jen
Member
Posts: 39
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Post by jen on Mar 16, 2020 23:00:21 GMT -5
Does anyone know if there are any resources to translate the Feng Shui from tombs/burials? Maybe there's some kind of dictionary or guidelines? For example "丁山癸向"
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Post by gckimm on Mar 17, 2020 2:52:43 GMT -5
Hi Jen:
Understanding grave directions is one of the most challenging tasks for those who have access to Chinese genealogies. But for our ancestors, the location and specific direction of a grave were so important that this information was included in genealogies along with names and dates of birth and death. A good location and direction brought happiness not only to the deceased but also to his/her descendants, while a bad location and direction would bring the opposite.
In the example you mention, 山 (literally, "hill" or "mountain") refers to the direction in which the grave is "sitting," while 向 ("toward") refers to the direction in which the grave (or the deceased) is facing. 丁山癸向 means "sitting south-southwest (SSW) by south and facing north-northeast (NNE) by north." Note that the two directions are always the direct opposite of each other. If they are not the direct opposite, then you know you have made a mistake in translation.
In all the years in which I have been working with Chinese genealogies, I have not found a really good source in English, or in Chinese, for that matter, about the positioning of Chinese graves. There is also the matter of the appearance or shape of the grave; for example, there is often a description like, "the grave has the appearance of a flying goose holding a letter in its mouth" (a real description of a grave of one of my ancestors). One of these days, I'd like to find a source that explains that.
Here is a list of the 24 compass directions, taken from The Elements of Feng Shui by Man-Ho Kwok with Joanne O'Brien (Barnes & Noble Books, New York, 1991):
癸 Gui NNE by N 子 Zi North 壬 Ren NNW by N 亥 Hai NNW by W 乾 Qian NW 戌 Xu WNW by N 辛 Xin WNW by W 酉 You West 庚 Geng WSW by W 申 Shen WSW by S 坤 Kun SW 未 Wei SSW by W 丁 Ding SSW by S 午 Wu South 丙 Bing SSE by S 巳 Si SSE by E 巽 Xun SE 辰 Chen ESE by S 乙 Yi ESE by E 卯 Mao East 甲 Jia ENE by E 寅 Yin ENE by N 艮 Gen NE 丑 Chou NNE by E
I hope this information is helpful to you and other forum members.
Greg
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jen
Member
Posts: 39
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Post by jen on Mar 17, 2020 6:24:39 GMT -5
Thank you so much gckimm. This is very helpful. Indeed there are descriptions about the shape of the tombs as well. If I ever find out the meanings behind them I'll let you know.
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jen
Member
Posts: 39
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Post by jen on Mar 28, 2020 19:43:54 GMT -5
Hi Greg gckimm, could you please help me once more. So what if there's double directions for a tomb?
形似蜘蛛結網, 庚山甲向, 兼申寅丙申丙寅分金
in the shape of a spider spinning a web, sitting WSW by W facing ENE by E...then the red part...
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wang
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Posts: 27
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Post by wang on Mar 29, 2020 5:31:55 GMT -5
This is a description of the fate of the tomb. Geomantic geomancy is a very profound science. This is the tomb location and orientation chosen for you by the master of geomancy.
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jen
Member
Posts: 39
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Post by jen on Mar 29, 2020 22:04:34 GMT -5
Thanks wang, I'm trying to translate this into english.
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