Guide to Yang Dwellings: Jiang Dahong of the Ming

第一要訣看宅命，動處乘空實處靜；空邊引氣實邊收，命從來處天然定。第二要訣看宅體，端圓方正斯為美；前後修長蓄氣專，若然匾闊分途軌。第三要訣看生向，坎離震兌針尖上；得乘正卦合天心，若交雜亂生魔障。

The first essential formula for a yang dwelling is to look at the “dwelling destiny.” The dwelling destiny is not in the sitting mountain, but in from where the qi (氣) comes: the open and empty side outside the house is the moving side, and qi is led in from there; the side of dense buildings and blocked walls is the solid side, belonging to stillness, and qi arriving here is received and held. Therefore the dwelling destiny is naturally decided by the place from which qi comes, and is not forcibly assigned by people. The second essential formula is to look at the “dwelling body,” that is, the overall shape of the house: what is upright, full and round, and square and even is beautiful. Those with a long front-to-back depth store qi as one; if they are flat and wide east-to-west and short in depth, the qi splits into two paths each going its own way, and the dwelling destiny forks with it. The third essential formula is to look at the “generating orientation,” that is, using the needle-tip of the luopan (羅經) to fix the trigram positions of Kan, Li, Zhen, Dui, and the rest; one must be able to ride the correct trigram of the present period, according with the “Heavenly Heart”—that is, the qi of the central palace of the current cycle—and only then is it good. If the trigram-qi is mixed and disordered, all kinds of demonic obstacles arise.

第四要訣輔粥星，他官左右審虛盈；輔若虛時地之煞，弼虛兩卦受災驚。一重輔弼一重福，若是重重福不輕；有人識得輔弼訣，選宅安身事事寧。第五開門引路訣，正卦裝門莫偏洩；入門之卦空元神，元神衰旺此中別。

The fourth essential formula is to look at the “Assistant and Aide stars” (in the base text “Aide” is corrupted to “gruel”): Assistant and Aide refer to the houses and walls that flank and protect the dwelling on left and right, and one must examine whether they are empty or full. If the left Assistant side is empty, that direction becomes the earth’s sha (煞); if both Assistant and Aide sides are empty, the left and right trigrams are both wounded, and the household will necessarily meet disaster and alarm. Conversely, one more layer of Assistant and Aide is one more layer of blessing; layer upon layer of encircling protection means the blessing is not light. Whoever understands this formula of Assistant and Aide will, in choosing a dwelling and settling the person, have peace in every matter. The fifth essential formula is opening the door and leading the road: the door must be set on the correct trigram of the present period, and must not lean outside the trigram and let the qi leak away. The stretch of emptiness facing the trigram by which one enters the door is where the “original spirit” (yuanshen) resides; whether the original spirit is in decline or in prosperity is distinguished here.

一門正卦氣無偏，前後門通兩路接；若有旁門破卦身，縱然旺氣非清潔。既辨門時更辨路，內路外路須兼顧；路在生方致百福，煞方引路多災禍。宅中天井多寬曠，宅外迴風不可當；時煞難明更兇猛，只言合元兔災殃。

Opening only one door and landing it squarely on the home trigram, the qi is pure and not biased; if a door is opened at both front and back, it is equivalent to receiving two paths of qi. If one further adds a side door, breaking the body of the home trigram, then even if what is led in is prosperous qi, it cannot be counted as pure. Having distinguished the door, one must still distinguish the road: the passages inside the dwelling and the incoming roads outside must all be taken into account together. A road walking in a generating and prosperous direction invites a hundred blessings; a road led in from a sha direction invites many disasters. The courtyard well within the dwelling should be wide and open; that is the place that receives qi. If outside the dwelling there is a whirling, circling wind that rushes in, it cannot be blocked. The time-sha of the passing year are hard to calculate clearly, yet their harm is even more fierce. In sum, so long as the qi received accords with the present period, disaster can be avoided (“rabbit” should be “avoid”).

添房動作察秋毫，不在年神在卦交；吉凶偶然駕煞位，傷丁破產不相饒。層層進進說高低，莫談福德與天醫；只要高低勻且稱，偏破昂陷不相宜。橋樑衢市最喧鬧，若在生方反不嫌；能知避煞迎生法，轉咎為祥反掌間。

Adding rooms and breaking ground for construction must be examined down to a hair’s tip: the key is not the Grand Year spirit-killers of the passing year, but which trigram’s boundary the work has moved. If one happens to press the work onto a sha position, it wounds descendants and ruins the estate, and grants not a shred of mercy. As the houses are arranged courtyard after courtyard, one discusses only the heights of each courtyard, and need not talk about the Flying Year stars of the Eight Dwellings school such as “Blessing and Virtue” and “Heavenly Physician.” So long as the heights of the courtyards are even and matching, that is good; one side leaning high, one side broken and missing, or suddenly rising and suddenly sinking, are all unsuitable. Bridges and market streets are the most noisy and stirring, but if they fall exactly on a generating and prosperous direction, one need not dislike them. If one understands the method of avoiding sha and welcoming the generating, turning harm into auspiciousness is only a matter of turning the palm.

一空三閉是豪家，三空一閉亂如麻；若通閉裡求空法，立地珍珠滿鹿車。此是單言排宅法，不是水神分氣訣；若逢臨水又不同，宅氣還憑水氣接。宅神寬大可吞波，收拾水神無漏洩。

Among the four sides, if only one side is empty and the other three are closed, that is a wealthy household, because qi comes in from only one place, concentrated and not scattered. Conversely, if three sides are open and only one is closed, the paths of qi are chaotic as hemp. If one can, amid closure on every side, know to leave that one emptiness from which to take qi, there will at once be a cart full of pearls. The above speaks only of the arrangement of yang dwellings that do not face water, and is not the oral formula for dividing qi among water dragons. If the dwelling faces water, the situation is again different: the dwelling’s qi must still rely on the water’s qi to be received and led. Then the body of the dwelling must be spacious, so that it can swallow that stretch of waves; the water spirit must be gathered cleanly, not letting qi leak at a single place.

我為指出雙龍格，一宅之中分順逆；其中超避有玄機，八卦看來理如一。巽水迢迢六白龍，後湖九紫氣還鍾；前宅中元卿相貴，下元后宅慶財豐。雙兌交流入異宮，碧方真氣室居束；百二十年朱紫貴，祖孫父子受皇封。

Here I point out the “Double-Dragon Configuration”: one dwelling at the same time receives the qi of two water dragons, one direct and one reverse, each governing one period. Within this, approaching and avoiding have their own mystery; the principle deduced from the eight trigrams is all the same. For example: water comes from afar in the Xun direction, belonging to the Six White dragon; behind the dwelling there is again a lake, concentrating the qi of Nine Purple. Then those who live in the front dwelling, in the middle period, produce the nobility of ministers and chancellors; in the lower period, those who live in the rear dwelling have abundant wealth and thick blessing. Again, if double waters of Dui flow together into the Xun palace, the direction of Three Jade is where the true qi resides, and the rooms should be gathered on that side; thus one may enjoy a hundred and twenty years of nobility in vermilion and purple, with grandfather, grandson, father, and son for several generations receiving imperial patents.

坎雜之水二龍交，立宅中間甲第高；輪轉三元無替謝，兒孫世世產英豪。二水交流是其幹，兩枝花蕊一時鮮；運到滿門朱紫貴，衰時片瓦不招椽。二水離方入坎宮，盡頭一宅夾其中；雙龍氣脈來相會，此宅三元貴不窮。二水同流坎上來，傍南作宅是離胎；下元一發如雷疾，兄弟雙雙近鼎臺。

Water coming from Kan crossing with water of another path, two dragons meeting here: if the dwelling is set in the middle of the two waters, examination ranks will of themselves be high; through the rotation of the Three Periods there is no decline, and descendants generation after generation produce heroes. If two waters flow together and issue from one trunk, it is like two flowers opening at once on one branch, fresh at the same time; when the period arrives the whole household is in vermilion and purple; when the period declines, not even one tile or one rafter can be kept—because the two dragons issue from one trunk, their flourishing and withering are also simultaneous. If two waters flow from the Li direction into the Kan palace, and the dwelling is built at the end of the water, exactly clasped between the two waters, the qi-veins of the double dragons meet here, and this dwelling is noble beyond words through all Three Periods. If two waters come together from the Kan direction, and the dwelling is set beside the south, that is the fetus formed by the Li trigram; when the lower period arises, it is as swift as thunder, and brothers both draw near the tripod terrace, that is, they rise into the ranks of the Three Dukes.

我為指出兼龍穴，八卦正偶同一訣；此中秘密有玄機，千里毫釐細分別。離宮丙水字兼巳，行到中元貴無比；下元衰氣四十秋，官祿無聞宅半毀。離宮丁水字兼未，行到中元期富貴；此宅三元永不衰，微微左右分官位。四水歸朝會四龍，居中作宅是仙宮；不分元運時時發，瓜瓞綿綿奕葉重。

I further point out the “combined-dragon point” (xue, 穴): among the eight trigrams one takes a trigram as principal and takes along a trigram that matches it, using one and the same oral formula. The secret within has its mystery; an error of a hair leads to a discrepancy of a thousand li, and must be carefully distinguished. For example, water coming from the Li palace leans to the Bing character and takes along Si: when it reaches the middle period it is noble beyond words; yet once the declining qi of the lower period arrives, for forty years official emolument is unheard of, and half the dwelling is destroyed. The same water coming from the Li palace, if it leans to the Ding character and takes along Wei, when it reaches the middle period one may likewise expect wealth and honor, and moreover this dwelling does not decline through the Three Periods; only left and right have a slight deviation, and the official ranks they answer differ somewhat in height. If the waters of the four directions all come in court-attendance and four dragons gather here, and the dwelling is set in the exact center, that is a dwelling of immortals: regardless of which period of the cycle, it constantly produces blessing, and descendants stretch like gourd vines, each generation more flourishing than the last.

