An Anthropological Analysis of Chinese Geomancy

283 Pages·1974·40.38 MB·English

by  Stephan D. Feuchtwang

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"CONNAISSANCE DE L'ASIE "
CoLLectlo~
VoLume 1
l~re ~djtlon 1974
Copyright by Editions Vithagna
Tous droits pour tous pays.
r~serv~s
EVITIONS VITHAGNA
8.P. 441 - VIENTIANE - LAOS.
AN ANTHROPOLOGICAL ANALYSIS
OF
CHINESE GEOMANCY
STEPHAN D.R. FEUCHTWANG
VITHAGNA
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FOREWORD
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If thaN i8 a subject whu,h should have captivated Western 8Uwlogi.Bt8~ it
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is Chin"88 gecrrrzncy. As early as 1713~ M:mtesquieu pronounced ths Chinese " one
t
of the nt::IBt superstitious psopl.ss in tM worZd. They dare not build a housQ or a
I tomb e:ccept under ehs influence of certain consteZlations, •• " Later~ du:l'ing the
19th and 20th c8nturi88~ when r.tet6'l"ners thought ttJ psnetMte deeply intoths Chinese
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r.)(Jrld~ both mi88ionariea and raiZl.Jay buUders were to e%penBnCQ the strength
of Chiness faith in geomanclI; the fir'st were forced to remove the tops of their
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churches, whioh cast oV81'long sha.drn.Js; the second to alter ths Biting of their rail.
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! IoIaN tines, "'hich threatB1'l8d the happy balance of hidden {orcQs in the l.andaoaps •••
Far from COI1sidenng geomtmcy as an Bpiphenomenon in a geneml.i8sd system of cor
I
l'BSpondencBB bllttWeen I712Cl"OCOBm and miC1'OCOBm8, it Wc:UI neve:rtheles8 for thsOtin8s8
essential a part of their lives, that they carried it whith them wherever they
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went~ and satlSl"al neighbour>ing peopl6s were infZutmeed by it •
I still remember mu astonishment when the Hmmg ( pal"t of tlu! tl"ibes called
"Miao" by the Chinese) of Sieng Khot.tang province in Laos u:plained to me how the
fol'l'l'lidabls bands of "Haz,)" pirates had succeeded in taking the W1fonunate ci ty 1
which had hitherto been pl"Otected frcm their marauding attacks by its site~ an
~ly favoUNble OlU' in geoTM11tic terms.In ortUlr to trick ths Lao fJho lived in
\
• ThIs story must refer to the takIng of Sleng Khou2lng by the ChInese BlllckFlags
i whIch occurred In 1873 or 1874 accordIng to the varIous chronIclers. See sources
I In Charles Archelmbault. Les Annales de I'anclen royaume de S' leng Khwang,pp.588-
89, 8u.Ue..tin de. l'Ec.ole. F~e. d'EUlt.eme-OUe.n.t, .tome. UI!, FMe-. 2',Parls 1967.
If
:Jw town, the HatIJ eBnt down inLJffensive-looking Ir,erchante who were instructed to
persuade the inhabitants that a va~uable treasure was hidden in the hills.The Loo,
qui'te unlllJaZ'e Of "'hat was ~.appenin{? Nshed off to dig the eru>th IJith epadss and
mu mu,
picks, thuB breaking the .tat. 01' !ut!g the "d'l'aflol1 veins" • Ths1'(Jaftsr it
became a simple matter for the pirates to take possession Of the town.
