal of feng shui has been described as aligning a city, site, building, or object with yin-yang force fields. Eight diagrams known as bagua loom large in feng shui, and both predate their mentions in the I Ching . The Lo (River) Chart was developed first, and is sometimes associated with Later Heaven arrangement of the bagua . This and

1003-465: Is to take advantage of vital qi by appropriate siting of graves and structures. Polarity is expressed in feng shui as yin and yang theory. That is, it is of two parts: one creating an exertion and one receiving the exertion. The development of this theory and its corollary, five phase theory (five element theory) , have also been linked with astronomical observations of sunspot . The Five Elements or Forces ( wu xing ) – which, according to

1062-403: Is unique because of its size. Due to the nature of the celadon ceramics, an object of this size would be very difficult to bake properly, even more difficult than smaller items that often emerge broken or bent from the furnace." In November 2015, the excavation had unearthed a piece of metal type , with initial reports dating it from Goryeo Dynasty, but it requires further study to verify when it

1121-710: The Yellow River Chart ( Hetu , sometimes associated with the Earlier Heaven bagua ) are linked to astronomical events of the sixth millennium BC, and with the Turtle Calendar from the time of Yao. The Turtle Calendar of Yao (found in the Yaodian section of the Shangshu or Book of Documents ) dates to 2300 BC, plus or minus 250 years. In Yaodian , the cardinal directions are determined by

1180-533: The Ming ). The astronomical history of feng shui is evident in the development of instruments and techniques. According to the Zhouli , the original feng shui instrument may have been a gnomon . Chinese used circumpolar stars to determine the north–south axis of settlements. This technique explains why Shang palaces at Xiaotun lie 10° east of due north. In some of the cases, as Paul Wheatley observed, they bisected

1239-541: The Sunjong 's travel of Kaesung, he visited the palace on 31 January 1909. The palace is thought to have had blue celadon roof tiles, similar to other excavated tiles dating from the same period. Excavation of the ruins of Manwoldae Palace began under the supervision of the North Korean government, but merged into a joint Korean cultural project. Many valuable relics of the late Goryeo period have been uncovered at

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1298-667: The White Lotus Rebellion and Taiping Revolt , but feng shui's decentralization made it difficult to suppress in popular and elite circles. Under China's Century of Humiliation , feng shui began to receive implicit government encouragement as a method of colonial resistance. Through the militarization of the countryside, the local gentry used feng shui to justify and promote popular attacks against missionaries and colonial infrastructure. This allowed local elites and government officials to bypass foreign extraterritoriality and maintain local sovereignty. This, in addition to

1357-472: The medieval era , and survives to this day in various Arabic countries. Like Arabic geomancy, Sikidy and other forms of African divination follow techniques that have remained virtually unchanged. As an example, Sikidy is the most important method of divination for the Malagasy peoples of Madagascar . The process involves a mathematical grid of disk-shaped seeds in sixteen figures arranged in rows which

1416-517: The 19th century, Christian missionaries in China translated feng shui as "geomancy" due to their observations of local shamans and priests manipulating the flow and direction of energy based on aesthetics, location, and position of objects and buildings. Although it stems from a distinct tradition, the term geomancy now commonly includes feng shui. Similarly, the introduction of a similar Indian system of aesthetics and positioning to harmonize

1475-457: The Arabic word raml ( ' sand ' ) directly, rendering it as rhamplion or rabolion . Other Arabic names for geomancy include khatt al-raml , darb al-raml , and 'ilm al-raml , (literally ' the science of the sand ' ). The origins of geomancy are Arabic and the original geomantic figures were created by "making lines of random numbers of dots in the sand". Geomancy

1534-619: The Chinese countryside. Feng shui experts remained highly sought after, in spite of numerous campaigns to suppress the practice. It was only after China's Reform and Opening-Up that feng shui would see a complete resurgence. As economic liberalization promoted social competition and individualism, feng shui was able to find new footing due to its focus on individualism and amoral justification of social differences. Feng shui views good and bad fortune as tangible elements that can be managed through predictable and consistent rules. This involves

1593-419: The Chinese, are metal, earth, fire, water, and wood – are first mentioned in Chinese literature in a chapter of the classic Book of History . They play a very important part in Chinese thought: ‘elements’ meaning generally not so much the actual substances as the forces essential to human life. Earth is a buffer, or an equilibrium achieved when the polarities cancel each other. While the goal of Chinese medicine

