Feng Shui: Changing Rules And Meanings
Feng shui: Changing Rules and MeaningsBy:Youcao RenA thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree ofDoctor of PhilosophyThe University of SheffieldFaculty of Social ScienceDepartment of Landscape ArchitectureApril 2019
AbstractFeng shui is both traditional and it is modern. Today its current practices remind us how acultural specific subject dating back thousands of years evolves over time. By concentratingon landscape related issues, this study does not only provide a critical history, but also revealshow feng shui has become so current. The fact that today feng shui is being perceived as areflection of popular culture in place making activities is likely to remind us that a place canbe somewhere we simply walk past or live in, but to which we may also feel some attachmentas a result of which it provided with a sense of belief. By means of both a historical andcontemporary review of practices, this study reviews feng shui in different socio-culturalcontexts. This enables us to understand that ‘traditionalism’ in feng shui is a relative concept.Instead, the only constant in feng shui is its adaptability, which is why it has retained itsrelevance both past and present. A new perspective to understanding feng shui is provided byinvestigating its participants, whom were visited, interviewed, and observed, both in rural andurban environment in China. By comparing revived practices in the countryside, and reinvented practices in the city, it is revealed that the survival and adaptability of feng shui aregranted by both its practitioners and its participants, who reflect the varying people’s needs ofboth identity and belonging in place making activities.
AcknowledgementsMy supervisor Dr. Jan Woudstra guided me to grow from a student to a researcher. My PhDhas been a great experience and I thank Jan wholeheartedly. I thank Professor Peter BlundellJones, who was and will always be an inspiration to me.I am also grateful to all my participants who generously helped me with this research.I would like to thank Yuhua, for being the kindest and the most supportive friend anyone whocould ever ask for. My thanks also extend to all my friends in Sheffield for their love andsupport.My greatest gratitude goes to my parents. They are the most important people in my world andI dedicate this thesis to them.
Table of ContentsAbstract . IAcknowledgements. IIIChapter 1. Introduction . 1Research Background .9Research Aims, Objectives, and Questions . 21Methodology and Methods . 22Thesis Structure . 30Translation and References . 32A Historic Timeline of Feng shui . 33Glossary of terms . 35Chapter 2. From Bu to Xiang: the Rise of a Belief in Place Making. 38Introduction . 38Power Claims in Place Making: Bu, Xiang and the Centre. 40From Chengzhou to Helv: Developed Skills of Xiang . 50Remembering the Tomb: from ‘Mu’ to ‘Fen’ . 69Significance of Tomb Surroundings . 78Conclusion . 86Chapter 3. Changed and Unchanged Conceptions of Kanyu: Uniting Regions and SocialGroups . 89Introduction . 89
Kanyu: Its Change of Terminology and Social Perceptions . 91From the Plain to the Mountains: Changing Burial Site Preferences . 94Pursuing Scenery: Evolving Relationship between the Culture of the Gentry and Kanyu . 105Summarising the Preferences into a Common Belief: the Development of Kanyu Drawings . 116Kanyu Practitioners: Who Were They and How Did They Work? . 121Conclusion . 124Chapter 4. From Kanyu to Feng shui: Its Rise and Fall. 127Kanyu in Late Imperial Society: a Continuing Custom . 128Kanyu and Feng shui: What Were the Differences? . 150From Every Day to Superstitious: the Re-interpretation of Feng shui in China in the RepublicanPeriod (1912-1949) . 152The Relationship of Feng shui to ‘Superstition’ . 156To Destroy the Old: National Policy on Feng shui in the Early People’s Republic of China (19491978) . 168Conclusion . 171Chapter 5. Current Feng shui Practices in China . 174Introduction . 174Feng shui Xiansheng and Feng shui Dashi: a Background . 175Traditional Feng shui Practitioners and His Works . 176Kan Yangzhai: House Design and Neighbourhood Planning . 182Tomb Evaluation . 192Introducing ‘Modern’ Feng shui Dashi. 202Modern Feng shui Masters and Their Practices . 203
