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LEE SUANG CHUI U011609J LEE XUNJIAN, KENNETH U021215X LEOW DASHENG, JACKSON U021863L LIM FUNG LENG U011605MLOKE CHO MUN U011310H TAN CHYE HUAT U010019X

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Table of Content

Table of Content ............................................................................................................................................2 Objectives of Our Project ..............................................................................................................................4 Origins of Luo Pan.........................................................................................................................................5 Development of Luo Pan ...............................................................................................................................6

The two schools of Feng Shui; earthly forms and compass ......................................................................6 Luo Pan Feng Shui in Ancient China ............................................................................................................7

Landscape surveillance..............................................................................................................................7 Architecture of the ancient dwellings ........................................................................................................7 Cursed birthdays ........................................................................................................................................7

Luo Pan Feng Shui in Modern Singapore......................................................................................................8 Shape of Suntec City: resemblance of a palm ...........................................................................................8 The new Merlion Park ..............................................................................................................................8

Twelve-Four Solar Divisions (Chieh Ch’i) .................................................................................................10 Solar divisions .........................................................................................................................................10 Solar divisions in Luo Pan.......................................................................................................................11 Solar divisions and the Big Dipper..........................................................................................................11

Orientations – The Four Celestial Animals and Four Seasons ....................................................................12 The Four Celestial Animals .....................................................................................................................12

South ....................................................................................................................................................12 East ......................................................................................................................................................12 West .....................................................................................................................................................12 North ....................................................................................................................................................12 Centre of the Compass.........................................................................................................................12

The Four Seasons.....................................................................................................................................12 Former and Later Heaven Sequences ..........................................................................................................13

Differences between Former and Later Heaven ......................................................................................13 Former Heaven Sequence ............................................................................................................................13 Later Heaven Sequence ...............................................................................................................................14 The Nine Moving Stars................................................................................................................................16

The Nine Stars .........................................................................................................................................16 The Big Dipper and the Nine Moving Stars ............................................................................................16 The Moving Stars ....................................................................................................................................17

The Twenty-Eight Lunar Mansions.............................................................................................................17 Definition of constellation .......................................................................................................................17 Lunar Mansions and the Celestial Animals .............................................................................................17 Lunar Mansions and the Western Zodiac ................................................................................................18 The angles of the constellations on Luo Pan ...........................................................................................19 Lunar Mansions and twelve-four Solar Divisions ...................................................................................20

Ch’i (气): its Sources and Effects ................................................................................................................21 Sheng and SSu Ch’i .................................................................................................................................21

Earth, Atmosphere and Heaven Ch’i ...........................................................................................................21 Heaven Ch’i (t’ien Ch’i) ..........................................................................................................................21 Earth Ch’i (ti Ch’i)...................................................................................................................................21 Weather Ch’i............................................................................................................................................21

Yin and Yang...............................................................................................................................................22

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The Trigrams ...........................................................................................................................................22 Discussions ..................................................................................................................................................23

Is Luo Pan a cosmological representation of the stars? ...........................................................................23 Can Luo Pan work in the Southern Hemisphere?....................................................................................23 Is Luo Pan a scientific tool?.....................................................................................................................23 Closer analysis of the 28 Constellations and the Western Zodiacs .........................................................24

Appendix 1 - Our Luo Pan Model ...............................................................................................................25 Our model of Luo Pan .............................................................................................................................25 How does it work? ...................................................................................................................................25 Stars charts...............................................................................................................................................25

Appendix 2: Overview of Position of starsReferences................................................................................26 Appendix 2: Overview of Position of starsReferences................................................................................27 References....................................................................................................................................................28

Books .......................................................................................................................................................28 Websites...................................................................................................................................................28

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OBJECTIVES

Have you ever wondered about how Feng Shui masters use their circular metal device (Luo Pan) to conclude that the Feng Shui of a site is good or bad? Did you know that the Luo Pan actually is intimately linked to western astronomy? Have you ever thought about the mysteries and implications different rings of the Luo Pan have in them?

Objectives of Our Project 1) History of the Luo Pan

invention of Luo Pan and the development up to the present one.

Luo Pan ina brief history from

2) cult

Figure 1 Evil is associated with Yin

the

ural practices nced people’s life in ancient times, and how it influences people

3) rt se solar calendars and the seasons correlate with direction and stars.

4) d to the seasons.

5) lemented the astronomy concepts into Luo Pan.

6) ncepts about the whole Universe the ancient Chinese had

7) focus. There are many materials we had come across and not all facts are true.

e we

a brief account of how Luo Pan influe

in modern Singapore. The time-finding ato look into how the Chine

The direction-finding art to show how directions are relate

The astronomical links to show how the Chinese imp

The big principles of Luo Pan to introduce the some of the general co

implemented into the Luo Pan.

Discussions this is our main

Through our analysis of certain areas, we arrived at our own conclusions based on the knowledg

have gained so far.