一宅之內循環轉，寄語時師須檢點；若然地是匹偶形，坎離震兌格更精。下元流水在西南，屋近坤方良氣酣；上元旺相在東北，屋近艮水二黑足。中元幹異與中宮，三位之中瑞氣濃。朝南之宅正門開，此是離宮紫氣來；宅深七赤下元旺，匾淺中門未足胎。

Within one and the same dwelling, qi circulates and turns; I send word to contemporary practitioners that they must inspect every place. If the terrain itself forms pairs, left and right matching, then using the four cardinal trigrams Kan, Li, Zhen, and Dui to fix the configuration is even more precise. First, the waters divided by period: the prosperous water of the lower period is in the southwest; houses near the Kun direction obtain qi most fully. The prosperous and assisting water of the upper period is in the northeast; houses near the water of the Gen direction have the qi of Two Black in abundance. The middle period is at the two trigrams Qian and Xun and the central palace; on these three positions the auspicious qi is thickest. Next, the door orientation: a south-facing dwelling that opens its main door due south is the purple qi of the Li palace coming in. If the body of the dwelling is long enough in depth, it can hold the qi of Seven Red, and the lower period is in prosperity; if the body is flat and shallow, the qi received by the central door has not yet formed a fetus, and the strength is insufficient.

離門中道路重重，直引離風至寢宮；此宅下元多旺氣，更無瑕玷損春容。正門離上路偏東，轉入深閨巽氣濃；下元家道雖然旺，閨內須防災病重。離門兩路夾東西，並引離風兩不倚；只要宅深收氣足，下元此宅發無疑。

Opening the door in Li, a central path within the door leading in layer after layer, drawing the Li wind all the way to the inner sleeping chambers: this dwelling has the most prosperous qi in the lower period, and has no other flaw to damage its benefit. If the main door is opened in the Li position but the path within the door leans east, what turns into the inner chambers is the qi of Xun; in the lower period the household way, though flourishing, the women of the inner rooms must guard against heavy disaster and illness—Xun is the eldest daughter and governs the women of the inner rooms; once Xun qi is mixed, the verification falls on the women’s quarters. If within the Li door two paths divide east and west, drawing the Li wind in equally, neither side leaning, then so long as the body of the dwelling is deep enough and the received qi sufficient, in the lower period this dwelling will certainly flourish without doubt.

屋向西南宅艮坤，門開左畔是離神；只要宅方真紫氣，若然深長作坤論。屋向東南宅幹巽，開門右畔紫氣宜；亦取宅力與七運，如逢深遠綠宮全。前門坤位後門坎，兩氣俱從一路轉；上中鼎盛不須言，行到下元行一半。

Houses facing southwest, sitting Gen and facing Kun, that open the door on the left side: what comes in is the spirit-qi of Li. So long as the body of the dwelling is square, what is received is true purple qi; if the body is especially long and deep, the qi walking to the end instead returns to the Kun position, and must be judged according to the Kun trigram. Houses facing southeast, sitting Qian and facing Xun, that open the door on the right side: taking purple qi is most suitable. Likewise one must see whether the strength of the dwelling body accords with the Seven cycle; if the body is deep and far, the qi of the Four Green Xun palace is complete. If the front door is opened in the Kun position and the back door in the Kan position, the two qis in fact turn in from one and the same road: the upper and middle periods are of course in full flourishing and need not be spoken of; when it reaches the lower period, half the strength can still be kept.

正門雜九便門三，此宅元元失主垣；只有分房親切處，一枝花發一枝寒。前門離位後門艮，兩氣俱從七赤進；千元無數錦添花，行到上元君莫問。一宅修長正向南，兩門前後對相穿；只看內房何處住，三元旺衰有多般。

The main door carrying Nine Purple and the side door further carrying Three Jade, the two trigrams mixed: this dwelling, in whichever period, has lost the enclosure where the ruling qi resides. Only when the rooms live separately, whoever lives close to the prosperous qi is well, and so within one household one branch flowers and one branch suffers cold. If the front door is opened in Li and the back door in Gen, both qis turn in from the Seven Red Dui palace, and then every period is brocade added to flowers; yet when it reaches the upper period one need not ask—Seven Red in the upper period is precisely declining and dead qi. If a dwelling is long in depth, facing due south, with front and back doors piercing straight opposite each other, then one looks only at where the inner rooms are lived in: different positions of residence mean the verifications of prosperity and decline in the Three Periods are of many kinds.

