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GUI WORLD OF CULTURE |
WORLD OF FENG SHUI |
on Feng Shui |
on Feng Shui |
Article FS09/apr3 | 
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Introduction The Mei Hua people would try to support their Mei Hua by claiming that Shao Yung had a fantastic philosophy. It is time to debunk the myth of Shao Yung's philosophy in this and the next articles. This article will highlight that the Taoists had a much broader science based cosmology than realised by the Sung philosophers, including Shao Yung.One person who had a science based idea of the production of qi by the Sun, the formation of Yin Yang by astronomical movement and the transformation of the qi into seasons was Chou Tun Yi the Sung philosopher and founder of Neo-Confucianism(1017-1073). We will look at what Chou Tun Yi taught. The ancient people told Time by looking at the stars (or constellations), which were signs first used to track Time. Certain events, like the seasons and moon movements, were repeated in cycles - this was the astronomy stage. Then, they also noticed that patterns of human behaviour could be correlated to the movements and positions of stars as well as the Sun, Moon and planets - this was the birth of astrology, the advance phase of astronomy. Star constellations became signs then used to track astrological effects.
In ancient time, the full orbit of the Earth around the Sun was measured by the first degree of the Zodiac star constellation of Aries. Every time the Sun was observed in the first degree of Aries the ancient knew that the Earth had made a full complete orbit and the new year had begun. In China, instead of looking for the Sun in Aries, the Chinese looked for the full moon in the Lunar Constellation of Chio the Horn - which corresponds to the Western constellation of Spica in the Zodiac constellation of Virgo. Spica in Virgo is exactly opposite Aries - hence the ancient worlds of the West and China had taken the same position of the Earth along the orbit around the Sun as the start of the new year. Conventionally, the modern world takes January 1 as the start of the new year. The Earth orbits around the Sun in about 365.25 days, not exactly 365 days. We add an extra day every 4 years to re-calibrate the new year. However, it is not exactly 365.25 days and eventually this leap year mechanism will fail in the long term and a new re-calibration will have to be done. The calendar systems, based on round numbers, can never get the exact astronomical movements and through the past had to be adjusted again and again. To get true astrological effects, one must be able to track the exact orbit of the Earth around the Sun - this is done by observing the stars backgrounds of the Sun, or the full moon with the Chinese system. Hence, the West uses the Zodiac signs from Aries to Aries, while the Chinese the 28 Lunar Constellations. Other cultures, like the Hindu, had their own star systems. The various star systems are valid when used to track the orbit of the Earth around the Sun. They can also be used to track the real orbit of the Moon around the Earth. Finally they can also be used to mark the true hours of the rotation of the Earth. Solar radiation is produced by the Sun. What the Chinese philosophers called qi is the solar radiation from the Sun. This qi is affected by astronomical movements along at least two planes, as described below. |
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FIRST PLANE OF VARIATION OF QI:
Annual Variations in Solar Shadow Form Taiji, Yin Yang, Seasons and 24 Mountains Major factor: Tilt of Earth - measurable by gnomon shadow stick. The ancient records described how they measured the solar shadow with the gnomon stick:
The Taiji, Yin Yang and 8 trigrams are nothing mystical but the patterns formed by the seasonal variations of the solar radiation and shadow! The Wu Chi, the source of everything, is nothing but the Sun! |
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SECOND PLANE OF VARIATION OF QI:
It is time to highlight another significant modern astrophysics finding. The ancients in the Middle East often took the Sun as the source of everything, like the Chinese "Wu Chi" being the source of everything. This, of course, ties in with the ancient Feng Shui saying in Zeng Wen Chan's Qing Nang Xu:
What is significant for astrology is that the Sun is not a homogenous body and its surface is also not homogenous. Modern astrophysics' pictures of the Sun show that the Sun has segments, like a segmented orange (see images below). The images show that the segments of the Sun are uneven. As the Earth orbits around the Sun, the Earth will pass over different surface segments of the Sun and will receive different amounts and types of solar radiations from the different surfaces of the Sun.
Left: Variations in solar flares from heterogeneous surface of Sun
As Earth orbits around Sun, it will pass through different solar variations from the Sun. This variation is the basis of astrological effects of the months and seasons. The ancient Chinese tracked the heterogeneous surface of the Sun through the uneven 28 Lunar Constellations.