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Origins of Luo Pan Before the Luo Pan was invented to establish the astrology

charts, the Sun dial was used to determine the direction of

the sun and the time of the day. The North Star was used to

determine the location of the North. From these, the Chinese

was able to establish the directions of the four cardinals and

the four diagonals of the Eight Trigram directions. The Chinese invented the compass needle in 4000 B.C. According to

popular legend, the Luo Pan was presented to the Yellow Emperor by

the Goddess of the Nine Heavens to assist him in his heroic battle

against the evil wizard's clan.

But it was only until the Warring State period (475 –221 BC)

that the compass was documented being used as a tool for

measuring Feng Shui. The first divination plate that i

the compass was called “Si Nan Luo pan”. The Si Nan Luo Pan

was a simple design which consists of a magnetized sp

sitting in the center of a square divination plate. During the H

Dynasty (206 BC- 220 AD), another kind of divination plate

called the “Shi Pan” appeared. It had a square base plate

symbolic of earth, the 地 (Di) Pan, and a round plate symbolic o

heaven, the 天 (Tian) Pan. The Heaven Plate pivots on a pin to

enable it to rotate around the Earth Plate. The Heaven Plate is not

magnetized. The two plates were used together to judge time a

direction based on the constellation pattern in the center.

ncorporated

oon

an

f

nd

HISTORY OF LUO PAN

Figure 2 Portrait of Huang Ti

Figure 4 a Chinese diagrams illustrating various functions of the magnetized Luo Pan

Figure 3 sitting in the centre is the magnetized spoon

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HISTORY OF LUO PAN

Figure 5 Picture of Shi Pan

Development of Luo Pan From the Emperor’s palace to schools in Southern China, many researches were devoted

to the study of the science and philosophy of Luo Pan. Many Sages and scholars made

significant contributions to the development of the Luo Pan up to the present one.

The two schools of Feng Shui; earthly forms and compass There are two main schools of thought in Feng-Shui, the form school and the compass school. The former

and the older of the two is concerned with the visible form of the landscape surrounding the site under

construction, be it a house or tomb. The Compass school, however, is concerned with a time axis and a

complex set of relationship between ‘sensitive’ directions as indicated by an elaborate many-ringed

compass. The Form school was begun by Yang Yun-sun, of ninth century, who was Imperial Geomancer

to the Emperor Hi-Tsung from AD 874-888 and was based in Kiangsi. The Compass school began with

Wang Chih in the eleventh century and was called the Fukien school since it was in north Fukien that

Wang Chih practiced.

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LUO PAN IN CULTURAL PRACTICES

Luo Pan Feng Shui in Ancient China If you had been to China’s any cities with rich history, you

might notice almost all the houses along some of the streets

facing a single direction, mostly South, instead of facing

oppositely each other.

Landscape surveillance In the ancient times, the Feng Shui Master (hsien-sheng) would

analyze the landscape in very interesting ways. He would be seen

carried by his servants in sedan, occasionally took out his compass

and orientated its needle. Sometimes, upon the instant of

inspiration, he would plunge down a slope as fast as his legs

could take him until he reached an upslope where he marked it.

This was known as ‘riding the dragon’, or detecting the flow of

the Ch’i. He would pick up the exact locations of the major forms

in the landscape such as mountains, ridges and rivers. Finally, he

would make a consultation of the night sky to determine the

position of the constellations on the horizon before coming to a

conclusion.

Figure 6 paying tribute to the Luo Pan Master in ancient China

Architecture of the ancient dwellings For the more well to do families, their houses normally were built

in a manner that there was always a wall or a shade blocking the

doors of the house or rooms, such that no one can walk a direct

straight path into the dwelling. This was to prevent the wealth or

fortune of a dwelling to flow out. Figure 7 Using Luo Pan in the Ching Dynasty

Cursed birthdays Some of the religious Chinese believe that certain days and timings are considered bad luck. When a

person happens to born on such unlucky timings, he/she is deemed to have hereditary characteristic (八

字，the set of eight characters that defined the path of an individual life) that were bad or detrimental to

his/her parents. He/she is even forbidden to acknowledge his parents. They usually call their parents

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uncles or aunties. His/her name can be given from birth like Ah Gou which means dog, or Shi Tou which

means stone. Bias against the child is often the case until they grow up. Such cases are more often seen in

families that run businesses.

Luo Pan Feng Shui in Modern Singapore Feng Shui has immersed influences in

Hong Kong and Singapore. Luo Pans

are being consulted by Feng Shui

Masters on matters from the dates of

the opening ceremonies to the shape of a building.

Shape of Suntec City: resemblance of a palm Suntec City is an example where Feng Shui is consulted extensively. It has five office towers, a

convention hall and a large fountain. The 5 towers is supposed to represent the fingers of the hand, the

convention hall the wrist and the fountain in the center of the Suntec City, means water (wealth) flowing

into the palm of the hand, which is a good omen. The architecture of the

building has obviously taken Feng Shui into consideration and a Luo Pan

is most likely to be needed in determination of the geomancy.