Conclusion . 214Chapter 6. Preservation and Re-invention: A discussion on rural and urban feng shui . 219Introduction . 219Rural Feng shui: a ‘Legal’ Tradition in the New Countryside . 220Urban Feng shui: Struggle to Survive . 232Feng shui Dashi and Their Path to Legitimacy . 237Urban Feng shui: a Solution or an Issue? . 244Conclusion . 252Chapter 7. Discussion and Conclusion . 255Discussion. 255Conclusion . 264Significance and Recommendations for Future Research . 268Bibliography . 270Chinese. 270Western . 287Appendix A . 296Ethics Approval Letter . 296
FiguresFigure 1. The sharps edges of the Bank of China building (1) were questioned for its aggressivefeng shui and have impacted the design of the Cheung Kong Centre (3) and the HSBCbuilding (2), which imitated a shield and a canon respectively. (Source: ‘Dialogue withthe Master: I.M Pei Interview’, pp. 27-28. Remade by the author.) . 5Figure 2. External water feature of the BOC building was designed as a pool instead of arunning stream in to reserve fortune as adviced by feng shui principles. (Source:https://www.soniapiazzini.it/archiblog art.php?id news 1128182114#GAF.) . 5Figure 3. A rural feng shui practitioner reading his feng shui compass to guide the constructionof a house. (Photographed by the author, 2017.) . 7Figure 4. A feng shui practitioner presenting an amulet at the opening event of a real estatewhich adhered the effectiveness of feng shui ritual to its business. (Source: photographedby the author, 2014.) . 7Figure 5. ‘Bai Pi Xiang Yi Tu two/百辟享仪图二’ (1616-1912) described the king sitting ona square terrace in the center of the kingdom while the ambassadors from neighbouringtribes came and made their obeisance. (Source: Shu Jing Tu Shuo.) . 44
Figure 6. ‘Tai Bao Xiang Zhai Tu/ 太保相宅图’ (1616-1912), a Qing-dynasty producedillustration describing the King’s grand guardian’s site survey skills of observingsurrounding environment, the soil and water flows. (Source: Shu Jing Tu Shuo, recreatedby the author.) . 49Figure 7. ‘Luo Yi Cheng Wei Tu/ 洛 浥 成 位 图 ’ (1616-1912), a Qing-dynasty producedillustration describing city making activities performed by the artisans, which were muchdifferent to what the Zhou dukes performed. (Source: Shi Jing Tu Shuo, recreated by theauthor.) . 58Figure 8. ‘A map of Pingjiang city/ 平江图’ (1229) demonstrates the missing of the Helv city’seastern gate. (Source: Suzhou library.) . 59Figure 9. Map of the states in Spring and Autumn period, indicating the Yangtze River a roughgeographical boundary of the different perceptions of early feng shui. (Source: History ofin Spring and Autumn period, p. 12.). 61Figure 10. ‘All Under Heaven/天下图’ (206 BC–220 AD) in the Shanhai Jing described thesacred islands in an exaggerated scale, making these islands much bigger that the middlekingdom, that was, China. (Source: Commentary of Shanhai Jing, 2014.) . 65
Figure 11. Bi Wan’s reconstructed image of the JiangZhang palace (1776) demonstrated thegarden pattern of ‘one pond and three mountains’ which located at the northwest of thepalace. (Source: recreated by author from GuanZhongShengJiTuZhi / 关中胜迹图志 ,Volume32, p. 132.) . 65Figure 12. The carved pattern on a Western Han dynasty bronze Mountain Censer (206BCAD220) indicated that the scared mountains were associated with immortality. (Source:ManCheng Han Mu Fajue Baogao, (Beijing: WenWu Chubanshe, 1980), fig. 3, p. 64.). 66Figure 13. Tomb mound of YangLing, the tomb of emperor Jing (188-141BC) of the WesternHan, imitates the shape of a jade seal. (Source: http://www.hylae.com/list.asp?id 177.). 74Figure 14. The jade seal of Zhao Mei (176-125BC), the king of the Nanyue State in the WesternHan, demonstrates the common form of a jade seal which was imitated by royal tombmounds. (Source: Museum of the Mausoleum of the Nanyue King.) . 74Figure 15. A Western Han shi pan (202BC-AD8) unearthed in 1978 in Anhui provinceconsisted of a round heaven disc and a square earth disc, carved with indications oforientation, time, and geomancy results. (Source: Anhui museum.) . 82