1652-547: The Puyang tomb, at Hongshan ceremonial centers and at the late Longshan settlement at Lutaigang, suggests that gaitian cosmography (heaven-round, earth-square) existed in Chinese society long before it appeared in the Zhoubi Suanjing . Cosmography that bears a resemblance to modern feng shui devices and formulas appears on a piece of jade unearthed at Hanshan and dated around 3000 BC. Archaeologist Li Xueqin links

1711-514: The angle between the directions of the rising and setting sun to find north. This technique provided the more precise alignments of the Shang walls at Yanshi and Zhengzhou . Rituals for using a feng shui instrument required a diviner to examine current sky phenomena to set the device and adjust their position in relation to the device. The oldest examples of instruments used for feng shui are liuren astrolabes, also known as shi . These consist of

1770-738: The building sizes found in the Forbidden City. The architectural style and decoration is said to have followed the uniquely Korean royal color palette called Dancheong , which is seen in other Korean palaces that still stand today. However, Mandoldae Palace is described to have contained many multistory buildings, more gold embellishments, and blue and white colours, as compared to the surviving palaces from Korea's more recent Confucian Joseon Dynasty, which stressed humility and restrain in all things. Therefore, Manwoldae gives us valuable insight into another distinct form of Korean palace architecture that had been forgotten due to foreign invasions. During

1829-608: The contemporary Chinese world, feng shui was used to choose the orientation of buildings, dwellings, and spiritually significant structures such as tombs . One scholar writes that in contemporary Western societies, however, "feng shui tends to be reduced to interior design for health and wealth. It has become increasingly visible through 'feng shui consultants' and corporate architects who charge large sums of money for their analysis, advice and design." Feng shui has been identified as both non-scientific and pseudoscientific by scientists and philosophers, and it has been described as

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1888-441: The cultural aspects of feng shui, made the practice a powerful expression of demarcation between foreign and Chinese identities. Following the rise of Communist China, religion and traditional cosmology were suppressed more than ever, in the name of ideological purity. Decentralized heterodoxies, like feng shui, were best adapted to survive this period. As a result, feng shui became one of the only alternative forms of thought within

1947-606: The design to the liuren astrolabe , zhinan zhen and luopan . Beginning with palatial structures at Erlitou , all capital cities of China followed rules of feng shui for their design and layout. During the Zhou era, the Kaogong ji ( Chinese : 考工記 ; "Manual of Crafts") codified these rules. The carpenter's manual Lu ban jing ( 魯班經 ; "Lu ban's manuscript") codified rules for builders. Graves and tombs also followed rules of feng shui from Puyang to Mawangdui and beyond. From

2006-694: The development of their land and resources. This served to prevent the Tragedy of the Commons . When conflict did erupt during development, feng shui experts played an important role in balancing interests and enforcing orderly development. Different branches of feng shui were developed and embraced in response to differing local geographies. In southern China , this often resulted in villages located on high hills safe from flooding and erosion, with pooling streams that allow for easy irrigation and drainage, fields downstream fertilized by sewage, and graves located on

2065-564: The earliest records, the structures of the graves and dwellings seem to have followed the same rules. Some of the foundations of feng shui go back more than 3,500 years before the invention of the magnetic compass. It originated in Chinese astronomy . Some current techniques can be traced to Neolithic China, while others were added later (most notably the Han dynasty , the Tang , the Song , and

2124-461: The highest hills far from water and on otherwise unvaluable farmland. To this degree, feng shui could help communities manage their spaces to match their physical, environmental, and aesthetic needs. A core aspect of feng shui has been its understanding of polarity. As opposed to western dualism , in which concepts are completely oppositional and irreconcilable, Chinese polarity sees opposing concepts as constantly changing and inseparable. The result

2183-483: The hiring of feng shui experts, disputes between villagers can be peaceably resolved without losing face. In addition, these impersonal cosmic rules help regulate local jealousies over wealth and prestige. As early as the Tang dynasty , the Chinese state recognized the disruptive power popular expressions of feng shui had over government authority. At the community level, feng shui could play an important role in community mobilization and political protest. By elevating