房居前面興中上，後面為房利下元；此是移宮災氣法，逐年移住始安然。東北分明門在艮，如何下元終不應；只緣此宅東西潤，門變甲方常守困。四隅之宅艮坤長，前後通門兩口張；亦取內房分旺替，移宮換氣不專常。下元端的居坤位，中上深閨在良方。

Inner rooms lived in at the front flourish in the middle and upper periods; those lived in at the rear are beneficial in the lower period. This is the method of “shifting palaces” to avoid disaster: as the period of the cycle changes, one year by year changes the room one lives in, and only then can one be at peace. Some dwellings in the northeast clearly open the door in the Gen position—why then does the lower period never verify? Only because this dwelling is wide east to west (“moist” should be “wide”); the qi walks along the wide place, and the door position has in fact changed to Jia, so it is in hardship year after year. Dwellings on the four corners, if the Gen–Kun line is especially long, with doors through at both front and back, two mouths wide open, must also rely on the inner rooms to divide prosperity and decline: one shifts palaces and changes qi with the period, and cannot cling dead to one place. Concretely, in the lower period one must truly live in the Kun position; in the middle and upper periods one should settle the inner chambers in the Gen direction (“liang” should be “Gen”).

七赤元中門在坤，如何此宅少災屯；只因間架東西闊，兌氣綿長仇變恩。朝南之宅兌門行，如何下元終不明；只為內房多在後，門兼坤氣不分明。一樣兌門宅正方，如何此宅比彼強；只為面西房在震，兌氣清切少參商。

In years when Seven Red is in cycle the door is opened in Kun; by principle there should be disaster—why then does this dwelling have little calamity? Only because its bay-frame is wide east to west, and Dui’s qi is sent in at length along the wide place; the enmity of the Kun door is thus transformed into grace. Again there is a south-facing dwelling that opens its door from Dui—why does the lower period never show? Only because the inner rooms are mostly set at the rear; though the door is in Dui, in fact it carries Kun qi along, and Dui qi is not distinct. The same Dui door, another dwelling square and upright—why is it stronger than the former? Only because it faces west and the inner rooms are set in Zhen; Dui qi is received purely and truly, with no other trigram mixing in as Shen and Shang.

兌宅之門南北長，漫說朝西七赤強；必定內房偏左右，乾坤夾帶氣兩分。一宅朝南門正西，下元於此靈清奇；只因宅相東西闊，內屋迢迢兌氣齊。共宅同門地勢偏，一林花木各時鮮；只緣門路宮宮變，細把青曩理數研。

If a Dui-door dwelling is especially long north to south, do not simply say that facing west it can obtain the prosperous qi of Seven Red; because the body is long north to south, the inner rooms will necessarily lean to the left and right sides, and the qi of Qian and Kun is carried in, splitting Dui qi into two halves. Conversely, a dwelling facing south with the door opened due west: in the lower period it is here spiritually clear and strange. That is because the dwelling’s form is wide east to west, the inner rooms stretch far to the west, and Dui qi is received neatly and completely. As for those who live in the same dwelling and walk the same door yet whose terrain has bias or correctness, they are like a grove of flowers and trees each opening in its season, the rooms verifying earlier or later; this is only because door and road change palace by palace, and qi changes with them. One must carefully study the principle-numbers of the Green Satchel (in the base text the character for “former times” should be the “satchel” of the Green Satchel).

中架居中離氣正，下元方得喜更宜；東左變坤一白發，西方變巽發中元。陽基形勢貴量裁，僕妻兒孫各有房；一步一星隨地變，門窗街路要推詳。天光落處看風色，此事精微莫顯揚；一宅之中災福異，管生管死在微茫。入宅依此論衰旺，此訣分房是的傳。

If the bay-frame of the middle courtyard sits exactly in the heart of the dwelling, the Li qi received is most correct, and only in the lower period is it especially glad and suitable. Within the same dwelling, rooms leaning east and left become the Kun position, and flourish answering the cycle of One White; rooms leaning west become the Xun position, and flourish answering the middle period. In sum, the configuration of a yang dwelling is valued for weighing and cutting: servants, wives, and descendants each have their rooms; step by step, with the terrain, one star is changed; door, window, street, and path must each be calculated in detail. One must also look at the place where Heaven’s light falls into the courtyard, observing from where the wind comes and what the complexion of the qi is; this layer is extremely subtle, and must not be lightly displayed. Within one and the same dwelling, the disaster and blessing of each room are different; life and death, fortune and misfortune, are governed in these faint and hard-to-see places. After moving into the dwelling, discuss decline and prosperity according to these; this set of formulas for dividing the rooms is a true transmission that indeed has a teacher’s lineage.