It has taken me eight years of continuous deep scientific research to recover the lost 1,000 years secrets of the astronomical planetary basis of the over 100 stars of Zi Wei Dou Shu (see www.guiculture.com/fs14bkzw.htm). There is a tremendous amount of satisfaction in making the breakthroughs solving centuries of mystery over the scientific nature of Chinese astrology. But, in the aftermath, I could not help thinking of how practitioners, for centuries, had been unable to decipher the science of the Chinese astrology, and also Feng Shui.

The Feng Shui and astrology effects cannot just come out from thin air, but must have logical scientific rationale.

Chen Xi-yi, the Wudang sword master, knew he had to go to Hua Shan to see Lu Dong Bin, the famous swordsmaster of the Eight Immortals. Chen Xi-yi became known for his compilations of both Zi Wei Dou Shu astrology and also physiognomy, both of which he learnt from Lu Dong Bin and a Mayi at Hua Shan. Why must a Wudang master wanted to see Lu Dong Bin?

It was certainly not about swordsmanship, as Wudang swordsmanship was superior to that of Hua Shan.

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One sign of the state of knowledge of current practitioners can be seen in that they hardly can understand the writings of both Yang Yun Sung and Jiang Da Hong.

A well known tomb Feng Shui master told me that he would get a headache trying to read Yang Yung Sung's Han Lung Jing. A classmate of his told me that he never read Yi Lung Jing and did not know what this book says. Jiang Da Hong preserved some of other Yang Yun Sung's writing in Di Li Bian Sheng. Current practitioners are still arguing about what Di Li Bian Sheng are about, with Tan Yang Wu accusing Jiang Da Hong of twisting parts of it.

Lack of understanding what ancient masters like Yang Yun Sung and Jiang Da Hong wrote render practitioners unable to evaluate what their masters taught them. Generations after generations taught their students, with inevitable deviations growing up into separate rival schools. All these contradicting schools would claim all sorts of "results".

What is ominous is that historical evidence indicate that the emperors from the Tang dynasty onwards would purposefully fake geomancy writings.

Modern practitioners do not realise that the original Feng Shui and astrology were something of very high order, having the potency of making kings. This was why the ancient emperors would kill such Feng Shui masters who were not on their sides.

It is naive for modern practitioners to equate their current knowledge with such kingship Feng Shui and astrology!

The kingship secrets contained in the writings of Yang Yun Sung and Jiang Da Hong are also very complicated. These secrets can never be put in simple words and they are no "instant noodles" thing. The inability of modern practitioners to penetrate the meanings of these ancient texts reflect the poor superficial analytical skills of understanding of modern practitioners. As excuses for their inabilities to penetrate the ancient texts, many modern practitioners blame the so-called archaic styles of the writings of the ancient masters or that there were oral traditions required to foster understanding.

No, the ancient texts can be understood in spite of their so-called archaic styles and there are no oral traditions required. What these practitioners need to have first is a good knowledge of astronomy and physical geography.

But, no "instant noodles" approach!

One more thing. Ancient legends and anecdotes indicate that the practice of geomancy, especially when involving kingship, was a complicated art and there are hints of requirements for divine help:

• After lighting an incense stick, the Demon Valley diviner would mutter these words:
  "I bow respectfully in front of the gods of the six ding, may the trigrams of King Wen bear a numinous answer!.. If one asks with a sincere heart, the Trigrams shall be responsive! Burning carefully a stick of perfect incense, I pray respectfully to the patriarchs of the Eight Trigrams: Fu-Hsi, Yu the Great, King Wen, the Duke of Chou, Confucius, the five great saints! The Seventy Two sages guarding the Way of Confucianism, Master of the Valley of Demons, Master Sun Bin, Master Guan Lu, Master Yan Yuping, Master Mu Xin, Li Yan; the divine generals of the six Ding and the six Jia within the Trigrams' Thousand li eyes, Favourable Wind Ear; the boy who reports on the trigrams, the lad who launch the trigrams, all the divinities pacing the void; and the Magistrate of the altar of the city walls of our prefectural province. May they all descend to inspect today's divination. (Vincent Durand-Dastes. 2010. Divination and Fate Manipulation in a Popular Myth in Late Imperial China. International Consortium for Research in the Humanities.)

No simple "instant noodles" thing or "Feng Shui and Astrology for Dummies" things.

Hence, most practitioners still have a long way to go before they can match the profound knowledge of the ancient masters of astrology and Feng Shui. Many so-called masters are clever but stagnant, as they lack research to expand and broaden their knowledge and skills.

Remember again: The Feng Shui and astrology effects cannot just come out from thin air, but must have logical scientific rationale. Without the scientific rationale used by the ancient founding masters, current practitioners have veered into highly subjective symbolic often supernatural nonsense, reducing the originally venerable art to the level of roadside peddlers.

• Look at Lu Dong Bin, who taught Chen Xi-yi the astrology of Zi Wei Dou Shu. Lu Dong Bin was also a swordsman. He was also a god of medicine, where astrological prognostications at his temples often lead to divine recommendations of herbal mixtures for medicine.
• Chen Xi-yi humbly traveled all the way to Hua Shan, to scale the tough mountain to meet Lu Dong Bin to learn Zi Wei Dou Shu. Confucius humbly traveled all the way to see Lao Zi, to learn how the Chou emperors applied the astrological rituals of the Ming Tang at Luoyang for kingship.
• Feng Shui and astrology are integration of highly complex disciplines, their ultimate potency involving kingship.

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A SERIOUS MISSION: