Feng-shui DefinitionFeng-shui is composed of two words feng (wind) and shui (water) the two essentials for life or qi. In practical terms, feng-shui is the art of adapting buildings, rooms and furniture so as to achieve harmony with nature - in effect with the local environment and climate. There are two schools of thought:
The Ideal Feng-shui Site
CosmologyForm of geomancy was based on the principle of change according to the Yi-jing, eight-trigrams and five-stars, whereby general relationships of creation and destruction can be determined from which a variety of auspicious or inauspicious situations, measurements, special events etc. can be ascertained. Principle of change
Former heaven orderThe trigrams are arranged according to the above numbers in the magic square defined by He-tù and Luó-shu. Later heaven orderThe trigram values sum to 60 which can be divided into yin/yang groups with a sum of 30 each:
These are then paired in a unique way that maintains divisional balance.
Legend has it that the King Zhou gave his eldest son (zhen trigram) lands to the east. The middle son (kan) and daughter (li) are in opposing directions. The trigram dui is positioned to the west for reasons still unknown. Five-stars (phases)The five-stars is the other element of the cosmology theory and defines the rules for determining good fortune. Chinese Calendar
According of feng-shui many aspects of life that can be associated with any person is determined by their innate qualities which are linked to the individual\'s time of birth. The time of birth, ba-zi, literally eight-characters, is measured in lunisolar year, month, day and hour of birth. Each has a two-character representation in the sexagesimal cycle. Sexagesimal cycleThe sexagesimal cycle is made up of sixty stem-branch pairs from 10 celestial stems denoted as A-I, and 12 terrestrial branches denoted as a-l. The stem-branch pairs of the sexagesimal cycle are stem-periodic every 10 element and branch-periodic every 12 elements, i.e., the cycle is constructed as A-a, B-b ..., A-k, C-a, ... etc. Lunisolar yearThe start of a lunisolar year coincides with the start of the first period of each meteorological cycle, which consists of 24 fortnightly periods corresponding to the phases of the moon. The sexagesimal cycle index repeats every 60 years. The first cycle index dates back to 2637 BC. In addition, the Chinese believed that the world encounter changes every 180 years which were divided into three 60-year cycles: shang-yuan(lower), zhong-yuan(middle), and xia-yuan(upper). We are currently (1984-2043) in the lower cycle. Lunisolar monthThe terrestrial branch index of the first month of any lunisolar year is c and cyclically increments each month. The celestial stem index is given by the following rule known as wu-hu-dun-yue ('five tigers escape from months'). Let r denote the stem index for the year (A=0, B=1, C=2 etc). Then,
Note that the calculations for the stem-branch index for the month may be further complicated if the year is intercalated. A month typically consists of two metereological periods. In an intercalated year, for the intercalated month, the stem-branch indices for its two fortnightly periods are respectively those of the months immediately preceding and succeeding the intercalated month. Lunisolar dayThe stem-branch index for a lunisolar day repeats every 60 days. The stem-branch index for January 1, 1996 was D-j. Lunisolar hourThe terrestrial branch index of the first hour of any day is a and cyclically increments each hour. The celestial stem index is given by the following rule known as wu-hu-dun-ri ('five tigers escape from days'). Let r denote the stem index for the day (A=0, B=1 etc). Then,
LuBanLuBan is the name of the computer program that we implemented to calculate the fortunate dimensions, auspicious orientation and propitious construction date. The program is named after Lu Ban who is considered the father of Chinese carpentry and is accredited to have invented the measurement system on traditional Chinese architecture is based. LuBan also supports the opening and worship rules which were used to determine other fortunate measurements (also based on a person\'s date and time of birth and/or the orientation of their building). The compass for setting orientation
The interface for fortunate measurements illustrating the opening ruler
Chinese version of the interface for determining auspicious construction date
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