In the pre-modern era practice of FengShui, there were two
main types of tools that were mandatory: the LuoPan 罗盘
and the FengShui Ruler 风水尺. Nowadays,
contemporary FengShui practitioners have done away with the FengShui Ruler,
although many still use one, albeit a modern measuring tape.
In this Chapter, I shall discuss on the most important of FengShui tools, the
LuoPan, and trace its development form ancient times until the present day, at
the same time, introducing the reader to the general practices of LuoPan usage.
The Early Development of Instrumentation
The study and practice of FengShui, which requires one to obtain a sitting and
facing direction of the site to be analyzed, was much assisted by the
invention of the magnetic needle.
In the early days, the determination of direction was by way of a sundial or
gnomon stick that functions both as a time telling device and as a directional
indicator. The Ancients could have used it in conjunction with a sighting
of the Pole Star as a directional indicator. Then there is also the
dependence on the BeiDou 北斗星 (Big Dipper) or the 28
constellation (28宿) which had been used even by the Indians,
as a seasonal indicator. The BeiDou looks like a ladle, and based on
the Earth’s rotation around the Sun, the BeiDou seems to rotate and the
position of the Ladle handle will indicate the changing of seasons.
The gnomon stick or sundial device is probably the mother of the
LuoPan. It was supposed to be already in use even during FuXi’s
time. Some Chinese FengShui literature attributed the invention of the
gnomon stick to NuWa, FuXi’s wife (or sister?).
Since there were no written records during FuXi’s time, and it was only very
much later when the Chinese written language was invented that there was mention
of NuWa in Chinese historical literature. There were conflicting
descriptions of NuWa, some as FuXi’s wife, and some as FuXi’s sister.
The earliest literature that mentioned NuWa was most probably around 470 BC
written by one Lie YuKou, who mentioned Nuwa as the ‘maker of human out of
clay’ and ‘repairer of the heavens’ after the Great Flood.
The Gnomon Stick
The sundial or
gnomon stick device was placed outside
under the sun, and readings were based on the shadow of the stick cast over a
board. The Ancients were able to record the hours from this device and the
ancient Chinese recorded 12 double hours called Shi Chen时辰.
Each Shi Chen lasts for two hours. They were also able to discover that
the 12 double hours can be used to relate to the 12 months of the year.
The Earth’s rotation
around the Sun causes the Earth to experience day and night and seasonal
changes throughout the year. The ancients were able to correlate all these
based on the gnomon stick.
First, they realized that the Sun waxes and wanes within the 12 Shi Chen 时辰, and they also knew that throughout the year, the
position of the Sun changes according to the seasons. China, being in
the Northern Hemisphere, surely experiences Seasonal changes and the waxing and
waning of the Sun throughout the year. The Sun is up most of the time,
brightest and hottest during the summer months, and its intensity dies off
during the winter months.
These observations of the Ancients led to the discovery of the relationship of
the Sun’s ‘movement’ with life. They likened the waxing and waning of the
Sun to Man’s life span, and thus developed the twelve Chang Sheng Gong 长身宫(Twelve Growth Cycle).
Excerpted from Chapter
12 of my book Chinese Metaphysics: Essential fengShui Basics