The new Merlion Park

Figure 9 the office towers

Figure 7 Suntec Convention - where international conferences are held


Figure 8 Resemblance of a Palm

Figure 10 Fountain of Wealth

Another example is the position of the Singapore Merlion at the old Merlion Park at the mouth of

Singapore River. At its original position, the Merlion Park is the mouth of the Singapore River, which has

good Feng Shui. Not so anymore as its view is blocked by the extension of the Marina Bay and the

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Figure 11 the opening ceremony of the new Merlion site by Senior Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew on 15 Sep 2002

newly-built of the Esplanade Bridge. Because the

Merlion does not have open access to the sea, it is

interpreted by a Feng Shui master as a sign of wealth

being blocked, as seen during the recent financial crisis.

As a result, it was shifted into a new position which is

supposed to have good Feng Shui as it faced the mouth

of the Singapore River. Again, a Luo Pan is most likely

to be needed in this case to determine the Feng Shui of

the new position.

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Twelve-Four Solar Divisions (Chieh Ch’i) The Chinese’s approach to meteorology involves the aid of the weather Ch’i in explaining

the seasons and was used as a solar calendar by the Chinese farmers in the ancient times.

Solar divisions Chinese solar calendar begins at Li Chun when the Big Dipper (See p. 16 The Big Dipper and the Nine

Moving Stars) points to the 15th degree of the constellation Aquarius, which happens on either Feb 4th or

5th of every year. The Spring Equinox (0 degree Aries) is "mid spring" which happens in between the

beginning of spring (Li-Chun) and the beginning of summer (Li-hsia). The summer solstice (0 degree

Cancer) is the mid point between the Li-hsia, beginning of summer, and the Li-Chiu, beginning of autumn.

The autumn equinox (0 degree Libra) is called Chiu-Fen, the mid autumn. The winter solstice (0 degree

Capricorn) is called Tung chih, the coming of winter. The following are the 24 Chieh Ch’i (solar

fortnight):

Chieh li ch’un 立春 beginning of Spring 5 Feb (first day)

Ch’i yu Shui 雨水 rain water 20 Feb

Chieh ching chih 惊蛰 excited insects 7 Mar

Ch’i ch’un fen 春分 Spring Equinox 22 Mar

Chieh ch’ing ming 清明 clear and bright 6 Apr

Ch’i ku yu 榖雨 grain rains 21 Apr

Chieh li hsia 立夏 Summer begins 6 May

Ch’i Hsiao man 小满 grain filling 22 May

Chieh mang chung 芒种 grain in ear 7 Jun

Ch’i hsia chih 夏至 Summer Solstice 22 Jun

Chieh Hsiao shu 小暑 slight heat 8 Jul

Ch’i ta shu 大暑 great heat 24 Jul

Chieh li ch’iu 立秋 autumn begins 8 Aug

Ch’i ch’u shu 处暑 limit of heat 24 Aug

Chieh pai lu 白露 white dew 8 Sep

Ch’i ch’iu fen 秋分 Autumn Equinox 24 Sep

Chieh han lu 寒露 cold dew 9 Oct

Ch’i shuang chiang 霜降 hoar frost descends 24 Oct

THE TIME-FINDING ART

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THE TIME-FINDING ART

Chieh li tung 立冬 Winter begins 8 Nov

Ch’i Hsiao hsueh 小雪 slight snow 23 Nov

Chieh ta hsueh 大雪 great snow 7 Dec

Ch’i tung chih 冬至 Winter Solstice 22 Dec

Chieh Hsiao han 小寒 slight cold 6 Jan

Ch’i ta han 大寒 great cold 21 Jan

Table 1 Table of the Chieh Ch’i

Solar divisions in Luo Pan 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 omission of 5 days of the solar year makes correlation with a circle.

Each degree indicates a point on ground appropriate to and telling something about a day, integrating time

and space considerations. It is noted that before the advent of the Jesuits in the late sixteenth to the

seventeenth centuries, the Chinese had circles of 365¼ degrees. The full solar Chinese year begins and

ends at Tung Chih (meaning end of winter, beginning of spring) which is different from the lunar

calendar. Hence the arrangement of the divisions is starting from Tung Chih in the centre of the North in

the Luo Pan. Therefore at centre of East, it meets the Spring Equinox. At centre of South, it meets the

Summer Solstice. And at centre of West, it meets the Autumn Equinox.

Solar divisions and the Big Dipper When the Big Dipper points East direction and Chen1 quadrant, this is the Li-Chun, beginning of spring.

The sun rises at 15 degree of Aquarius. Li-hsia, the summer beginning, is another Jie which sun rises at

15 degree of Taurus. The Big Dipper points South (180 degree compass) direction and Li quadrant. When

the Big Dipper points to the west 270 degree compass direction and Tui quadrant, the sun rises at 15

degree Leo. This is the Li-Chiu, beginning of autumn. When the Big Dipper points to the north 360

degree compass direction and Kan quadrant, the sun rises at 15 degree Scorpio, this is the Li-Tung,

beginning of winter. 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 (the beginning of the four

seasons).

