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Chapter 10 of 10
阳宅十书
Wherever a residence has a temple or monastery directly facing and rushing toward it, this is greatly inauspicious. It is appropriate to use one large stone, writing the two characters "Yuqing" (Jade Purity) on it in red, to suppress it — then it is auspicious.
Wherever there is a "wooden arrow" (such as pointed wooden structures, flagpoles, etc.) shooting toward the residence, this is inauspicious. It is appropriate to use an adze, axe, chisel, or saw to take a cypress board one chi two cun in length, write the four characters "Lu Ban Zuo Yong" (Lu Ban's Workings) on it in red, and hang it in the central hall — auspicious.
Wherever a residence has a "probe-head mountain" (a peak shaped like a person craning their neck to peer in), this portends thieves and internal treachery. It is appropriate to take one large stone, write the two characters "Yudi" (Jade Emperor) on it in red, and place it in the four auspicious directions — auspicious.
Wherever a residence is located in front of a temple or behind a shrine, the household masters will be given to licentiousness. It is appropriate to take one large stone, write the four characters "Tianpeng Shenghou" (Heavenly Marshal Holy Consort) on it in red, and place it within the residence — auspicious.
Wherever ghost-arrows shoot toward the residence (such as long thin pointed objects aiming directly at it), this is inauspicious. It is appropriate to take one large stone, write the two characters "Leisha" (Thunder Slaughter) on it in red, to suppress it — auspicious.
Wherever temple roof ridges rush toward the residence, this is inauspicious. It is appropriate to take one large stone, write the two characters "Sheqi" (Absorbing Qi) on it in red, to suppress it — auspicious.
Wherever a road rushes directly toward the residence, this is inauspicious. It is appropriate to take one large stone, write "Taishan Shi Gandang" (Mount Tai Stone That Dares to Withstand) on it to suppress it — auspicious.
Wherever a neighbor's roof ridge shoots toward the residence, this is inauspicious. It is appropriate to take one large stone, write the two characters "Qianyuan" (Heaven's Origin) on it to suppress it — auspicious.
Wherever doors and pestle-mortar or millstones face and rush against each other, this is inauspicious. It is appropriate to take one large stone, write the four characters "Qiangang Wuji" on it to suppress it — auspicious.
Wherever a house is joined by buildings on both ends (sandwiched and connected by neighboring houses on both sides), this is inauspicious. It is appropriate to take one large stone, write the two characters "Tiantong" (Heaven's Passage) on it to suppress it — auspicious.
Wherever temple timber is mistakenly used in building a residence, this is sinister. It is appropriate to write the two characters "Jingang" (Vajra) on the timber in red — auspicious.
The spirit wall (also called a screen wall) is an architectural form created under the guidance of feng shui culture. It serves as a supplement and adjustment to the main gate's feng shui, standing on the central axis of the courtyard, either inside or outside the main gate.
The ancients believed that ghosts travel in a straight line and that their feet do not touch the ground. Therefore, the spirit wall is able to block spectral beings, ward off evil, and deflect wind while gathering qi. In architectural function, the spirit wall equally serves to deflect charges (screening off external shape-based threats rushing straight at the entrance).
Main portent: injury to the household head. Use two horse hooves, one liang of tiger bone, one jin each of pig and sheep blood, and a one chi two cun peach wood board. Write the Liujia talisman in cinnabar and bury it at the place of offense. Taisui's name is "Cai Ziming."
Main portent: entanglement in litigation. Use seven pieces of white poplar wood (each one chi two cun long) and three white poplar wood figures. Mix with wine and clay, and bury at the place of offense. The Great General's name is "Jiang Wuxiang."
Use one jin of white sheep bone, one jin of pig blood, four liang of raw iron, and a three chi two cun willow wood board. Write the Liujia talisman in cinnabar and bury it at the place of offense. The Metal Spirit's name is "Shang Minghe."
Main portent: loss of wealth and waste. Use snake skin and water from an old well, and place them at the place of offense and upon the roof. The Great and Small Depletions are named "Cangji" and "Xiaohe."
Use three white poplar wood figures holding knives (attach knife-shapes to them), and bury them at the place of offense.
Use two thunder-struck wood figures (figures carved from wood that has been struck by lightning), and bury them at the place of offense.
In the silkworm chamber, use seven sheng of rat-earth (soil from rat burrows), along with one pair of chopsticks from a sericulture household, one forged nail, four liang of honey, and three liang of licorice root. Mix with wine and clay, and place beneath the spirit altar.
Use three sheng of soybeans, three sheng of northern water, peach and willow wood (two kinds), and two sheep. Bury at the place of offense. The Yellow Banner's name is "Shou Dujie."
Use red earth and red stone, stored together in a red jar, and place at the place of offense.
Use mulberry bark from under the roof eave and earth gathered by moonlight, burying them together at the place of offense. The spirit's name is "Jia Wen."
Use red earth from inside the stove, grape root, and cypress wood board. Write the spirit's name in cinnabar and place at the place of offense. The spirit's name is "Qi Baiyang."