That is, the Earth will receive different monthly and seasonal solar radiation from the Sun! These different monthly and seasonal solar radiation will cause different foetal development and different interactions with human behaviour. That is the long lost secret of the scientific astronomical basis of astrology! The ancient founding astrology masters did not imagine things up but had valid scientific reasons for creating astrology! As astrophysics show, the surface of the Sun is not even. This is why the Chinese 28 Lunar Constellations are not of even durations. Originally, the Western astrologers also observed the sky directly. But, in time, they came up with a convenient system like the 12 Zodiac signs. The equal divisions of the 12 Zodiac signs are only approximations of the actual solar radiation from the different surface segments of the Sun. |
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Interactions between Solar Radiation, Tilt of the Earth and Heterogeneous Surface of Sun. The basis in astrology is the fundamental solar radiation (qi) from the Sun (the Wu Chi), which are different during the different months the Earth orbits around the Sun. This basis factor interacts with these other factors in two planes:
The dual nature of the cosmology of the solar system was not unknown to the ancients. It is, of course, the scientific basis of the Ganzhi system, with its dual features of dizhi and tiangan signs. The ancient Chinese texts referred to at least two astronomical planes in the variations of qi, one vis the tilt of the Earth and the other the planets. The former and later are known in Chinese astronomy as respectively the "Red Path" (equatorial, linked with tilt of Earth) and the "Yellow Path" (ecliptical, linked with orbit around Sun). The former can be said to be the dizhi part of the Ganzhi system and the later the tiangan part. Huang Shih Kung wrote of these two planes of the variations of qi in his Qing Nang Jing that the pattern of Heaven produces different qi and that after the Earth will transform the qi:
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Partial Explanation by Chou Tun Yi The interactions of the solar radiation and the movements of the tilted Earth around the Sun to generate the Five Elements or seasons are what is meant by the Sung philosopher Chou Tun Yi, as noted below:
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Chou Tun Yi explained that Yin and Yang are produced by "movement", i.e. of the tilted Earth around the Sun, which causes variations in the solar shadow to form the pattern of Yin Yang. The Yin Yang do not produce Heaven and Earth. It is the other way round - Heaven (Wu Chi or the Sun) produces the solar radiation which is transformed by the moving Earth to form Yin Yang. What Chou Tun Yi postulated is in line with what Confucius explained in his commentaries to the King Wen I Ching. His theory is also in line with the scientific flow chart explaining how the tilt of the Earth modifies the solar radiation to form the seasons.
Ancient Detection of Variations of Qi Through Stars Constellations Knowing that the Sun produced different solar radiation (or qi) from its heterogeneous surface, the ancient Feng Shui and astrology masters needed to know which sector of the Sun the Earth was passing through. What they did was to look at the stars constellations behind the Sun or the full moon. Then they could know where along the orbit the Earth was. They would also watch where were the major planets and the Moon and determined how the basis solar radiation or qi would be affected by the extra factor of the planets and Moon. This was why ancient cultures all over the world originally used some forms of 28 Lunar Constellations to track the qi variations from the Sun. Simplifications led to the emergence of the equal spaced 12 Zodiac signs and the even 28 days Lunar Constellations. Thus, the patterns of the stars constellations can be used to detect the prevailing status of the changing qi.
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Conclusions
The cosmology of the solar system is reflected in the Ganzhi system with its dual dizhi and tiangan signs. This total cosmology was noted by Huang Shih Kung in his Qing Nang Jing:
There is nothing mysterious about the theory of Wu Chi, Taiji and Yin Yang. The theory was the ancient scientific knowledge of how solar radiation or qi from the Wu Chi is affected by movement (of tilted Earth) to form Yin Yang, the dark and bright phases of the year and the Early Heaven pattern of the 8 trigrams. The fluctuations in the Yin Yang are the fluctuations in the solar radiation which will cause the seasons. This is only the First Plane in Variation of Qi, due to the tilt of the Earth and is only the dizhi part of the Ganzhi. Those who are sharp enough may realise that the Wu Chi-Taiji-Yin Yang-8 trigrams pattern does not form the Heaven's five planets part vis QNJ 1.34: "Heaven consists of five planets" but forms only the Earth's part of the Five Elements interactions with the solar radiation, as reflected in the Early Heaven Bagua of QNJ 1.35 "Earth consists of Five Elements."
The Sung philosophers including Shao Yung, who were Confucians, took a Taoist concept but did not fully understand it. They thought they could use the Wu Chi-Taiji-Yin Yang-8 trigrams theory to create a total philosophy about Existence. But the Wu Chi-Taiji-Yin Yang-8 trigrams theory is only a part of the whole picture. It may be said that the Sung philosophers were unaware that there is a huge gap in their metaphysics philosophy. The Sung philosophers thought they could grasp the I Ching. They failed, had conflicting views and argued endlessly against each other. Their narrow pre-occupation with the Wu Chi-Taiji-Yin Yang-8 trigrams pattern confused many later thinkers, including practitioners of Feng Shui and astrology.
While the Wu Chi-Taiji-Yin Yang-8 trigrams pattern is a significant part of Feng Shui and astrology lore, Feng Shui and astrology are much more than that. Better gear up research to find out the Truth! |
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