1 All the trigrams here refer to the Later Heaven Sequence

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THE DIRECTION-FINDING ART

Orientations – The Four Celestial Animals and Four Seasons The basic directions are North, South, East and West. The Luo

Pan attributes a symbolic animal to each direction.

The Four Celestial Animals Traditional Chinese geography insisted upon rivers flowing eastwards (e.g.

the Yellow River) and all mountains (sources of rivers) in the west. As China is in the Northern

Hemisphere, ancient Chinese pictured the south as source of warmth (equator being in the south of China)

while most of the cold wind (Feng) came form the dark north. Accordingly all Chinese maps placed the

quarter of greatest warmth, the south, at the top of the page. Luo Pan follows this convection, identifying

the South in the North direction. The Chinese uses four celestial

animals to represent the four directions. They might have interpreted i

from the stars. Below are the four animals associated with each of the

directions:

Figure 12 The Green Dragon and the White Tiger interlock in embrace

t

South

Red Bird/Phoenix (Source of warmth, light and fire)

East

Azure Dragon (the blue China Sea or eastern seaboard)

West

White Tiger (the snows of the high mountains of inland China)

North

Dark Warrior/Tortoise and Snake (of the cold dark northern plains)

Centre of the Compass

The Earth is sited at the centre of the compass.

The Four Seasons Figure 13 the Four Celestial Animals

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The 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)

Spring – East

Summer – South (Maximum Yang)

Autumn – West

Winter – North (Maximum Ying)

The four animals traditionally attributed to the compass quarters are colored in a way which reflects their

geographic / climatic attributes.

Former and Later Heaven Sequences What are they all about? Can the Heaven be split into two? Are they related to the seasons?

We shall explain in the following sections.

Differences between Former and Later Heaven The difference between these is that the Former Heaven Sequence is the representation of ideal Heavenly

order and is used mainly in the Feng-Shui of tombs. As this is not suitable for Feng-Shui of dwelling

places, the Later Heaven Sequence was devised by the King Wen. It took into consideration of the Earth’s

rot and decay. It is more appropriate to the Feng-Shui of houses and gardens (See p. 22 Yin and Yang) for

overview).

Former Heaven Sequence

Figure 14 the Former Heaven Sequence

In Former Heaven sequence, the third line determines the sex of each

Trigram, the middle line is the next criterion of relative Yin or Yang-

ness and the first line is the least crucial. As a result, ( ) is major

Yang and minor Yin while ( ) is major Yin and minor Yang. In this

way a hierarchy can be built up extending from Chien to Kun. Hence,

( ) means very Yang while ( ) means very Ying. Very Yang

trigram symbol ( ) called Chien corresponds to the summer solstice

whereas the very Yin trigram symbol called Kun corresponds to the

winter solstice.

Symbol Name Seasons Directions Yin and Yang

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乾 Chien Summer South maximum Yang

兑 Tui South-East more Yang

離 Li Spring East equal Yin and yang

震 Chen North-East more Yin

巽 Sun South-West more Yang

坎 Khan Autumn West equal Yin and yang

艮 Ken North-West more Yin

坤 Kun Winter North maximum Yin

Table 2 The Names of the Eight Trigrams and their associated directions and seasons

In terms of the Former heaven sequence, south is associated with summer while north is associated with

winter. This is because Chinese in the past view the beginning of spring as the beginning of a new year.

They also correlated the beginning of the year with the beginning of the day. Since the sun rises in the

east, they naturally linked east with the spring.

The sun when viewed from China reaches its peak in the south at all times of the year during noon, and as

noon is the warmest period of the day just as summer is the warmest period of the year, the Chinese

correlated south with midsummer. The same goes for autumn, as the sun sets in the west and both are thus

correlated. After the sun sets, the sun continues its revolution until it is in the north of China, when it will

be at midnight. As midnight is the coldest period of the day just as winter is the coldest period of the year,

they are both correlated.

Later Heaven Sequence As mentioned earlier, the Eight Trigrams are arranged in two distinct and

separate arrangements, the Former Heaven and the Later Heaven sequence.

The Former Heaven sequence stands for the heavenly order and the ideal

situations in which the 4 seasons will occur; while Later Heaven sequence

takes into account the less perfect circles of seasons, and manifestations on

the earth itself. Figure 15 The Later Heaven Sequence

Symbol Name Seasons Directions

乾 Chien Heaven South-West


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兑 Tui Autumn West

離 Li Summer South

震 Chen Spring East

巽 Sun South-East

坎 Khan Winter North

艮 Ken North-East

坤 Kun Earth North-West

Table 3 the names of the eight trigrams in the Later Heaven

The Later is linked to the Former Heaven as it was devised from it. Both may exist as two different rings

together in Luo Pans and are used for the detection of Yin-Yang harmony or disharmony at particular

points. They are prominent in Luo Pans used nowadays.

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The Nine Moving Stars “Of all cosmological forces in Luo Pan the most directly

manifested in the forms of earth are the Nine Moving Stars”.