Use earth from the Gen position (northeastern soil), mix with water into paste, and apply it to the Gate of Felicity position. Also press a jar with black stone and place at the place of offense. The Hidden Soldiers are named "Zhao," Robbery-Slaughter is named "Biao," and Great Calamity is named "Zai Jing'ai."
Use earth from inside the stove to form nine clay figures, place them inside a jar, insert thorns into the figures, write the spirit's name on a cypress board in cinnabar, and place at the place of offense. The spirit's name is "Yi Zhuiwu."
Use dog skulls and pig skulls, three jin each. Pound them to pieces, mix with clay, and form four earthen bricks. For yang habitations (dwellings of the living), place them in the Jia direction (east-by-north); for yin habitations (graves), place them in the Geng direction (west-by-south).
Use one earthen ox, five sheng of Year-Virtue earth, and well-flower water (the first water drawn from a well at dawn). Mix into paste and apply to the Gate of Felicity position.
Use three sheng of silkworm droppings and one willow wood figure, placed at the place of offense. Also take three wooden boards, write the four characters "Yuan Heng Li Zhen" on them, and bury them at the place of offense. The spirit's name is "Geng Ziming."
Use three pear wood figures, placed in the position of the prevailing season (the directional quarter of the current season).
Use apricot or plum wood, write the spirits' names in cinnabar, and bury in the direction of the day-branch. The spirits' names are "Eight Lightning," etc.
Main portent: loss of wealth. Use one clay turtle, buried in the direction of the day-branch.
Main portent: calamity and misfortune. Use one cypress wood figure, buried in the direction of the day-branch. Write the spirit's name upon the figure. The spirit's name is "Chao Yi."
If the household is unsettled, business is dismal, or inauspicious spirits and evil ghosts are causing disturbances, use the Five Sacred Mountains Residence-Suppressing Talisman to suppress them — auspicious. This talisman employs the names and authority of the Five Sacred Mountains (East Yue Taishan, West Yue Huashan, South Yue Hengshan, North Yue Hengshan, Central Yue Songshan) to subjugate and repress evil spirits within the residence, symbolizing the upright qi of the five directions pressing down upon the center.
If during construction one inadvertently offends the Earth Treasury inauspicious spirits, the main portent is injury to persons. Use a peach wood board, write this talisman upon it, and place it at the place of offense to suppress it. The Earth Treasury Slaughtering Spirits take turns in duty according to the twelve-year cycle (one full cycle of the earthly branches), each with its own forbidden directions. If one breaks ground or builds without avoiding these, one offends them.
If before construction begins, one first offers animal sacrifices, wine, and paper horses (ritual offerings), and uses a peach wood board to write talismans, suppressing them in all directions — then even if one commits offenses against various slaughtering spirits, there will be no hindrance. This is a preventive method of talisman-suppression, intended to settle and pacify the various directional spirits before any ground is broken, so that the works proceed smoothly.
If a neighbor's construction violates our household's Earth Treasury, use thunder-struck wood three chi six cun in length (or one chi two cun), write three spirit talismans in cinnabar, and nail them at the center of our own residence. Then all evils cannot work harm. This is a defensive measure, directed against the disturbance to our residence's fortune caused by external earthworks and construction.
If a well's position is unfavorable to the environment (not in an auspicious location), use two pieces of cypress wood (each one chi two cun long), write two Five-Direction Spirit Talismans in cinnabar; additionally take one stone and one sheng of the five grains, throw them into the well, and nail the talismans above it.
Incantation says:
O spirits of the five directions' well, each take your proper post; when the talisman arrives, it shall be obeyed.
Spray water on the talisman and recite this seven times over the well.
This method seeks to harmonize the well's position with the residence's orientation, using the Five-Direction Well Spirit Talisman to bring the well water back into proper alignment and resolve the unfavorable effects of an improper position.
Talisman-suppression is a traditional technique of spatial intervention in yang habitation feng shui, whose core philosophy may be summarized as follows:
The concept of "shooting" still has its counterparts in the modern built environment: a road rushing straight corresponds today to a T-junction facing directly onto a building's main entrance; "neighbor roof ridge shooting the house" corresponds to a neighboring high-rise's sharp corner or edge aiming directly at one's windows or balcony; "probe-head mountain" corresponds to a terrain or building behind one's own that rises higher and overlooks like someone peering in. These have certain parallels in modern environmental psychology — persons chronically situated in spaces subject to "direct rushing" tend to develop feelings of instability and oppression. The ancients' "large stone to suppress it" is essentially a form of psychological anchoring, establishing a sense of security through the placement of a concrete physical object.
The spirit wall is by no means pure superstition. Its functions of screening sightlines, blocking air currents, and protecting privacy are still employed in modern architecture today. The entry vestibules, screens, and foyer partitions of modern homes serve precisely the same function as the spirit wall. The ancients explained this through "blocking ghosts"; moderns explain it through "circulation optimization, privacy protection, and air-current buffering" — yet the spatial logic is identical.
