The LuoShu

The LuoShu is one of the pillars of Chinese Metaphysics just like the YiJing and HeTu. Its application is wide, covering FengShui methods such as XuanKong Flying Star and Xuan Kong DaGua, and Divination methods such as TaiYi and QiMen Dun Jia.

Presently, there are many different concepts and theories concerning the LuoShu. On the one hand there are those who subscribe to the historical and legendary account that it was a mythical ‘discovery,’ and on the other hand, there are others who subscribe to other concepts and theories based on research and investigation on the HeTu and YiJing to corroborate their findings.

Even those who base their concepts on historical and legendary accounts have differing viewpoints concerning the numerology of the LuoShu. One group represented by Chen Kao, LiuMu and others postulated that the maximum numeral of the LuoShu is 10 while another group represented by ZhuXi, Cai YuanDing and others postulated that the maximum numeral of the LuoShu is 9. However, the concept espoused by ZhuXi and Cai Yuan Ding that the LuoShu’s maximum numeral is 9 is the most accepted concept in contemporary Chinese Metaphysics.

Those who base their theories on research and investigation of the HeTu and YiJing also have differing viewpoints. One of their concepts was that the LuoShu was actually embedded in the HeTu, and was later progressively ‘uncovered’ by Sages in later centuries. 

Another of their concepts was also connected to the HeTu but it employs other methods such as astronomy to try to prove that the LuoShu was not just a ‘discovery’ by some Ancient Sage.

All through the ages, there has been lots of literature written on the HeTu and LuoShu, but none could give concrete answers to the myriad questions concerning these two. One of the more difficult to answer questions is: Was the LuoShu transformed from the HeTu. There had never been a uniform answer to this question.

In this Chapter, I shall present to the reader the core concepts of the LuoShu as advocated by Cai YuanDing and ZhuXi. I shall also include a little of different viewpoints — the ‘other concepts’ — so that the reader can have a wider perspective of the many different ideas current in the Chinese Metaphysics circle. But first, let us look at the historical and legendary account.

Legend of XiaYu Taming the Luo River

According to legend, the LuoShu was found by XiaYu, the legendary Tamer of the Luo River, that had flooded. When the river water subsided, there appeared a giant tortoise with strange markings on its back.

XiaYu interpreted these markings to be heaven sent, and thus was born the LuoShu. The LuoShu is also called in Chinese Hou Tian Tu (Later Heaven Chart). The LuoShu is also called by another name: The GuiShu 龟书 (Tortoise Book).

This legend about the discovery of the LuoShu by XiaYu in the Luo River has been a subject much researched by archeologists and historians. 

However, historians have made some findings and somewhat ‘proved’ the authenticity of the legend as being a real historical event. There has been many books and articles written about this and I wanted to present this to the readers in a more organized fashion.

The place where it all happened was supposedly called Luo Ning County, in the state of HeNan. About 20 km west of LoNing county, is the Luo River, a massive 442.5 km river that passes through HeNan and ShanXi provinces. 

LuoNing County had a lot of different names since the Qin and Han dynasties. It had been called variously JiYang, Yang Ning, Xiong Er and YongNing. The name LuoNing was established in 1914.

On the part of the river that is the boundary between the upper and lower reaches of the Luo River are a town and a village called Chang Shui Town and Xi Chang Shui Village, which is supposedly the exact place where ‘The LuoShu’ appeared.

In this village there are two rock monuments that are in memorial of the LuoShu saga. The monument on the east side is made of sandy gravel and according to archeologists, dates back to the Han Dynasty. It has a shape that is round on the upper part and square on the lower part. It is a depiction of the ‘Tian Yuan Di Fang’ (Heaven is round and Earth is square) principle.

The western side monument dates back to Qing Dynasty Emperor Yung Zhen’s second year (1724 AD). It is made of calcareous sandstone. There are four large characters on this monument: 洛出书处 (The Luo Produce Book Place).

This is visual proof that the historians and the Chinese Metaphysic community accepted the fact that the LuoShu originated from this part of the Luo River.

The legend of XiaYu taming the flood could actually be true because a local historian from HeNan University’s History Faculty, who was also a Luo Ning resident called Li DeLong, provided proof of XiaYu’s involvement in Luo Ning County’s civil developments.

The ‘flood’ was actually the overflowing of the Luo River that caused massive flooding in surrounding towns and villages. Li DeLong, a local history researcher and on the History Faculty of HeNan University did extensive research into the county and the Luo River’s history.

There are two points that they relied on to prove XiaYu’s involvement:

One was the tributary situated on the boundary between LuoNing county and LuShi county that had massive amounts of sand.

The other was a place about 4 km west of LuoNing’s LongTou Mountain YuMen River, named after XiaYu, which was another tributary of the Luo River. In this river was a massive sand-hill that prevented the water from flowing away fast enough.

The historical account said that YuMen River’s water overflowed and caused massive flooding. XiaYu broke down this sand hill and diverted the river water into the massive Luo River, easing off the flood, thus saving the surrounding counties from destruction.

The people then honored XiaYu by building a temple in his name up in LongTou Mountain. The History Faculty of HeNan found some very old memorial rock slabs in front of this temple on one of which the inscriptions are still visible. This is a slab from the Qing Dynasty dated the 13th year of Emperor Yung Zhen (1735 AD). The inscription clearly says that the temple had been renovated a total of three times before the Qing Dynasty.

Therefore, even though the legend of the LuoShu, in which the numbers were found by XiaYu on the back of a mysterious Tortoise, could just be a legend or could be a true historical fact, we still have to acknowledge that the LuoShu had contributed immensely to the development of Chinese Metaphysics.

Let us continue our study of the LuoShu with an open mind, move forward in our research, and leave the history behind. In the next section, I shall discuss the theoretical aspect of the LuoShu.

Excerpted from Chapter 9 of my book Chinese Metaphysics: Essential FengShui Basics