Figure 18 the Great Bear Constellation

The Nine Stars Their details are to be found in Han Lung Ching by Yang Yun-sung (the

form school), but are not of central importance to the Compass school.

Therefore, it is not a necessary component in the compass. There are 24

divisions in the ring. In practice, they are used as categories to define the

various hill and mountain forms.

T’an lang 贪狼 greedy and savage

Chu men 巨门 great gate

Lu ts’un 禄存 Rank (salary) preserved

Wen ch’u 文曲 civil or literary activities

Lien chien 廉真 honesty, purity and uprightness

Wu ch’u 武曲 military windings

P’o chun 破军 breaker of the Phalanx Broken Army (luck)

Tso fu 左辅 left assistant

Yu pi 右弼 right assistant of the Celestial Emperor

Table 4 the names of the nine stars and their meanings in Chinese

The Big Dipper and the Nine Moving Stars Seven of the Nine Moving Stars are identified with the seven stars of the Great Bear Constellation or Big

Dipper asterism. Constellation is a collective group of stars while an asterism is a smaller group of stars

Figure 16 the Stars arrangement on Luo Pan

THE ASTRONOMICAL LINKS

Figure 17 the Position of the 9 Stars

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that is part of a constellation. The remaining two are assistance stars, which are located many light years

away but appear near the Mizar Star. A Java Applet showing the Urza Major constellation (Please refer to

the CD-Rom): Stars of Urza Major

Figure 19 the Big Dipper

The Moving Stars As the title implies, the Nine Stars are moving stars. They are not really ‘stars’ as they have no specific

astronomical or astrological locations. In Han dynasty, it was already established that the Dipper annually

swung around the pole star in a full circle and the constellation that the handle pointed were those

appropriate to the current time of year. As they correlate with the seasons of the year, the tail of the

constellation at nightfall points to the quarter attributed to the current season. For example, when in

spring the tail points to the east or in autumn to the west (See p. 10 Solar divisions).

The Twenty-Eight Lunar Mansions In the Luo Pan one of the rings is called the Lunar Mansions

containing the Chinese 28 constellations. The Chinese stars

charts were known to be the most accurate in the ancient

times.

Definition of constellation A constellation is a collection of stars, grouped together to form a

recognizable figure. They are observed from the Earth. Although there are far away from each other, but

from Earth’s position of observation, they appear next to each other.

Figure 20 this is the famous Suzhou Astronomical Chart of 1247, displaying the Milky Way and Chinese constellations

Lunar Mansions and the Celestial Animals

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The stars of the 28 constellations are situated around the Celestial Equator on different times of the year.

The 28 constellations are grouped into the four Celestial Animals (See p. 12 The Four Celestial Animals)

which corresponds to the seasons they appear. This means that 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. Eventually, the

current stars disappear and new stars appear. Therefore, the position of constellations changes with the

time of the year.

Lunar Mansions and the Western Zodiac Some of the 28 Chinese constellations are very close to the Western

Zodiacs. Some of Chinese constellations’ stars maybe the same

stars of the Western Zodiac (See p. 25 Stars charts).

Similarly to the Western counterpart, the Chinese also

Figure 22 the names of the legendary people appears on Luo Pan

Figure 23the ancient Chinese star chart showing the 28 constellation (Part 2). There are 615 stars in this chart.

Figure 24 the ancient Chinese star chart showing the 28 constellation (Part 2). There are 660 stars in this chart.

Figure 21 The Chinese celestial sphere

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inferred shapes from the stars. Later, the name of the shapes became names of legendary people.

Therefore, on the Luo Pan, you will see strange names given to the constellations.

The angles of the constellations on Luo Pan From observations of the different Luo Pan from different centuries, we realized that the angles of the 28

constellations deviated from one to three degrees from one another. This maybe attributed to long span of

time. Due to the precession effect of the Earth’s rotation over a few hundred of years, the constellations

may appear earlier or later than the predicted time. The angles were adjusted from time to time when the

precision is not accurate anymore (around 1 degree every 71 years). One more point to note is that ancient

Luo Pans adopted the old Chinese degrees, in which the circle is divided into 365¼ parts while the

modern ones divide the circle into 360 parts for convenience. This results in the differences.

28 Chinese Constellations (Asterisms) 二十八宿

28 Constellations

Name No. of Degrees Pinyin Quadrant # Approx. Western Constellation/Key Star

角 (Horn) 12 Jiao 1 Spica/Alpha Vir

亢 (Neck) 9 Kang 2 Virgo/Kappa Vir

氐 (Base) 16 Di 3 Libra/Iota Lib or Alpha Lib

房 (Room) 6 Fang 4 Libra/Delta Sco or Pi Sco

心 (Heart) 6 Xin 5 An tares/Sigma Sco

尾(Tail) 18 Wei 6 Scorpios/Mu Sco

箕 (Basket) 9 Ji

East

東

Green

Dragon

7 Sagittarius/ Gamma Sgr orEta Sgr

斗 (Ladle) 22 Dou 8 Sagittarius/Phi Sgr

牛 (Ox-Boy) 7 Niu 9 Capricorn/Beta Cap

女 (Maiden) 11 Nu 10 Aquarius/Epsilon Aqr

虚 (Void) 9 Xu 11 Aquarius/Beta Aqr

危 (Rooftop) 16 Wei 12 Aquarius and Pegasus/Alpha Aqr

室 (House) 18 Shi 13 Pegasus/Alpha Peg

壁 (Wall) 9 Bi

North

北

Black

Tortoise

14 Pegasus/Gamma Peg

奎 (Astride) 18 Kui 15 Andromeda/Delta And

娄 (Mound) 12 Lou

West

西 16 Aries/Beta Ari


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胃 (Stomach) 15 Wei 17 Aries/35 Ari

