风水与传统民居（1）
Geomancy and Traditional Folk House (1)
Geomancy is a peculiar Chinese folk culture , and a mystery too . Holding no place in acadimia , it was criticized by man of insight in successive dynasties . However , people in different social strata , from monarch to common people , all believed in it . Geomancy previals all along everywhere and is reflected in funeral rules , site selectong , exposure , shape , structure , and relevant data of dwelling . We generally call these the planning and construction for “Yinzhai” (grave) and “Yangzhai” (dwelling) . Site selection of “Yangzhai” was based on the idea of respecting the aged in norms of etiquette , then developed to bring safe and luck for the live . It is belived that the souls of ancients would exist forever and their remains would bless descendants ,and the geographical evironment of “Yangzhai” would have close relation with the destiny of swellers , so it is necessary to select place with good geomancy for “Yangzhai” .
Geomancy has a history in the spread and development . In the Han dynasty , it was in embryonic stage , and had several theories , such as “Wuyin Xingli” , which thought surname must match with exposure of dwelling ; “Xiyizhai”, which thought extension of dwelling towards western would bring misfortune to owner ; and the say of “auspicious time and date for funeral and burial affairs should be selected” . Bu the Wei and Jin Dynasty , geomancy began to take shape . The basic viewpoints on geomantic theory had been formed , such as “Cheng Shengqi” (theory of “Seeking a place to gather vitality”) , “Yiti Shouyin” (theory of “Remains gaining vitality would benefit descendants”) , “Xingshi” (theory of “excellent site must be of good topography with momentum and good terrain full of vigor” , “Si Ling” (theory of “Site surroundings must be rational and conformed with trditional ideal and rules”) , and “Fangwei” (theory of “Geomantic choice should be careful and diversified”) . Geomancy developed very rapidly in the Tang Dynasty . Many geomantic books and records were completed in this period , such as Classic of internal Medicine written under Huangdi’s name , Burial Book written under Guopu’s name , Guan’s Enlightenment of Geogragphy written under Guanlu’s name . And there were some geographical books , such as Hanlongjing , Yilongjing , 12 Paragraphs of Burial Method , etc. During the Tang Dynasty , “Cangfeng Juqi” , the new theory of “Seeking appropriate natural surroudings”, was prevailing while the theory of “Wuxing Tuzhai” was getting obsolete . The Song Dynasty was the flourishing period of geomancy . School of momentum and terrain and school of Yin and Yang came into being in the field of geomantic theory . Furthermore , geomancy began to get involved in the construction of dwelling house . The exposure and size of window and door would be fixed by geomancy , for example . The Yuan Dynasty was the declining stage of geomancy . But it got rejuvenated in the Ming and Qing Dynasty , which is called the stage of wide dissemination . During this period , there emerged hosts of factions and each had its own inheritance . Lots of geomantic books were published and some were collected into official largescale books .
