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Chapter 6 of 20
卜筮全书
The "Diagram of the Eight Trigrams Orientation" recorded in The Complete Book of Divination (Bu Shi Quan Shu) is, at its core, a condensed presentation of a grand-scale Luopan (compass) system. The thirty-six-layer Luopan attached to the original text was compiled by Wang Daoheng, a practitioner of Yin-Yang studies from Taiyuan's Sihe Hall during the Daoguang reign of the Qing Dynasty. He layered successive schools of Feng Shui, date selection, and astrology onto the compass, attempting to construct a comprehensive system that "spans the heavens above, weaves the earth below, and encompasses all phenomena." However, this thirty-six-layer compass was extraordinarily cumbersome, with considerable redundancy between layers, and the system was so complex as to be "beyond comprehension." For this very reason, when the original compilers published The Complete Book of Divination, they excised the Hetu (River Diagram), Luoshu (Luo Writing), milfoil chamber diagrams, as well as the coin-divination methods of Jing Fang and Guan Lu, retaining only the most essential single "Diagram of the Eight Trigrams Orientation." Their aim was to allow students to grasp at a glance the positioning of the eight palaces and their corresponding Five Element attributes, thereby providing a "shortcut" for entry into the study.
This Diagram of the Eight Trigrams Orientation presents, from the innermost layer outward:
Central Taiji ☯️ — the undifferentiated chaotic noumenon of Yin and Yang; Central Wu Ji (戊己) — Earth occupies the center, and the Four Images all transform from Earth; Four Cardinal Directions — Zhen resides in the East 🌱, Li resides in the South 🔥, Dui resides in the West 🪞, Kan resides in the North 🌊; Trigram Symbols — representing eight natural forces through the arrangement of Yin and Yang lines; Twelve Earthly Branches Arrangement — Zi, Chou, Yin, Mao, Chen, Si, Wu, Wei, Shen, You, Xu, Hai, arrayed around the celestial circuit; Ten Heavenly Stems Arrangement — Jia, Yi, Bing, Ding, Wu, Ji, Geng, Xin, Ren, Gui, distributed alongside the Earthly Branches; Five Element Attributes of the Four Directions — Zhen is Wood, Li is Fire, Dui is Metal, Kan is Water, corresponding to the qi of the four directions; Trigram Names — Qian, Kun, Zhen, Xun, Kan, Li, Gen, Dui, designating the rulers of the eight directions.
Though the original diagram is simple, it encapsulates the core feng shui principle that "the Former Heaven (Xiantian) serves as the substance, and the Later Heaven (Houtian) serves as the function." That is, within the positional application of the Later Heaven Trigrams, the substantial nature of the Former Heaven Trigrams remains always embedded—one cannot abandon the substance in favor of the function.
This chapter contains no BaZi case examples, and no component tags need be inserted.
1. Former Heaven as Substance, Later Heaven as Function
This is the soul-level proposition running through the entire chapter. The Former Heaven Trigrams describe the natural state of the cosmos—Heaven and Earth fix their positions, Mountains and Lakes interflow with qi, Thunder and Wind invigorate each other, Water and Fire do not contend. The Later Heaven Trigrams describe the operational laws of all things—The Sovereign emerges in Zhen (East/Spring), is ordered in Xun (Southeast), is seen clearly in Li (South), receives service in Kun (Southwest), speaks joyfully in Dui (West), battles in Qian (Northwest), labors in Kan (North), and accomplishes in Gen (Northeast). When applying Later Heaven positional arrangements, one must not damage the substantial nature of the Former Heaven, because all Later Heaven applications derive from the Former Heaven's foundational substance.
2. The Position as the Pivot of All Things
Every layer of the Luopan—whether celestial stars, terrestrial veins, Five Elements, Yin-Yang, solar terms, or minute divisions (Fenjin)—answers the same question: At this location and orientation, do the qi of Heaven and Earth align? If aligned, it is auspicious; if not, it is inauspicious.