昴 (Pleiades) 11 Mao 18 Pleiades/17 Tau or 16 Tau 畢 (Net) 16 Bi 19 Taurus/Epsilon Tau

觜 (Beak) 1 Zi 20 Orion/Lamda Ori or Phi Ori

参 (Orion) 9 Shen

White

Tiger

21 Orion/Delta Ori or Beta Ori

井 (Well) 30 Jing 22 Gemini/Mu Gem

鬼 (Ghosts) 3 Gui 23 Cancer/Delta Cnc orTheta Cnc

柳 (Willow) 14 Liu 24 Hydra/Delta Hya

星 (Star) 6 Xing 25 Alp hard/Alpha Hya

张 (Bow) 18 Zhang 26 Crater/Nu Hya

翼 (Wings) 20 Yi 27 Corves/Alpha Crt

轸 (Carriage) 19 Zhen

South

南

Red

Bird

28 Corves/Gamma Crv

Table 5 this is based on 1950 Luo Pan. The North is at the mid-point of ‘zi’.

Lunar Mansions and twelve-four Solar Divisions The practical use of the system of 28 constellations was to determine the position of the Sun, and

consequently enable corrections 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 means that by determining the position of the Full Moon with respect

to the 28 constellations, the Chinese were able to identify the position of the Sun. This is one of the

methods that the Chinese used to determine the seasonal days (See p. 10 Solar divisions) to add leap

month.

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THE BIG PRINCIPLES OF LUO PAN

Ch’i (气): its Sources and Effects Ch’i (气) is the active energy which flows through the forms produced

by li. The closest western terminology that can describe Ch’i is the

Earth magnetic field. It acts at every level – on human, agricultural and climate. On human level, it is the

energy flowing through the acupuncture meridians and only departs on death. All

living things depend on it and it is literally ‘the breath of life’. On agricultural level

it is the force which ensures the fertility of crops; and on climatic level it is the

energy carried by the wind and by the waters. Figure 25 Acupuncture Chart showing flow of Ch’i along meridians

It is responsible for the changes in form which is a characteristic of all living things, including the Earth.

The various forms of Ch’i include sheng Ch’i or vital Ch’i and ssu Ch’i or torpid Ch’i. The former is

Yang Ch’i and the latter Yin Ch’i. The sheng Ch’i flows most readily during the hours of rising sun while

ssu Ch’i prevails during the declining hours of sun (noon to midnight). Hence, as the sun moves from east

to west, the compass point from which one will expect either sheng Ch’i or ssu Ch’i alternate.

Sheng and SSu Ch’i

Earth, Atmosphere and Heaven Ch’i Ch’i pervades in the form of Earth, Heaven and Weather

Ch’i.

Heaven Ch’i (t’ien Ch’i) This is affected by the state of t’ien. They are governed by the

Former Heaven sequence (See p. 13 Former Heaven Sequence) of

trigrams.

Earth Ch’i (ti Ch’i) This is contained in the ‘dragon veins’ of the earth. It runs through

the earth and along the watercourse and subjected to decay. They are governed by the Later Heaven

sequence (See p. 14 Later Heaven Sequence) of the Trigrams.

Figure 26 the five types of Weather Ch'i extend between Heaven and Earth Ch'i

Weather Ch’i

22

THE BIG PRINCIPLES OF LUO PAN

This is consists of rain, sunshine, heat, cold and wind. The weather partake the nature of both Heaven and

Earth and is governed by both.

Ch’i is an all important principle underlying Luo Pan. It acts on every level from human to climatic and

exists in Heaven, Earth and Weather. The essence of good direction finding is to determine the best site

which is able to trap the Ch’i energy flowing through the site and accumulate it without allowing it to go

stagnant.

Yin and Yang Yin and Yang are the root of the Chinese views of the

universe. The symbol in the centre is the Yin-Yang

symbol. Dark half represents Yin and Light half represents

Yang. Inside each half contains a seed of opposite

force. One of the Chinese philosophies behind Luo Pan is the Yin and

Yang. Yin governs the Earth and represents all that are negative.

Yang derives from Heaven and represents all that are positive. The

concept of Yin and Yang came from the classic I’Ching, as a whole line (Yang) and as a broken line

(Yin).

