Compass School of Feng ShuiGenerally, the Chinese Feng Shui is categorised into San Yuan School ( 3 Cycles Combination ) and San He School ( 3 Combination System ). San Yuan School uses San Yuan Luo Pan and San He School uses San He Luo Pan. Besides the two types of Luo Pan, the San Yuan School also uses Luo Pan like Fey Xing ( Flying Stars ) or Xuan Kong ( Time and Space ); while the San He School uses Luo Pan like Pa-Chai ( Eight Mansions ), Sui-Long ( Water Dragons ), San Long ( Mountain Dragons ).
The San Yuan Luo Pan can be recognised by the presence of the 64 Hexagrams of the I-Ching. Such a Lou Pan is also called Jiang Pan ( named after Great Grand Master Jiang Da Hong, founder of San Yuan School ). The San He Luo Pan can be recognised by the presence of 3 distinctive rings of the 24 Mountains. The Lou Pan is also commonly known as Yang Kung Pan ( Founder, Grand Master Yang Yun Sung' of the Tang Dynasty). Both the San He and San Yuan Lou Pan have also been combined to form Zhung He Lou Pan for those who advocate both systems of Feng Shui. In the past, Luo Pan was mostly made with rotating concentric reading plates. Such Luo Pan has very high accuracy, but is rare to find nowadays. The Compass School emphasizes the time axis and complex relationships between directions as represented by the elaborate rings of the compass. Its origin could be traced to Great Feng Shui Master Wang Chih who practised in north Fukien as early as in the eleventh century. The Compass School stressed the Pa Kua with its triagrams and hexagrams that help calculate imbalances, and the Lo Shu Grid which helps describe when to take actions. The Lo Shu Grid is a 3x3 square used in Chinese Numerology. It derives its name from as early as 2800 BC when a turtle with a curious square on its shell emerged from the Lo river. The square has horizontal, vertical, and diagonal row of numerals that add up to 15 which coincides with the number of days between the new moon and full moon. The square has the numeral 5 in the centre, which was highly regarded in ancient China. Amazingly, such a grid has its equivalent, Laxmi Yantra, in India. Several different branches of the Compass School emerged over time. Some focused on numerology while others focused on time dimension. Certain branches of the Compass School also emphasized the influence of the planets on the quality of good sites. The Compass School and Form School were eventually merged in the late 19th century. |
Compass also known as Lou Pan
Origin of CompassThe Chinese invented the compass needle in 4000 B.C. But it was only during the Warring States period ( 475 – 221 BC ) that the compass was documented as a Feng Shui tool.
|
OrientationConsensus is unlikely to be reached as to whether the Magnetic North, True North or Astronomical North offers a more reliable pivotal direction in Feng Shui study.
Those who favour True North think that Feng Shui consists of Astronomy and Geography as the name Kan Yue implies. But, studies have shown that there is no true north as the axis of rotation of the earth points to different directions or stars over time, and the substitution of Astronomical North for True North would be more accurate. It is noted that the Astronomical North changes in a 25,800-year cycle. Some others prefer to rely on the magnetic north which shows the direction of Zi-Wu on the Luo Pan, and refers to the moving dipole of the earth. Incidentally, maps and surveyors use 'Grid North' which is half a degree ( also noted to be changing over time ) away from the Astronomical North. |
The earliest document about the choice of preference is found in Guan Shi Di Li Zhi Meng written by Guan Lu in the Wei Kingdom (210 - 256 BC) of the Three Kingdom Period. Section 68 in the Eighth Roll of the book:
"The needle points Kan-Li determining the starting and ending locations of yin and yang" This indicates that the magnetic north was referred to in determining the eight trigrams of the Hou Tian Ba Gua. Kan is the trigram in the north and Li is the trigram in the south. |
Ancient Chinese developed a formula (or rather an algorithm) to derive the Heaven Chart from the Luo Shu. As the formula is based on the Earth Chart, it is reasonable to refer to the magnetic north and not the astronomical north in Feng Shui audit. In the studying of stars, then it is more reasonable to use the astronomical north.
|
It should be noted that the Luo Pan is an instrument comprising the twenty- four mountains and other formulas adopted by the various schools. In Xuan Kong Feng Shui, the Zheng Jin (with reference to magnetic north) is used. In San He Feng Shui, the Feng Jin (supposedly with reference to astronomical north) is used for locating water. It is because water is moving and Heaven is moving. In measuring mountains and facing, the San He School also uses the Zheng Jin.