3. The Wisdom of Simplifying Complexity
The fact that the original compilers ultimately chose to retain the "Diagram of the Eight Trigrams Orientation" while discarding the elaborate thirty-six-layer compass is itself an important scholarly judgment: better to avoid letting people lose their way in the intricate divisions of minute measurements, and instead first master the most fundamental framework of trigram orientations. When the root is firm, the branches and leaves naturally flourish.
4. The Taboo System of the Eight Deadly Yellow Springs (Ba Sha Huang Quan)
The third layer, "Eight Deadly Yellow Springs," correlates the Eight Trigrams with the eight directions, each direction having its own "sha" (deadly influence)—Kan-dragon avoids Chen, Zhen-dragon avoids Shen, Li-dragon avoids Hai, Dui-dragon avoids Si, Gen-dragon avoids Yin, Xun-dragon avoids You, Kun-dragon avoids Mao, Qian-dragon avoids Wu. The core of this system lies in: the position corresponding to each trigram's Official-Ghost line is the deadly position, and excavating or construction in that direction will invoke calamity.
1. The Thirty-Six-Layer Luopan: Over-Engineering in an Ancient "Decision System"
Viewed from a modern perspective, the thirty-six-layer Luopan can be called an ancient integrated information decision system. It compressed disciplines such as magnetic poles, celestial stars, solar terms, terrestrial veins, Five Elements, musical pitches, and regional correspondences onto a single disc, attempting to achieve "one instrument in hand, knowing Heaven and Earth." But as the original text itself criticizes—"repetitive in its complexity, beyond comprehension"—the system fell into severe information overload. When the tool itself becomes too complex, the user's attention shifts from "decision quality" to "tool operation"—a problem that contemporary information system design equally needs to guard against.
2. The Modern Transformation of "Former Heaven as Substance, Later Heaven as Function"
The relationship between Former Heaven and Later Heaven can be translated into a set of correspondences familiar to modern people:
| Traditional Concept | Modern Correspondence | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| Former Heaven Trigrams | Fundamental principles, core values, natural laws | The "substance" that does not change with environment |
| Later Heaven Trigrams | Practical operations, specific strategies, situational responses | The "function" that adapts to environment |
| Using Later Heaven without destroying Former Heaven | Strategy cannot violate principles | Short-term gains must not sacrifice long-term values |
In short, Former Heaven answers "why we do it," and Later Heaven answers "how we do it." Modern individuals can apply this substance-function thinking to career planning, family arrangements, time management, and more: first clarify unchanging principles (substance), then develop flexible strategies (function).
3. A Rationalized Reading of the Eight Deadly Yellow Springs
Regarding statements like "Kan-dragon avoids Chen, Zhen-dragon avoids Shen"—once stripped of their superstitious elements, the underlying logic is: different directional compositions contain differences in auspicious and inauspicious qi field combinations. In the language of modern environmental science, buildings with different orientations do indeed differ in residential comfort and energy flow when facing different terrains, wind patterns, and sunlight conditions. The Eight Deadly system can be viewed as the ancients' empirical summary of "orientation-environment" compatibility.
4. The Ecological Wisdom of Yin and Yang Dragons
The seventh layer divides the twenty-four mountains into Yin Dragons and Yang Dragons (the Yin marked as solid black circles, dark; the Yang as hollow white circles, bright), requiring "Yang Dragons take Yang orientations, Yin Dragons take Yin orientations; matching brings fortune." This principle of Yin-Yang matching, expressed in modern terms, is: things of the same property should be paired for use, so that resonance rather than cancellation occurs. Whether in the selection of building materials, the coordination of interior color schemes, or the composition of team members, matching like-properties often produces harmonious effects.