Later on, during my fieZd1,ICrl< anmg the Hmon(j, I found scattered traces Of
Chinese geolrantio maxims for the choice Of a hoURS site!, It was at this point
that I etCU'ted to look for einological works on tM Bubject, in the hope that I
could intefl1'O.te the BCrapS that I had collected into a comprehen.sive arzatysis.
rIM
Here trqJ eurpl"is8 was to b. 8til.l greater. Apart from a outlines in the UJOl'ks
an
Of Eitsl, De Groot and others ( Mr. Feuchtwang does them anple justice in this
book). there was in eriBtenoe no serious analysis of gsom::uztic concepts, not "V611
a translation Of any Of th" numerous Chinese treatl"i"s of geomancy. Only a fairly
confused adaptation in Vietnamese Of the Hung Wll. Chbl Shu. " The. Beok FoJtb.i.dde.n by
Hung Wu, t.he. 6-UW.t lUng EmpVtoJt "2, seemed to indicate, without thrruingfl1JCh light
on tM subject, t'he COI1sid"rabl9 importance of georrr:mcy in the social and political
tradition of Chinese society.
However, at that V"l'7I Jll:)ment, Stephan FeuchtwaTlg had just completed this
IIX)rk, presented as an M.A. thesis at the lhIiv8rsity of London, under thes1.p8J"VisWn
of P;oof. Mamce Freedman.l only became az.lCU'e of this SBveml years 'Later,lI)hen I
retUl"t19d to France and blaS able to read in Freedman's Ch.ine.oe. Lineage.and Sou«1j
the fascinating chapter devoted to Ge.omancy and Ance.o.toJt WOlL6lUp. The stopY of
this publication begins at that point. Curing a visit to England in 1972 I was
uhl" to meet Prof. Freedman, and with his help coneult Feuchtwang's manuscript in
the libJ'aJ'Y of the London School of Economice. It was a revelation... Shortly
aftel'Warods mutual friends introduced me to the autho!', and I!Jas shocked to learn
that he had 110 pZa)/s to publish that IolOrk in the near' [utUl"e, as he was unabl9to
spar''' the time to revise his manuscript. I therefo!'8 suggested to him that I should
incZude it in a collection being prepared for a nBW publishing house in Laos.
The principal argument which I put fOl'Ward to pel"suade the aut1rJl" to publish
in its present state a work II)hich he would have p!'efe:r"l'Qdto !'evise, /JXZsthatothe!'
l"98earchers might undertake similar studieslJithout benefitting j'rar!. the consider
uhl" time and inteztectual effort II)hich he had aZ!'eady deooted to the subject. Is
not "science" a cozt9ctiv8 wrk, often anonymous C71d !'esulting fromnume'l'Ous oon- -
frontations? Feuchtwang's work constituted a decisive step f01'liXU'd: the first fU1l~-
tiunal inte!Opretation of th" basic concepts of Chinese geomancy. (
I I,notod this fact In Un vill.o..ge. Hmong VeJt.t du. Ha.u.t Lo.o~ , PuIs 1972 pp.99-IQl
2 S!!8 Hang-VU. cam-Thu', translated by Nguyim Van Minh, Quybt Thu'o'ng, Saigon 1963
QUIjeJ1 H~ ,Sa I gon 1968.
III
And f..st'e the story continues' I had hardly 1'etw>rzed to France when I mBt
a 1101019 French researcher, Fn:v1~i8 Martel, ",he had just presented, as a diploma
diSBerl:ation, a FoltnICLt AnalYII,u, 06 Ch.ittue. SymboUc.4l CoIt6.igUlta.tioI't6', based on
ths gflom::mcer's compass! In an anicl" IJhich had Just appeared 2 he 8W1f1l12risedthe
first findings of his l'esearuh which CWJ18tituted a comparative analysiso[ a hundred
of gQommtic compasses, displaying in l'Bl1lll'kabZe faehion. the underlying rumeroZogicaZ
series incorporated in the various el/stems of the compass. However. while he had
8wccflsded in analysing the formal organisation of the (xmstituent symbols. he ad
mittsd tlur nQed to conpZet8 it with a study of their rrIfIaning. precisely the study
und.Jotaken by Feuch~ in this book.
Furtherm:JrB. since this book has been in prs88. netJ8 of similar r8s8arch
CUM'6rltlll under way has reached me from a variety of quarter's. Andthiswo:rklJiZl.
certainly stimulate new research in many directions.