|
Common Features of Lou Pan
DirectionNorth
Northeast East Southeast South Southwest West Northwest |
ElementWater
Small Earth Wood Small Wood Fire Big Earth Metal Big Metal |
24 Jie Qi RingThis represents the 24 seasons of the agriculture calendar.
|
28 Star PositionsThis represents the 28 constellations of stars.
The 28 constellations are also matched with fate of person, and with favourable or unfavourable days of the year for important occasions such as weddings and funerals. |
9 StarsThis is based on the legend of the Yellow river's turtle bearing the Lo Shu diagram.
1st Star - Hungry Wolf - Trigram Thunder 2nd Star - Tian Yi - Heavenly Doctor - Trigram Mountain 3rd Star - Longevity - Trigram Heaven 4th Star - 6 Curses or Sha - Trigram Water 5th Star - Disaster - Trigram Earth 6th Star - Destroyers of Armies, End of Life - Trigram Lake 7th Star - 5 Ghosts - Trigram Fire 8th Star - Fu Wei - Trigram Wind |
Chinese Zodiacs, 24 Stars, Mountains, Shens or DirectionsFeng Shui masters regard 24 as complete number for heaven and earth. The 24 mountains establish the orientation of the residence, how it sits and faces and where the mountain and the water stars are in terms of the flying star dwelling horoscope.
There is controversy about which of the 24 segments are auspicious. This ring is used to find favourable location associated with one's year of birth. |
Four Cardinal Directions and Celestial CreaturesThe sun rises in the East ( Spring ), reaches its peak in the South ( Mid-Summer ), sets in the West ( Autumn ) and is dark in the North ( Mid-Winter ).
As such, South quadrant is noted have the maximum Yang while North maximum Yin. The four Celestial Creatures are coloured and traditionally assigned to the 4 compass quarters which reflect their geographic / climatic attributes (in China):
|
Nine Moving StarsDetails are in Han Lung Ching by Form School Founder Yang Yun-sung, but they are not of central importance to the Compass School. It is not a necessary component in the compass.
Names of the nine stars and their meanings in Chinese:
|
The Big Dipper and Nine Moving StarsSeven of the Nine Moving Stars are identified with the seven stars of the Great Bear Constellation or Big Dipper asterism. Incidentally, the Great Bear Constellation or Urza Major is one of the largest and most prominent northern constellations of which the seven brightest stars form the well-known Big Dipper.
The remaining two are assistant stars located many light years away but appear near the Mizar Star. Paradoxically, though identified with seven stars of the Big Dipper, the nine moving stars are not really ‘stars’ as they have no specific astronomical or astrological locations. |
Solar Divisions on Compass ( Lou Pan )There are 24 solar divisions ( Chieh Ch' i ) on the Compass. Each division corresponds to 15 degrees of the sun’s motions in Longitude on the ecliptic. The compass links them to 24 directional points. Each Ch’i is divided into 3 hou and each hou into 5 days. The year then is made up of 360 days. The full solar Chinese year begins and ends at Tung Chih ( End of winter and beginning of spring ) which is different from the lunar calendar. This is reflected in the arrangement of the divisions on the compass, starting from Tung Chih in the centre of the North sector, Spring Equinox at centre of East, Summer Solstice at centre of South, and Autumn Equinox at centre of West. |
Solar Divisions and Big DipperWhen the Big Dipper points to the East ( Chen quadrant ), it is the Li-Chun, beginning of spring. At this stage, the sun rises at 15 degree of Aquarius.
Li-hsia, the beginning of summer, is another Jie when the sun rises at 15 degree of Taurus. The Big Dipper points South ( 180 degree compass, Li quadrant ). When the Big Dipper points to the West ( 270 degree compass direction, Tui quadrant ), the sun rises at 15 degree of Leo; and it is the Li-Chiu or beginning of autumn. At Li-Tung ( the beginning of winter ), the Big Dipper points to the North ( 360 degree compass direction, Kan quadrant ), and the sun rises at 15 degree of Scorpio. The Spring Equinox, Summer Solstice, Autumn Equinox, and the Winter Solstice are the mid points between the Li-Chun, Li-Hsia, Li-Chiu, and Li-Tung. |
28 Lunar MansionsThey are associated with the 28 constellations identified by the Chinese in ancient times, and can be found in one of the rings of some Lou Pans.
The stars of the 28 constellations are situated around the Celestial Equator at different times of the year. The 28 constellations are grouped into the four Celestial Creatures which correspond to the seasons they appear. During each season, there will be 7 constellations appearing in the sky one after another. The stars appear to rise in the East and set in the West in clockwise direction as Earth rotates anti-clockwise around its axis. As the Earth revolves around the sun, the stars appear to move in anti-clockwise direction with respect to the Sun. Current stars disappear while new stars appear, and the positions of constellations change with the time of the year. |
Some of the 28 Chinese constellations are very close to Western Astronomy. Some of the Chinese constellations’ stars are the same stars of Western Astrology.
Similar to their Western counterparts, the Chinese inferred shapes from the stars; and names of the shapes eventually became names of legendary people. Such strange names given to the constellations can be seen on some Luo Pans. |
Different Luo Pans from different centuries were known have angles of the 28 constellations deviated from one to three degrees from one another.