Figure 16. The ideal tomb surrounding for an Eastern Han scholar as described in ZhangHeng’s ode consisted of pogoda trees, surrounding mountains, rivers, and a boundaryidentified by stones. (Source: created by the author.) . 85Figure 17. Records of Kanyu in the DuHuang ZhaiJing have suggested that social perceptionsof geomancy in the Tang dynasty (618-907) reached to the far northwest part of the Tangstate. (Source: created by the author.) . 94Figure 18. A surviving southern dynasty royal tomb was proved located in the mountainousarea near to today’s Nanjing by identifying the location of its remaining ritual tombsculpture. (Source: Zhu Xie, the Pictured Report of the Six Dynasties Period TombsLocation Investigation (Beijing: Zhonghua Book Company, 2006), p. 46.） . 102Figure 19. A reconstructive illustration of Jin’s royal tomb which indicates the relationshipbetween ritual tomb sculptures and the actual tomb site. (Source: Recreated by author,based on Cunjia Duoshi, ‘Tomb Site Selection of the Southern Dynasty’, in Collection ofArchaeology Studies, ed. by Wanggan Shanjiao (Kyoto: Wanggan ShanjiaoCommemoration, 1988).) . 102Figure 20. Jingling, a surviving northern dynasty royal tomb facing south, indicates a ic/%E5%8C%97%E9%AD%8F%E6%99%AF%E9%99%B5/4
655382/0/b6045da91ecd81a21f17a2ef?fr lemma&ct single#aid 0&pic b6045da91ecd81a21f17a2ef.) . 103Figure 21. A picture demonstrating the favoured terrains around Jiankang city (1516). (Source:recreated by author, based on Chen Xin, JinLingGuJinTuKao.) . 105Figure 22．Locations of Western Han (202BC-8) and Tang (618-907) royal tombs showingTang’s royal tombs’ mountainous locations in comparison to Han’s tomb site preferenceof plain. (Source: created by the author.) . 107Figure 23. Tailing was constructed as a part of the mountain Jinli, hidden in the mountainranges. (Source: Zhang Jianlin and others, ‘Archaeological Report of Tailing’,Archaeology and Cultural Relics (03) 2011, pp. 3-11 (4).) . 107Figure 24. A Song dynasty (960-1279) replica of the Luoshen Appraisal Painting /洛神赋图卷 originally created in the Jin dynasty (266-420) showing landscapes were merely thepainting’s embellishment. (Source: National Palace Museum.) . 109Figure 25. Li Sixun’s hanging scroll (651-716) highlighted mountains instead of humanfigures, suggesting scholar-bureaucrats’ rising appreciation to natural landscapes.(Source: National Palace Museum, Taipei.) . 109
Figure 26. A Song dynasty replica of ‘A Picture of Wangchuan’/輞川圖 (960-1279), thepainter described his ideal habitat which was surrounded by waters and continuousmountains. (Source: National Palace Museum.) . 110Figure 27-28. Location differences between the capitals of the Northern and the Southern Songcapital might be one of the reasons that the central governments preferred different burialrules. (Source: recreated by the author) . 113Figure 29 ． The Picture of Six Royal Tombs in the Song/ 南 宋 六 陵 图 (1616-1912)demonstrates Yongmaoling’s location in relation with the original site of the TainingTemple. (Source: Recreated by author, based on Xu Wei, Local history of Kuaiji Countyin the time of Emperor Kangxi.) . 115Figure 30. An illustration in Qing dynasty edited Hanlong Jing indicated surrounding mountainforms of so called ‘ideal burial sites’ to provide instructions to its readers. (Source:Hanlong Jing, SuZhou Library.) . 121Figure 31. A Song dynasty tomb figure of kanyu practitioner holding a geomancy compass/宋执 罗 盘 俑 (960-1279) reflects the decreased social status and working methods ofcontemporary Song kanyu practitioners. (Source: China Maritime Museum.) . 124
Figure 32. ‘Picture of the Ming royal tombs /明十三陵图’ (1736) demonstrates the relationshipbetween the Ming royal tombs and the Tianshou mountain range. (Source: Library ofCongress, https://www.loc.gov/resource/g7822m.ct003414/, accessed on 12/09/2017.). 133Figure 33. Illustrations in the DiliCanZanXuanJiXianPoJi (地理参赞玄机仙婆集) (1587)depicted the context of the family’s achievements, being recorded to claim the ry -3:FHCL:1191948. Accessed on 12/09/2016.) . 134Figure 34. ‘Painting of Yongling of Qing/永陵图’ (1711-1799) claimed the legitimacy of theQing royal clan by exaggerating surrounding mountains as it proved an ideal feng shui.(Source: The Palace Museum.) . 138Figure 35. ‘Painting of Fuling of Qing/福陵图’ (1711-1799) indicate
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