&aausli' it analyses step by step eaah of thB terms of reference and thB
prinaipal systems implied in the interpretation of a landsaapB in geomantic tems,
FBUl!htlJang's book constitutes an B88ential basis for any subsequent study.
Ant~poZbgists will discover here a rich source of documentat~~ and
studamts Of Chinese ar>t can sJ:Pect to find much of interest in the chapter re
lating geomancy to ChineBfl Umdaaape painting. Finally,if, as De Groot considers,
Chinuli' gli'omancy is as 014 as Chinese civilization itself, it may be of help even
to ths arc1ulo~ogist8 warking on the e.::ccavation of tombs.
Jacques Lemoine
de recherches au C.N.R.S.
Charg~
1 Fran~ols Martel, Ana..lY061!. 6oJtme.U1!. de. c.on6.igI.LltaUoM 06ymboUquu c.hUto-i06u,
220p. mlmeograph., 83 tlg. blbl. (dIploma de l'Ecole Pratique des Hautes Etudes)
Perls 1971.
2 Fran~o 1s MIIrte t, Lu botUtloolu cU.v.bta.toiAu c.lWtouu, Cortmtt.Ut.ic.aUolU 19
1972 •
PREFACE
Several people have asked to see the results of the work I did
in 1964-65 on (Chi nese geomancy). Others may be interested
6eng-~hu~
in the subject and even thinking of investigating it themselves,
without knowing that some work has already been done. In order to
save duplication of efforts the results, which were written as a
Masters thesis . are here reprfnted as a book. r have not revised ft.
There has just not been the time to return to it and rewrite it in
the light of my mo.'e recent research into Chineseritual and religion
I must indeed apologise for its very tentative. probing nature and
for a clumsiness of style and organisation.
For his patience in difficult conditions with many frustrating
problems I thank Jacques lemoi ne for turning this roughly written
di ssertation into something more presentable.
CONTENTS
PART ONE
INTRODUCTION Page I
PART TWO
THE INDIGENOUS MODEL 15
The Two Schools of Geomancy; Cosmology and Earthly Forms 16
Cosmology; the Compass IS
The rings of symbols as explained in the La-ching Chieh 19
The tripartite divisions of the compass dial and the 24 poin ts
or directions 27
The centre of the universe and the two cosmic forces 32
The Five Elements and the Twelve Palaces <0
Ch'i, Time Cycles <S
Branches, stems and the sexagenary cycle 57
Symbols from the Book of Changes 71
Haiu, stars and constellations SO
Enumerations systems 89
Summary of feng-shui cosmology 96
PART THREE
,
HSING , FORMS" FIRST STAGE IN THE APPLICATION OF THE MODEL 112
Sha, ! noxious vapours and secret arrows I. the soil, hygiene
and neighbourliness 115
Yin and Yang: mountains. trees, water and wind 120
Ch'i and the dragon in fen-ghui and landscape painting 141
The seasons, the directions: the animals of the four quarters 151
The nine stars, the elements, and remaining 8ymbols from the
compass dial 159
Symbols from beyond feng-shui 169
PART FOUR
OPERATORS; FENG·SHUI'S PLACE AMONG CHINESE 172
IDEOLOGIES AND RELIGIOUS BELIEFS
Geomancers, priests. ritual elders and diviners 175
Feng-shui and the other world 182
Feng-shui and ancestor worlfhip 196
Feng-shui and Chinese divination 199
PART FIVE
Clients: The social function of Chinese Geomancy 203
Feng-shui as ritual focus of local group3 206
Feng-shui as ritual focus (or descent groups 210
Individuation; conflict. competition and change 218
PART SIX
GEOMANCY AND DIVINATION IN OTHER CULTURES 224
Japan 225
Vietnam 227
Africa 231
PART SEVEN
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POSSIBLE CONCLUSIONS 236
Appendix A 255
Appendix B
258
List of Works cited 259