This could be due to effect of the Earth’s rotation over a few hundred of years, resulting in constellations appearing earlier or later than their predicted times. The angles were adjusted from time to time when the precision was not accurate anymore ( approximately 1 degree every 71 years ). Incidentally, the differences were partly due to ancient Luo Pans adopting the traditional Chinese degrees, in which the circle is divided into 3651⁄4 parts while the modern ones divide the circle into 360 parts for convenience. |
Lunar Mansions and Solar DivisionsThe 28 constellations are used to determine the position of the Sun, and consequently enable correction to be made to the calendar.
As the stars cannot be seen during the day, the position of the Sun has to be inferred from the position of the Full Moon, which is always in the opposite direction of the Sun. This is one of the methods that the Chinese used to determine the seasonal days for adding in the leap month. |
24 MountainsIn practice, they are used as categories to define the various hill and mountain forms.
|
Earthly BranchesThe Earthly branches ( di zhi ) ring refers to the Zodiac Signs, the 24 Stars in the Sky, mountains, directions or shens.
Zodiac signs that are directly opposite one another are known as Xiang Chong Xiang Ke, which means there is a clash or incompatibility. Animal Clash Animal Rat ( Zi ) ---- Horse ( Wu ) Cow ( Chou ) ---- Goat ( Wei ) Tiger ( Yin ) ---- Monkey ( Shen ) Rabbit ( Mao ) ---- Chicken ( You ) Dragon ( Chen ) ---- Dog ( Xu ) Snake ( Si ) ---- Pig ( Hai ) Earthly Branches and corresponding Western Zodiac Signs: Rat ( Zi ) ---- Aquarius Cow ( Chou ) ---- Capricorn Tiger ( Yin ) ---- Sagittarius Rabbit ( Mao ) ---- Scorpio Dragon ( Chen ) ---- Libra Snake ( Si ) ---- Virgo Horse ( Wu ) ---- Leo Goat ( Wei ) ---- Cancer Monkey ( Shen ) ---- Gemini Chicken ( You ) ---- Taurus Dog ( Xu ) ---- Aries Pig ( Hai ) ---- Pisces |
Underlying Principle of Lou PanChi is an all important principle underlying Luo Pan. It acts on every level from human to climate, and exists in Heaven, Earth and Water. The essence of good direction finding is to determine the best site for tapping on the positive energy flowing through, and accumulating it without allowing it to go stagnant.
|
Three Main Compass Types
San He Luo PanThe outer ring is the Tian Pan ( Heaven Plate ) while the inner ring is the Di Pan ( Earth Plate ). The midpoint of Zi in the Tian Pan falls on the slit between Zi and Qui in the Di Pan.
The outer ring reads the direction on an astronomical compass. The magnetic needle is called the Proper Needle (Zheng Jin). Heaven plate reads heaven qi and earth plate reads earth qi. Some ancient practitioners find that the fixed 7.5o does not agree with the changing declination in China, and used the sun's shadow at noon to read the astronomical direction. Instead of using the Tian Pan, a sundial is used in addition to the Luo pan. A sundial is an instrument that indicates local apparent solar time by determining the shadow cast by a central projecting pointer on a surrounding calibrated dial. |
Features of Good Lou Pan1. Needle
The needle must align accurately in-between the two red dots in the center of the compass - known as the Heaven Pool. It must also align accurately below the axis cross ( the intercrossing nylon strings ). A slight deviation of .01mm away from the red lines is not acceptable. 2. Heaven Pool's Red Line The two red dots must be present in the North direction while the sharp point of the needle should be pointing to the South. 3. Accuracy of the Axis Cross The two red nylon threads must cross the cardinal axis directly at 0 degree, 90 degree, 180 degree and 270 degree of the Heaven Dial. There should not be even the slightest deviation. 4. Quality of the Heaven Dial Every character, trigram and number of the Heaven Dial must be visibly sharp and clear. The dial should be steady and smooth on turning. It should not be too smooth or too tight. 5. Earth Base It should be square in shape to facilitate taking directions by matching it parallel to the wall or door of a house/building. It must come with a Spirit Level for accuracy of reading. 6. Material Quality Poly-Electric wood is best as it can withstand temperature of up to 140 degree Celsius. 7. Measurements and Sizes Luo Pans come only in the following standardized sizes: 2"8, 3"4, 4"2, 5"2, 6"2, 7"2, 8"6, 1ft 2" Traditional Feng Shui masters tend to use the 8"6 types. The smaller the Luo Pan, the easier it is to make mistakes. 9. Beauty Lou Pan must have high quality, and the right feel ( fabric, smoothness and look ). Your Luo Pan must be good enough to be used as a decorative Feng Shui item. Some believe that the Luo Pan could ward off evil spirits as it embodies the secrets of the I-Ching and, as such, the secrets of the Feng Shui Bagua. A good Luo Pan should weigh around 1.3 to 1.5kg. |