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Dragon Diaries: Memories of China
A few things I still remember at the start of our last China Excursion back in 2008 are - strangely enough - the Starbucks in Guang Zhou airport - and the rainy night we landed at Li Keng, our first destination. At the Lee Ancestral village, we saw Landform Feng Shui in action - how the Qi from a Greedy Wolf mountain flowed down along the river, and the houses that 'received' this Qi flow prospered (the richest man in the village, as well as one of imperial scholars). Those who did not receive the Qi were obviously shabby! Some of the pictures are still available here http://www.fengshuiexcursions.com/2008.
Dragon Tiger Mountain (Long Hu Shan) on day 2 was a memorable experience personally - for climbing up a steep near-vertical rock surface just to see the meridian spot of the North Dipper Seven Stars. Got to the top but scrapped my knee through the jeans and gashed my palms. (Things you only do in a foreign land... ). What is a 'Meridian Spot'? First, let me attempt to explain to you a 'Dragon'. Basically, when Qi runs through a fixed course in the land, a mountain range is formed. This is your 'Dragon', representing Qi that is in a moving state. If you follow the length of this range, you will discover that they always stop at a river curve, or lake. Hence the Feng Shui principle 'Dragon stops when it meets water'. When you stand in between where the Dragon has stopped and the water - it's a vast area - you will often see the left and right mountain embraces, as well as the Table Mountain further front after the water. This means that all the Qi travelling along the mountain range has stopped to gather around this vicinity, for this area is contained by the boundaries of the embraces and table mountain(imagine a bowl).
The Meridian Spot is the actual spot where Qi is most concentrated and pure - imagine: miles and miles of moving energy, just to stop and settle in one spot! Now, if I built my house here... I'll definitely get my 180 years of prosperity and power! (Yes, you CAN have it all)
Another must-go-see is the burial park of Confucius and the Kong family. It's beautifully peaceful. Flowers everywhere. Also clever use of Landform Feng Shui. What do you do when your land is FLAT and the Qi is floating and fleeting? Build a river to barricade the Qi. Build protrusions in the land to slow down and let meander the flow of Qi. Simple, isn't it (well not really, but still. Nothing is impossible if you know how the natural land works)
Why is all this important? Let's say your building is too oddly shaped and you cannot demarcate your Eight Mansions or Flying Stars - what do you do? Ensure every part of your building receives Qi flow externally. After all, real Feng Shui works from outside in, not inside out...
The excursion of 2008 was unique because we saw that even the Literary Arts mountains can be used for great things. Even though Literary Arts governs. studies and intelligence, leisure and communication - you don't always need a Huge Door, Greedy Wolf, or Military Arts. I guess it all depends on what you hold dear in your life - what is your life mission... and what legacy you choose to leave behind.
Can't argue with Confucius now, can you?
Sherwin Ng
MA Instructor
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