5. Piercing Mountains and Penetrating Earth: The Ancients' "Geological Survey" Consciousness
The "Seventy-Two Dragons Piercing Mountains" (tenth layer) and the "Sixty Dragons Penetrating Earth" (thirteenth layer) are essentially further subdivisions of the twenty-four mountain directions, using different dragon pathways to judge the direction of qi underground. To a certain extent, this can be viewed as an ancient version of geological surveying—without modern geological instruments, the ancients attempted to infer underground energy distribution through directional subdivision. Though methodologically imprecise, the notion that "qi exists underground and can be sensed" is internally consistent with modern geology and subsurface hydrological surveying in its underlying logic.
6. The Twenty-Eight Mansions' Field Division: A Systems Theory of Heaven-Earth Correspondence
Layers twenty-five through thirty combine the Twenty-Eight Lunar Mansions with terrestrial field divisions, solar terms, and solar movement, constructing a linked model of "celestial timing—geographic position—human affairs." Though this model's specific correspondences cannot withstand modern astronomical and geographical scrutiny, its core idea—cosmic rhythms affect all things on earth, and all things on earth mirror cosmic rhythms—resonates with modern systems theory and ecological rhythm research. Modern research confirms that solar and lunar movements do affect Earth's environmental rhythms (such as tides and climate).
1. A Simplified Framework for Orientation Decisions
The Diagram of the Eight Trigrams Orientation provides a simple "eight directions—five elements" framework applicable to spatial planning in modern life:
| Direction | Trigram | Five Element | Modern Suggestion |
|---|---|---|---|
| East | Zhen | Wood 🌱 | Suitable for office and study areas; benefits growth and development |
| South | Li | Fire 🔥 | Suitable for living rooms and activity areas; benefits reputation and socializing |
| West | Dui | Metal | Suitable for storage and financial areas; benefits wealth accumulation |
| North | Kan | Water 🌊 | Suitable for rest and meditation areas; benefits the settling of wisdom |
| Center | (Wu Ji) | Earth ⛰ | Suitable for atriums and transitional zones; benefits stability and gathering |
⚠️ The practical value of this framework lies in helping establish spatial planning awareness, not in mechanically applying "auspicious or inauspicious" conclusions. Users should approach it with an attitude of "hypothesis—observation—adjustment," rather than blindly trusting the absolute fortune of any particular direction.
2. A Decision Reference for Yin-Yang Matching
The principle of matching Yin Dragons with Yin orientations and Yang Dragons with Yang orientations can be transformed into a universal decision-making tool: when faced with two options that need to be paired, first determine each one's properties (active/passive, hard/soft, fast/slow). Pairings of the same properties are more stable; pairings of different properties require additional harmonizing mechanisms.
3. Time-Space Management by Solar Terms
Layer thirty-seven's "Solar Passage Through Palaces by Monthly Solar Terms" can be applied to modern life rhythm management: understand how solar term changes affect one's own physical and mental state, and adjust work pace and rest schedules accordingly. For example, at solar term transitions (when the sun crosses procedural points), people often enter physically and mentally sensitive periods—a good time for adjustments rather than launching major projects.
4. The Information Management Principle of Deleting Complexity
The original compilers' act of removing the elaborate thirty-six layers while retaining a single diagram is in itself an extremely valuable modern lesson: in any field of knowledge, mastering the core framework is far more important than accumulating peripheral details. In studying the Yi (Classic of Changes), rather than first delving into the subdivisions of the Seventy-Two Dragons and Sixty Dragons, one should instead internalize the trigram orientations and Five Element attributes to the point of mastery.
1. The Eternal Dialectic of Substance and Function
"Former Heaven as substance, Later Heaven as function" is not merely a feng shui proposition—it is a profound philosophical one. It reveals a universal law: every "function" depends on the support of "substance," yet the value of "substance" is realized through "function." Without the Former Heaven's original substance, all Later Heaven applications become water without a source; without Later Heaven application, Former Heaven substance cannot manifest itself. This corresponds to the classic Chinese philosophical thesis: "What is above form is called the Dao; what is below form is called the vessel." The Dao is not separate from the vessel, nor the vessel from the Dao.