2242-555: The largest and most impressive, contained the throne room. The complex also contained a stone astronomy tower known as the Chŏmsŏngdae (첨성대, 瞻星臺), which was used by royal astrologers. The palace was burned to the ground in 1361 when the Red Turbans invaded and sacked the city of Kaesong, forcing the king to temporarily flee Andong . Contemporary records describe the palace to as containing buildings of immense proportions similar to

2301-402: The living and the dead to achieve shū fú . The primary underlying value was material success for the living. According to Stuart Vyse , feng shui is "a very popular superstition." The PRC government has also labeled it as superstitious. Feng shui is classified as a pseudoscience since it exhibits a number of classic pseudoscientific aspects such as making claims about the functioning of

2360-569: The local energies, vastu shastra , has come under the name "geomancy". Vastu shastra is a traditional Indian system of architecture which literally translates to "science of architecture." These are texts found on the Indian subcontinent that describe principles of design, layout, measurements, ground preparation, space arrangement, and spatial geometry. Vastu Shastras incorporate traditional Hindu and in some cases Buddhist beliefs. The designs are intended to integrate architecture with nature,

2419-438: The management of qi, an imagined form of cosmic "energy." In situating the local environment to maximize good qi , one can optimize their own good fortune. Feng shui holds that one's external environment can affect one's internal state. A goal of the practice is to achieve a "perfect spot", a location and an axis in time that can help one achieve a state of shū fú ( 舒服 ) or harmony with the universe. Traditional feng shui

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2478-551: The marker-stars of the mega-constellations known as the Four Celestial Animals: The diagrams are also linked with the sifang (four directions) method of divination used during the Shang dynasty. The sifang is much older, however. It was used at Niuheliang, and figured large in Hongshan culture 's astronomy. And it is this area of China that is linked to Yellow Emperor (Huangdi) who allegedly invented

2537-552: The ninth century by the Buddhist monk Toson ( Doseon ), who studied and adapted the ideas and practices of the different Chinese Daoist schools of Feng-shui to the Korean landscape situation and cultural traditions. In Korea, geomancy takes the form of interpreting the topography of the land to determine future events and or the strength of a dynasty or particular family. Therefore, not only were location and land forms important, but

2596-475: The organization of space and form within a building or collection of buildings, based on their functions in relation to each other, their usage and to the overall fabric of the Vastu. Ancient Vastu Shastra principles include those for the design of Mandir ( Hindu temples ), and the principles for the design and layout of houses, towns, cities, gardens, roads, water works, shops and other public areas. Kumalak

2655-403: The process is shortened to using only two figures. In China , the diviner may enter a trance and make markings on the ground that are interpreted by an associate (often a young or illiterate boy). Similar forms of geomancy include scrying involving the patterns seen in rocks or soil. The Chinese divination practice of the I Ching has several striking similarities to geomancy. It includes

2714-501: The relative functions of various parts of the structure, and ancient beliefs utilizing geometric patterns ( yantra ), symmetry, and directional alignments. Vastu Shastra are the textual part of Vastu Vidya , the latter being the broader knowledge about architecture and design theories from ancient India. Vastu Vidya knowledge is a collection of ideas and concepts, with or without the support of layout diagrams. These ideas and concepts do not follow rigid rules but rather are models for

2773-505: The rituals of kumalak correctly. According to them, kumalak is an ancient system of knowledge reaching back to the roots of their civilization. P'ungsu (which like feng shui literally means ' wind water ' ), is the Korean word for geomancy. As a method of divination it seeks to locate favorable sites for cities, residences and burial. This tradition was popularized in Korea in

2832-424: The shape of the environment, such as mountains, rivers, plateaus, buildings, and general surroundings. It considers the five celestial animals (vermillion phoenix, azure dragon, white tiger, black turtle, and the yellow snake), the yin-yang concept and the traditional five elements ( Wu Xing : wood, fire, earth, metal, and water). The Form branch analyzes the shape of the land and flow of the wind and water to find

2891-526: The site is held at the National Museum of Korea . Excavation at the site uncovered a "unique" two-feet vase-like cylinder made from celadon. The object’s function was still unclear as of June 2015. The vase-like object bears an intricate pattern of peonies and vines and used to have holes at the top and bottom; it was speculated to have been a flower pot or a vessel used for some ceremonial purpose. A modern South Korean celadon maker explains "the piece

