PureInsight | April 23, 2001
Who would believe that after its layout has been redesigned and reconstructed according to Chinese Taoist School's Tai Chi astrological mapping, a small village which used to be frequented by droughts and floods has never seen a single flood or drought in the 600 plus years that followed. Fortune and prosperity have been with the villagers since, accompanied by abundant amazing mythical phenomena. Discovered not too long ago in Wuyi County, central Zhejiang Province, Yuyuan is just such an ancient village, permeated with mysterious Taoist or flavour.
Fields structured to display a 'Tai Chi', buildings positioned astrologically
Looking down from the Mengshan hills behind Yuyuan village, one sees a mountain stream entering the village from the south-east. The stream changes its direction to the east-west, cutting across the village to reach the bottom of the hills at the west end, turning again towards north to form an "S" before leaving the village to flow into the fields. The "S" shaped stream, together with the surrounding hills, formed the display of a huge Tai Chi symbol at the gate of the village. The "S" stream being the curving line separating the Yin and Yang, dividing the fields into the two apparatuses (the two halves or the two "fishes") of the Tai Chi. The Yin Fish at south of the stream is covered with tall and old trees, a road now runs along the edge of the fish's "eye"; The Yang fish at north of the stream is a golden rice field, with dry-land crops being planted at the "eye" of the fish. The Tai Chi measured 320 meters in diameter, occupying 8 hectares of land. There was a saying in regard to the positioning of this Tai Chi symbol at the northern entrance to the village, that it was so designed for two reasons: the first is to stop the cold air from the north and the "Evil Qi" ["Qi" means live force/energy], and the second is to form a "Qi Barrier" to prevent any leakage of the village's good luck, good fortune and its righteous "Qi".
Further investigation by the experts also revealed that the buildings in the Yuyuan village are all positioned according to the ancient Chinese astrological map of Tian Gang leading the 28 Su (residence), enclosed by the 12 palaces of the zodiac, exactly the same as what was unearthed from the Liao tombs of Xuenhua, Hebei Province, in 1974. The Tai Chi symbol at the entrance to the village is the "Shuangyu Gong". (Palace of Pisces) together with the eleven hills surrounding the village, they represent the 12 Palaces of the zodiac. The 28 groups of ancient architects in the village are positioned according to the arrangement of the Eastern 7 Su of Dragon, Northern 7 Su of Xuanwu, Western 7 Su of White Tiger, and Southern 7 Su of Red Bird, and the seven water holes (also called "Qi Xing Tang" or "Ponds of Seven Stars") in the village are positioned according to the arrangement of the seven main stars in the constellation of Big Dipper, together they form the picture of Tian Gang leading 28 Su. [Translator's note: Tian Gang being the brightest star in Big Dipper or the Beidou Star]. Cleverer still, the House of Yu - situated at a leading position amount the Western White Tigers, happened to be very conveniently contained inside the "dipper" of the Big Dipper.
Many hard-to-solve puzzles
Yuyuan is a village with a population of over 2,000 in more than 700 families. It is the largest group of families by the name of "Yu" living together in China today. According to the villagers, the layout of the village was designed by Liu Bowen (also known as Liu Chi) – a key adviser to the first emperor of China's Ming Dynasty. Liu Bowen is a famous strategist and policy maker in the Chinese history, an expert in Feng Shui and other ancient technology of the past. His image, as being portrayed in folk tales, is one with the wisdom of a deity, the manner of a Tao, and a highly respected legendary figure like Zhu Geliang [Zhu was a famous strategist and adviser during the Three Kingdom period in the Chinese history]. As recorded in Yushi Zongpu [The Yu Family Journal], Yulai, a fifth generation son of the Yu family in Yuyuan village, was a very close schoolmate and friend of Liu Bowen. It was in the 9th Year of ZhiZheng, end of Yuan Dynasty (1349), when Liu Bowen resigned from office and was on the way back to his home town, that he stopped by at Yuyuan village to visit Yulai. At the time Yuyuan village was frequented by droughts, floods, fires, and plaques, and its residents really struggled for survival. Yulai asked Liu Bowen to help finding a fix. With his knowledge of heaven and earth, and after surveying the area in detail, Liu Bowen came to the following conclusion: Yuyuan, being surrounded by eleven mountains, possessed "Qi" [the live energy] of ingenuity and good luck, yet due to the stream flowing utterly "straight" through the village being too "harsh", it took away the good "Qi" from the village. If the stream was changed to curve into the village, according to the layout of Tai Chi, forming 12 Palaces of the Zodiac together with the eleven hills, then the good "Qi" of the village could be retained. He then designed the Tian Gang leading 28 Su layout, advised the villagers to dig 7 new water holes in Yuyuan and mapped them to the shape of the Big Dipper, and bid the off-springs of the Yu's to always construct village dwellings in strictly accordance to the this arrangement.
Astonishingly, ever since then, Yuyuan had no worries with droughts and floods, maintained peace and prosperity, not only thrived economically during the Ming and Qing Dynasties but also produced over 260 high achievers who were appointed to various levels of government offices or royal titles [260 Shangshu, Dafu, Futai, Zhixian, Jinshi, Juren, etc.], and thus has won the regard as a Feng Shui Treasure Land, with outstanding resources in people and land. Surprises are not limited to the above: also ever since, in the village of Yuyuan it always rained on the 26th of the 6th month in the lunar calender without exception; the 8 wood crafted Carps in the Shengyuan Lounge always changed colour according to the change of seasons; among the Baile trees growing in the Yin fish side of the Tai Chi at the entrance to the village, one is over 600 years old and has grown to over 27 meters tall, being recognised as the 'King of Baile' in Zhejiang; and as for the third pond of the Qixing Tang – "Yuheng Tang", whenever the villagers tried to fill it to build any dwelling there would surely always be a fire, ¡¡ there are about 20 to 30 such myths in Yuyuan, which inspired people's speculation and imaginary feelings towards this special village.
Nevertheless, we could not help questioning, can all of this simply be a successful demonstration of ancient Fengshui technology?
(Translated from http://www.zhengjian.org/sci/sci/home/newscontent.asp?ID=7962)
