Feng Shui History

October 3, 2009 by Erwin Heid · Leave a Comment

Chinese Feng Shui History – A Celebrated Step To A Healthy Life.

Chinese Feng Shui is the very old Chinese practice of utilizing certain so called laws governing the universe and earth that can recover through what is called having helpful Qi. Feng Shui history is an ancient one and covers over 3,500 years. It is even older than the creation of the magnetic compass. A main portion of its origins may stem from ancient astronomy.

The astronomical history of Chinese Feng Shui is apparent in the ancient instruments that were developed in its practice.

The most basic known Feng Shui instrument may have been what is renowned as the gnomon. This instrument was used along with trying to circumpolar the stars in order to determine the north and south axis. This was basically used in laying down early Chinese settlements.

The ancient Yangshao and Hongshan cultures in China supply the earliest evidences of the perform of feng shui. As early as 4000 BCE, doors from Banpo dwellings were associated to the star called Yingshi just right after the winter solstice.

This permitted the homes to be sited for better solar gain. During the Zhou era, the star Yingshi was known as Ding and had a great authority in trying to determine the appropriate time to build their capital city. This is according to records on the Shijing.

Another example of the practice of ancient chinese feng shui can also be found from the grave at Puyang that dates back to about 3000 BCE. This particular grave contains mosaics of the stars called Dragon and Tiger along with the Beidou, known in the Western world as the Big Dipper constellation. The mosaics appear to be oriented along the north to south axis. The presence of round and square shapes were also found at the Puyang tomb as well as at the Hongshan cultural ceremonial centers and the former Longshan resolution. These evidences suggest that the practice of gaitian astronomy (belief in a round earth and a square earth) was already existing in the ancient Chinese society.

One of the oldest instruments used in earliest feng shui were the liuren astrolabes. These very old instruments consist of a lacquered, two-sided board equipped with astronomical sightlines. The oldest of the liuren astrolabes have been initiate and exposed from tombs dating from 278 BCE and 209 BCE.

These ancient astrolabes show the cord-hook diagram and some those found even include the magic square of three. The markings on these instruments remained untouched, from the ancient astrolabe down to the first magnetic compasses.

The practice of astronomy that bears a striking resemblance to many modern feng shui devices and theories were also exposed on a jade artifact found in Hanshan that dated at around 3000 BCE. Ancient structures in China which included its palaces in the capital cities are all influenced by chinese feng shui in their design and layout.

The rules that were followed were written for the period of the Zhou era on the “Kaogong ji”, or the “Manual of Crafts”.

The magnetic compass was initially invented for the practice of chinese feng shui and has been in use since its invention. Traditional feng shui instruments include the Luopan or the earlier south-pointing spoon or the zhinan zhen.

This shows the extent of chinese feng shui history and its long standing practice in ancient Chinese history.

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