People often say that "one side of the soil and water will support one side."
Q: In ancient Feng Shui books in China, I often hear a sentence like this: "One side of the soil and water will nourish one side." Excuse me, why do different soils and waters produce different people?
Dr Zhu: Let me give you an example first. There is a record in the famous ancient scientific and technological document "Flower King Gong Ji": there is a plant called orange in the south of Huaihe River, which tastes sweet and tastes clear, but after transplanting to the north of Huaihe River, it becomes another plant called Fructus Aurantii. Although the shapes of branches, leaves and fruits are exactly the same as those of oranges, they "taste completely different". The reason is "rustic"; "Water and soil are different". Plants are like this, and so are humans. The human body is just a complex of carbohydrates, and he (she) is bound to be influenced by the physical environment in which he (she) was born and grew up. For example: soil quality, water quality, temperature, humidity, sunshine, wind, rain, snow, and even animals and plants born in this land. The human body is influenced by the natural environment, and there are many races with different skin colors on the earth, which can strongly prove this, because these races with different skin colors are completely caused by the natural environment. It can be seen that the influence of the natural environment on the human body is fundamental, and it even affects and creates human genes (such as black people in Africa, white people in Europe, and yellow people in Asia).
Similarly, one side of the water and soil also supports one side of the building. For example, because of the drought and lack of rain in Xinjiang, its building roof is not a herringbone slope but a flat roof; Because Mongols are nomadic people, the design of yurts is round and can adapt to strong winds in any direction; Because the southwest is wet and rainy, most of them are dry fence buildings to prevent the ground from being wet and poisonous snakes from invading; Because Hakkas live in Fujian, they are easily excluded and attacked by local people or people of other races, so their earth buildings are square or round defensive carved buildings; Because of the characteristics of large families living together in the north, a very wide range of quadrangles have been built. These are all manifestations of "one side of the soil and water will support one side of the building". The main idea of this feng shui culture is: adjust measures to local conditions.
Q: China has a vast territory, rich resources and wonderful architecture. Excuse me, is there a map of the summer solstice to the sun, which shows the ancient feng shui culture according to local conditions?
Dr. Zhu: From this ancient map, it uses a "soil gauge method" to measure light and direction. This method of observing the sun and finding the direction has existed since ancient times. The earliest record is "The Book of Songs Daya Gong Liu": Gong Liu went to the site: the scenery is just a mountain (climbing the mountain to see the light), and the yin and yang are opposite (looking at the mountain, the water is cloudy and the water is clear); Measure its sunset (measure its shadow).
From this ancient painting and this ancient poem, we can know that the primitive geomantic culture is completely based on the materialism of exploring, adapting and utilizing nature. It is a theoretical summary of a beneficial practice that our ancestors made nature serve mankind in the largest and best position.
Q: Yes, it was remarkable with the productivity and technical level at that time! So what do the sheep, dogs, pigs and other domestic animals in the picture, the big tree on the right and the singing birds on the tree show about the Feng Shui culture?
Dr. Zhu: Animals and plants, like human beings, are also integrated with heaven and earth. If the soil quality, water quality, climate and geographical environment of a place are not good, animals and plants will inevitably survive badly. If a place is full of plants and animals, it means that this is the "land of feng shui" that the ancients are looking for. According to modern science, animals and plants are much more sensitive to the natural environment than humans. For example, on February 26, 65438, the Indian Ocean tsunami claimed more than 200,000 lives, and human beings had no premonition in advance, and all kinds of advanced scientific measuring instruments had no warning. But strangely, all the affected areas reported that almost no animal carcasses were found in the sea and on the shore! This can only tell us the fact that before the arrival of the tsunami, animals on the land and animals in the water all knew and evacuated from the dangerous area. Therefore, the ancient geomantic culture attached great importance to the survival and growth of animals and plants, which was vividly illustrated in the Summer Solstice Map.
Q: This is really refreshing! Then, do these geomantic culture of "one side of soil and water nurtures one side of people" have reference significance for human beings?
Dr. Chu: For example, one of the "geomantic treasures" considered by the ancients is the ancient flood flushing fan, which is also commonly known as the "delta". Judging from the current situation in China, the Yangtze River Delta and the Pearl River Delta are both economically and culturally developed "geomantic treasures". Another example is plants. The "feng shui plants" considered by the ancients are: ginkgo, camphor tree, bamboo, osmanthus, pine and cypress, and soapberry. Modern botany tells us that most of these plants adsorb harmful gases and release molecular gases beneficial to human health and longevity. For another example, there are many sparrows and crows living in the Woods somewhere. There is no "auspicious place", but if a group of egrets live here, it must be "auspicious place", because egrets have very high requirements for the natural environment, and if they are slightly unhappy, they will fly high and choose "auspicious place" and leave! Another example is: there are many people who live long in a certain place, mostly in places with good natural environment; Moreover, there are often people with strange diseases and serious illnesses in a certain place, which must be a "bad place"!
This is the beneficial enlightenment of the ancient geomantic culture of "one side of soil and water nurtures one side of people" to us modern people. We should explore and discover more internal essential connections from various superficial phenomena mentioned by our ancestors, so as to further improve the quality of life of our modern people and build more healthy living environment!