The twenty-four inauspicious spirits system is, in reality, a spatiotemporal risk checklist. Taisui, the Great General, Suipò, the Monthly Break, and others are all related to the Heavenly Stems and Earthly Branches positions of years, months, days, and hours; the conditions for offense are connected to a residence’s orientation, time of earthworks, and layout. Once the mystical wrapping is removed, we can see that the ancients were attempting to establish a safety code for construction activity: at which times and in which directions one should not break ground, and how to remedy it when done wrongly. This resembles the construction safety standards and risk contingency plans of modern building practice.
Behaviors such as writing talismans in cinnabar, burying human-shaped wood figures, and casting stones into wells may, from the perspective of modern psychology, be regarded as ritual behaviors. Through their fixed procedures, objects, and incantations, these rituals help residents establish a sense of control and certainty over their space, thereby alleviating the anxiety generated by environmental uncertainty. Their "efficacy" is often manifest in improved psychological states and the restoration of household order, rather than in direct physical changes.
Stripping away the mystical shell of talismans, the contents of this chapter reveal several core principles worthy of attention:
| Ancient Situation | Modern Counterpart | Practical Suggestion |
|---|---|---|
| Road rushing the house | Main door facing a T-junction | Install an entry vestibule, add greenery as a buffer, adjust the door orientation, or add a foyer partition |
| Neighbor ridge shooting the house | Neighboring building's sharp corner facing the window | Adjust curtains, install blinds, or reallocate the function of the space (e.g., as storage) |
| Probe-head mountain | Overlooked by a taller building behind | Use elevated lighting, light-colored decor, and increased indoor plants to relieve the sense of oppression |
| In front of temple and behind shrine | Adjacent to religious sites, funeral parlors, etc. | Strengthen sound insulation, adjust door and window orientation, and re-plan circulation routes |
| Door facing pestle and mill | Main door facing stairs, elevators, or equipment rooms | Install a screen, change the door-opening direction, or fit automatic door closers |
| Improper well placement | Poorly positioned well, water tower, or pipelines | Test water quality, adjust the water-intake route, and seal the old well and open a new one if necessary |
Adopt a framework of "hypothesis → action → review":
The ancients measured by "auspicious and inauspicious"; the modern person can measure by residential satisfaction, functionality, and psychological well-being indices — the logic is identical.
The talisman-suppression system reflects a profound conception of space: space is not an empty container but a field charged with relationships of force. Every agency — shape-based threats, stellar malefics, directions, and times — must be identified, named, located, and addressed. This way of thinking bears a striking kinship with the contemporary French philosopher Foucault's discussion of the "space-power" relationship: every position within space carries specific forces, and human practice is precisely the regulation and mastery of those forces.
Talisman-suppression technique makes extensive use of "writing names" to suppress — "Yuqing," "Yudi," "Leisha," "Sheqi," "Taishan Shi Gandang." This embodies the deep-seated Chinese philosophical conviction that "if names are not correct, words will not be followed": naming itself is believed to possess the power to transform reality. This mode of "using the name to govern the reality" finds its resonance in modern linguistics (for example, in speech act theory) — that uttering or writing certain words is in itself a form of action with the capacity to alter states of affairs.
The practice of "wooden man as substitute" embodies the unique substitution thinking in traditional Chinese culture: substituting objects for people, substitutes for the real, and symbols for the actual. This follows the same logic as TCM's "treating like with like" (consuming animal organs to nourish corresponding human organs) and the funerary figurines ("yong") used in sacrificial rites. Its philosophical foundation lies in: there exist substitutable correspondences between all things, and these correspondences can be activated through rituals.
The existence of "pre-installed protective talismans before construction" reveals that the ancients placed great importance on the dimension of time: securing talismans before breaking ground, positioning risk management ahead of action itself. This mindset of "preventing problems before they occur" is perfectly consistent with the preventive medicine philosophy of The Yellow Emperor's Classic of Internal Medicine ("treat the未病, not the already-ill"), representing the embodiment of forward-looking thinking within Chinese civilization in the spatial realm.
| Concept | Explanation |
|---|---|
| Sha (形煞) | In Feng Shui, the judgment of ominousness of tangible forms, such as sharp corners, straight roads, roof ridges, etc. |
| Suppression Objects (镇物) | Objects used to suppress evil influences, such as stone tablets (Shigandang), talisman plates, bronze mirrors, etc. |
| Six Jia Talismans (六甲符) | A talisman system centered on the six Jia combinations (Jiazi, Jiaxu, Jiashen, Jiawu, Jiachen, Jiayin) among the Ten Heavenly Stems |
| Blessing Positions (福德位) | Auspicious directions in a residence, usually related to the homeowner's birth year destiny |
| Thunder-struck Wood (雷惊木) | Wood struck by lightning, considered an extremely yang substance possessing powerful evil-repelling force |
| Peach Wood (桃木) | Traditionally believed to have evil-averting power, making it the preferred material for talismans |
| Well Water at Dawn (井华水) | Water drawn from a well early in the morning, considered the purest and most spiritually potent |