Figure 27 Yin Yang

The Trigrams The trigrams are unique combination of the Yin and Yang. A trigram c

of three lines on top of one another, each line being either a whole line (Yan

or a broken line (Yin). Sage Fu Hsi invented the Trigrams more than 4000

years ago. It is consisted of all the eight combinations of Yin and Yang called

the Former Heaven sequence (See p. 13 Former Heaven Sequence). L

King Wen (the first ruler of the Chou dynasty, 1150BC) combined each of

the eight Trigrams with each of the others to form the 64 hexagrams, formin

the classic I’Ching. Each of these Hexagrams had a textual interpretation.

The ancient Chinese believes all changes can be predicted from these 6

hexagrams. King Wen derived the Later Heaven sequence (See p. 14 Late

Heaven Sequence) from these 64 Hexagrams using complex and metaphoric formulas.

Figure 28 Fu-Hsi, creator of Former Heaven Sequence

onsists

g)

ater

g

4

r

23

Discussions Is Luo Pan a cosmological representation of the stars? In our opinion, we feel that the Luo Pan is actually a cosmological graph of the stars in the skies of China;

we think that Luo pan might just be what ancient people produced while trying to relate what they saw in

the sky and what actually happened around them. From our interpretation of the Luo Pan, we think one

can actually determine the constellations which are visible to the Chinese in that particular season. By

pointing the south needle in the direction of the current season, we can observe the constellations visible

to the people. The constellation which is at the furthest end of the line extended from season in the Luo

Pan will appear first followed by the rest of the constellations until it reaches the constellation which

coincides with the ending of the season. This will be clearly illustrated in our model of the Luo Pan.

Can Luo Pan work in the Southern Hemisphere? During our discussions, we feel that Luo Pan (as a cosmological graph) is not applicable in the Southern

hemisphere. This is because the Luo Pan was invented in Northern China, and the sighting of the night

skies was observed in Emperor’s palace in Northern China. The motion of sun is always in the South.

This was the reason the Chinese identified summer (warmth) as the south. However in the Southern

Hemisphere, the sun is always in the North. Not only that, while China is having summer, Southern

Hemisphere is having winter. The seasons are totally opposite. The same constellations visible to the

Chinese may not be visible to the people living in the Southern Hemisphere. For example, the important

Polaris star in Luo Pan is not even visible to them. And in Singapore, there is no way to apply the seasons.

There has a been a fierce debate raging on about whether the Luo Pan can really be used in the Southern

Hemisphere as a tool for judging Feng Shui. In our opinion, since we feel that the cosmological graph is a

vital part of the Luo Pan, we think Luo Pan is only applicable in Northern Hemisphere. Therefore, those

Feng Shui masters who feel that Luo Pan can be used in other places are not astronomically correct.

Is Luo Pan a scientific tool? The rings we have covered are partly scientific and astronomically based. However, most of the principles

behind Luo Pan are not so as there is no concrete evidence or reliability and validity in its results. It is

mainly based on fantasy imagination and metaphoric explanations. We think that Luo Pan is effective in

the sense that through the manipulation of the objects, it can result in a harmonious and comfortable

environment. Thus it will make the inner mind state more peaceful. Although Feng Shui is not taken

DISCUSSIONS

24

DISCUSSIONS

seriously by scientists, people have begun to adapt and explore the underlying concepts and theories

Zodiacs

of

ac

ril

22. However for the Chinese, the corresponding Aries star appears on the West direction of the Luo Pan

s,

,

As mentioned earlier, time of occurrence of seasons can change due to precession. Luo Pan has a

behind them.

Closer analysis of the 28 Constellations and the WesternIn the Western Zodiac, there are total of 12 astrological houses spreading evenly around a sidereal

year. Each occupies 30 degrees on the sun ecliptic plane. As Sun moves along the ecliptic path, it resides

in each of the twelve zodiacs. The ancient Chinese 28 constellations were similar to the zodiac in the big

picture. However, there are of totally different concept.

First of all, the zodiacs are based on Sun’s position throughout the year while lunar mansions are

based on observations of stars appearing throughout the year. It is impossible for us to observe the stars

the zodiac that the sun resides in at a particular time of the year. Therefore, it is expected that the zodi

sign is completely opposite of one another. For example, we take Aries which the sun resides from Ap

based on the Table 5. The Chinese has associated the West direction with the autumn equinox as earlier

mentioned. This implies that the Chinese star will only appear around autumn equinox period, which

happens around September 23. This is almost half a year difference between the two.

Secondly, the zodiacs inferred the constellations from the stars residing along the ecliptic path

while the Chinese based on stars along the celestial equator. If we based the year on both observation

both will be a sidereal year. Therefore, we need to consider the precession effect. Both will be affected

differently. As Earth wobbles, every 71 years will result in 1 degree faster. So about 2000 years later, it

will be 30 degrees. That’s the size of a zodiac. Therefore, every 2000 years the zodiac signs are changed

completely. For Lunar Mansions, we will see stars ranging from +23.5 degrees to -23.5 degrees from the

ecliptic plane. The Celestial Equator is perpendicular to the axis of Earth. Therefore, as Earth wobbles,

the Equator shifts along with it, changing the angle between the Equatorial and ecliptic plane. In this case

there is a flaw. Few thousands years later, the 28 constellation appear on the other side of sky.

few thousand years of history. The effect will be significant. It is possible to notice this effect through

comparing of Luo Pans from different eras. Hence Luo Pan could possibly contribute to study of the

effect of precession in the ancient time.