2. The Tension Between the One and the Many
The thirty-six-layer Luopan attempted to bring all phenomena into a single instrument, pursuing systematic unity through "one thread running through all." The original compilers' act of deleting complexity to retain a single diagram, by contrast, represents the wisdom of "the myriad methods returning to the One." Many without chaos; One without emptiness—this is the unique charm of traditional Chinese thought: seeing the richness of large systems while grasping the simplicity of the core.
3. A Systems View of the Heaven-Earth-Human Relationship
The original text concludes that feng shui practitioners "organically linked the relationships among Heaven, Earth, and humanity, and accurately reflected on the disc the relationships among the magnetic meridian, the solar meridian, and the polar meridian, coordinating qi, principle, number, and form, and explaining various relationships through systematic methods." Though this passage comments on geomancy, the systems thinking it reveals—incorporating variables from different dimensions into a unified model for comprehensive judgment—is the true wisdom worth inheriting.
4. The Disenchantment and Re-enchantment of Mysticism
On the one hand, the original text criticizes the thirty-six-layer Luopan as "obscure and unreadable" and "repetitive in complexity"; on the other, it acknowledges that the practitioners' design "embodies the wisdom of feng shui masters." This dialectical attitude reminds us: when confronting the occult systems of antiquity, we must both remove their mystifying elements and respect the wise core of their empirical observations. Blind disbelief is superstition; blind belief is equally superstition.
5. The Shortcut and the True Path
The compilers claimed that deleting complexity for simplicity provided "a shortcut to mastery," yet there exists here a profound paradox: true mastery never follows a shortcut; only by first grasping the core framework and then repeatedly verifying it through practice can any genuine attainment be reached. The Diagram of the Eight Trigrams Orientation is the "map" for entry, but a map is never equivalent to the road itself. At the end of study, even this diagram must be set aside—this is what the Zhuangzi calls "forgetting the snare once the fish is caught."
| Concept | Brief Explanation |
|---|---|
| Former Heaven Trigrams | Drawn by Fu Xi; Qian in the South, Kun in the North, Li in the East, Kan in the West; reflecting the original order of the cosmos |
| Later Heaven Trigrams | Drawn by King Wen; Li in the South, Kan in the North, Zhen in the East, Dui in the West; reflecting the operating patterns of all things |
| Eight Deadly Yellow Springs | The deadly positions corresponding to each trigram's Official-Ghost line; burials and construction are forbidden here |
| Seventy-Two Dragons Piercing Mountains | Each of the twenty-four mountains further divided into three, yielding seventy-two; used to examine terrestrial veins |
| Sixty Dragons Penetrating Earth | Sixty Jia-Zi cycles matched to terrestrial veins; used for site selection and acupoint determination |
| Fenjin | Each of the twenty-four mountains divided into five portions; minute gradations for precise orientation |
| Nayin Five Elements | The Five Elements derived from matching the sixty Jia-Zi cycles with five tones and twelve pitch pipes |
| Twenty-Eight Lunar Mansions | Celestial star estates matched to terrestrial field divisions for heaven-earth correspondence |
| Yin and Yang Dragons | Twenty-four mountains divided by Yin and Yang properties, requiring like-kind matching |
| Solar Palace Transit | The Sun's trajectory along the ecliptic, passing through one mountain every half month |
Without access to the original image, Hu Yi used two appended diagrams to reconstruct the approximate content of the "Diagram of the Eight Trigrams Orientation": Central Taiji ☯️ → Wu-Ji Earth → Four Cardinal Directions → Trigram Symbols → Twelve Earthly Branches → Ten Heavenly Stems → Four Directions' Five Element Attributes (Zhen Wood, Li Fire, Dui Metal, Kan Water) → Trigram Names. This outward-sequential hierarchy itself embodies a structural logic of substance initiating function, center governing periphery—the central Taiji is the undivided origin, expanding outward layer by layer into directions, trigram images, Heavenly Stems and Earthly Branches, and Five Elements, until reaching the specific attributes of the myriad things. When studying this diagram, students should not merely observe its surface layers but should appreciate this unfolding process "from the One to the many."