2950-480: The site, including ceramics, metal items, ancestral tablets, mirrors, and over 3,000 roofing tiles. It is on a list of locations planned by North Korea to become UNESCO World Heritage Sites . As of 2015, both Koreas have conducted six rounds of joint excavations of the site since 2007; the 2015 round of excavations will last 6 months, the longest excavation period to date. A 25 cm celadon jar with an inlaid monkey and tree design in an underglaze of gold found at

3009-478: The sorcerer uses to divine the future. One traditional form of geomancy In Africa consists of throwing handfuls of dirt in the air and observing how the dirt falls. It can also involve a mouse as the agent of the earth spirit. Ifá , one of the oldest forms of geomancy, originated in West Africa, and uses the same sixteen geomantic figures as in Arabic and Western geomancy with different meanings and names;

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3068-521: The south-pointing spoon (see compass ). Traditional feng shui is an ancient system based upon the observation of heavenly time and earthly space. Literature, as well as archaeological evidence, provide some idea of the origins and nature of feng shui techniques. Aside from books, there is also a strong oral history. In many cases, masters have passed on their techniques only to selected students or relatives. Modern practitioners of feng shui draw from several branches in their own practices. The Form Branch

3127-473: The term was originally used to mean methods of divination that interpret geographic features, markings on the ground, or the patterns formed by soil , rocks , or sand . Its definition has expanded over time (along with the recognized definition of the suffix -mancy ), to include any spiritual, metaphysical, or pseudoscientific practice that is related to the Earth. In recent times the term has been applied to

3186-552: The traditional branches, and focus mainly on the use of the bagua . The Eight Life Aspirations style of feng shui is a simple system which coordinates each of the eight cardinal directions with a specific life aspiration or station such as family, wealth, fame, etc., which come from the Bagua government of the eight aspirations . Life Aspirations is not otherwise a geomantic system. San Yuan Method , 三元派 (Pinyin: sān yuán pài) San He Method , 三合派 (environmental analysis using

3245-631: The universe. In 4000 BC, the doors of dwellings in Banpo were aligned with the asterism Yingshi just after the winter solstice —this sited the homes for solar gain . During the Zhou era, Yingshi was known as Ding and it was used to indicate the appropriate time to build a capital city, according to the Shijing . The late Yangshao site at Dadiwan (c. 3500–3000 BC) includes a palace-like building (F901) at its center. The building faces south and borders

3304-459: The world which are not amenable to testing with the scientific method . It has been identified as both non-scientific and pseudoscientific by scientists and philosophers, and has been described as a paradigmatic example of pseudoscience. Qi ( 气 , pronounced "chee") is a movable positive or negative life force which plays an essential role in feng shui. The Book of Burial says that burial takes advantage of "vital qi ". The goal of feng shui

3363-648: Was made. Researchers hope to radiocarbon date the object. They are to study when it was made, what kind of font was used, and what it is made of. There are traces of ink on the type. 37°59′0.960″N 126°32′26.880″E  /  37.98360000°N 126.54080000°E  / 37.98360000; 126.54080000 Feng shui Model humanity: Main philosophical traditions: Ritual traditions: Devotional traditions: Salvation churches and sects : Confucian churches and sects: Feng shui ( / ˈ f ʌ ŋ ˌ ʃ uː i / or / ˌ f ʌ ŋ ˈ ʃ w eɪ / ), sometimes called Chinese geomancy ,

3422-683: Was one of the most popular forms of divination throughout Africa and Europe, particularly during the Middle Ages and the Renaissance , and was practiced by people from all social classes . However in Renaissance magic was classified as one of the seven " forbidden arts ", along with black magic , hydromancy , aeromancy , pyromancy , chiromancy (palmistry) , and scapulimancy . The Arabic tradition consists of sketching sixteen random lines of dots in sand . This same process survived virtually unchanged through its introduction to Europe in

3481-561: Was used for feng shui since its invention. Traditional feng shui instrumentation consists of the Luopan or the earlier south-pointing spoon ( 指南針 zhinan zhen )—though a conventional compass could suffice if one understood the differences. Not to be confused with the South-pointing chariot which was used for navigation. A feng shui ruler (a later invention) may also be employed. After the Song dynasty, divination began to decline as

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