25

APPENDIX 1

Appendix 1 - Our Luo Pan Model

We hav

8 Constellations. The most outer ring is the

corresp

objective of our

Luo Pa of

Below are stars charts showing the specific locations of the stars and the key stars which are circle in

yellow:

Our model of Luo Pan e made a model of Luo Pan to better illustrate the rings we have covered in this project. We have

omitted rings that are not relevant to astronomical aspect. There are 6 rings altogether. In the centre, we

have the compass. Second ring is the Former Heaven Sequence. Third ring is the Later Heaven Sequence.

Fourth Ring is the Nine Moving Stars. Fifth ring is the 2

onding zodiac associated with the 28 Constellations. Then there is a metal sphere covering over it.

It is to represent the Celestial Sphere and the Luo Pan or the base of the base is the Horizon plane. There

are many dots on the spheres. They represent the 28 constellations, with the key star of each

constellations highlighted with the color of the direction it is associated. For example, South is associated

with Red Bird. So the color is red. The stars of individual constellations are linked together. We have

embedded the four Celestial Animals into the sphere to indicate the direction they represent.

How does it work? Our version of Luo Pan does not have the same objective of an authentic Luo Pan. The

n is the find the position of the 28 constellation at a given time and direction. Check which one

the solar divisions the day falls. Then align the needle and the corresponding solar division to the North

Direction of the magnetic compass. The constellations will appear at the direction the compass shows.

Stars charts

Figure 30 7 constellations in the East, represented by the Celestial Animal Azure Dragon

Figure 29 7 constellations in the North, represented by the Celestial Animal Dark Warrior/Tortoise and Snake

26

APPENDIX 1

Figure 32 7 constellations in the West, represented by the Celestial Animal White Tiger

Celestial Animal Red Bird/Phoenix Figure 31 7 constellations in the South, represented by the

27

Appendix 2: Overview of Position of stars

Figure 33 astronomic locations of the 28 Lunar Mansions of China

APPENDIX 2

28

REFERENCES

References Books

1) Skinner, Stephen (1982), The Li hui, Graham Brash (Pte) Ltd,

Singapore

2) Walters, Derek (1989), C nal study of Feng Shui

ority on the subject,

Element Books Lim

3) ancy, Collection

“Co naissan

4)

Websites Luo Pan

http://www.innerx.net/personal/tsm

ving Earth Manual of Feng-S

hinese Geomancy, Dr J J M de Groot’s semi

together with detailed commentaries by the Western world’s leading auth

ited

Feuchtwang, Stephan D.R. (1974), An Anthological Analysis of Chinese Geom

ce De L’asie” Vol. 1, Editions Vithagna, Laos

Skinner, Stephen (2001), Feng Shui, Paragon

ith/LuoPan.html

e done by Frank D. (Tony) Smith, Jr

explained the Luo Pan ring by ring with great details. It is an interesting we

ny other areas like the Clifford algebra and comets.

Pages

c.jp/dbk/kelley.html

done by Dr. David B. Kelley, Hamamats

of the ancient Chinese observations of stars. It has

dieval lunisolar playing cards, Maya calendar and Mexican cultures.

.N

t/default-spore.htm

mmercialized Feng-Shui website based in Singa

inly in the areas of application of Feng-Shui. There are many hum

Figure 34 from left to right: The Living Earth of Feng-Shui, Chinese Geomancy, An anthological Analysis of Chinese Geomancy and Feng Shui

Descriptions: This is a websit . based on a 19 rings Luo Pan. He

bsite worth seeing. He has

websites on ma

David B. Kelley’s Web

http://hawk.hama-med.a

Descriptions: This is a website u University School of Medicine,

Japan. There are pictures plenty of information of

variety of topics, like me

Feng Shui at Geomancy

http://sg.geomancy.ne

et - Singapore

Descriptions: This is a co pore. It has a large database of

photographs, ma orous graphics created

29

REFERENCES

by the website’s Feng-Shui master too. It also offers basic guides for Feng-Shui beginners. The website is

very well-designed with a lot of graphics but can take time to download.

ui and Time Cycle by Aifen Wong

http://www.traditionalfengshui.com/articles/fstimecycle.htm

Feng Sh

Descriptions: This is a simple website with few features. However it has a few good articles worth

reading especially on the Chinese Solar Calendar.

Star Charts and Moon Stations by Steve Renshaw and Saori Ihara

http://www2.gol.com/users/stever/charts.htm

e website done by Steve RenshawDescriptions: This is an informativ and Saori Ihara. It is mainly about

Jap se

astrono losely linked to their China counterparts.

anese star charts. However, some of the charts used originated from China as the ancient Japane

mers were c