Long Shan Xiang Shui
Long Shan Xiang Shui 龍山向is a formation method used in Xuan Kong Feng Shui (XKDA) to garner auspicious Qi to a dwelling or house. It is applicable for external application. Such a formation comprises of incoming mountain 龍 or dragon direction, sitting 山 of the house, facing 向 of the house and water placement 水. The formation calls for the alignment of the dragon and water to be in a straight line. For the house, sitting and facing directions are opposite and is therefore already in a straight line. For the house facing, the door facing is used as the facing. This is why most XKDG practitioners like to recommend door tilting in their practice; it allows them to “aim” and select a facing without affecting the overall house orientation.
Long Shan Xiang Shui utilizes the 64 hexagrams of Xuan Kong system. Each of these 64 hexagrams has a Xuan Kong element number 玄空五行 and a Xuan Kong period number 玄空卦運 associated with it. The element number is usually located at the top of the hexagram while the period number is at the bottom. There are a total of 64 hexagrams arranged in a circle around a typical Sanyuan or Zhonghe luopan. For luopan with two hexagrams rings, the outer ring (circular diagram) is used rather than the inner ring (square diagram).
The objective of this method is to achieve Yi Gua Chun Qing 一卦純清 or "Pure Gua". This means only selecting hexagrams belonging to the same period (bottom number of the hexagram). In Xuan Kong there are a total of 8 periods. Period 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 7, 8 and 9, divided into four upper (1 – 4 ) and four lower (6 – 9) periods. Within each period there are only 8 formations that conforms to Long Shan Xiang Shui Yi Gua Chun Qing 龍山向一卦純清 conditions. The key differences between these 8 formations are the Xuan Kong element (top number of the hexagram) matching.
Each of this formation has the following characteristics or conditions with regard to the Xuan Kong element pairing or matching:
(1) The dragon and the sitting selected must form a Hetu number pairing 生成数 such as 1-6, 2-7, 3-8 or 4-9.
(2) The facing and water selected must also form a Hetu number pairing 生成数
(3) The sitting and facing must form a Combination of 10 合十 pairing such as 4-6, 9-1, 2-8, etc.
(4) The dragon and water must form a Combination of 10 合十 pairing.
Xuan Kong Element
As you can see, in each period there are only 8 usable formations conforming to the Long Shan Xiang Shui Yi Gua Chun Qing 龍山向水一卦純清 structure. Multiple that by 8 for the 8 Periods and you gets 64 formations in total. These 64 formations are just 1.525% of the total possible formations of mountain, sitting, facing and water. At first glance such formations may seem difficult to achieve. If we really want to achieve these formations, we can see that it is not so difficult after all. Here’s an example:
Based on a house location, we can see that the mountain (dragon) is the only factor that cannot be changed; the other variables can be changed. If there is no good mountain around your house, forget
about achieving this formation – too bad. No good mountain means the period number of the mountain hexagram is not in the current period 8 or in upper period (1 - 4). If period 8 mountains are not present, period 9 mountains are still usable (second grade). If there are no period 8 or 9 mountains, then any lower period mountains are still usable (third grade). Getting a good mountain hexagram is the first condition to meet. Measurement of the mountain direction is taken with reference to the center of the house. The mountains should preferably be behind or at the sides of the house, not in front.
After determining the mountain hexagram period number, now take note of its element number. If this number forms a Hetu combination with the house sitting hexagram element number, the second condition is fulfilled. If not, you need to tilt the door to achieve a hexagram element number to suit the sitting/facing with the mountain hexagram element number. Remember that the door facing determines house facing and correspondingly the house sitting. The house sitting and house facing hexagrams automatically forms a Combination 10 hexagram pairing.
The final step is to place water in a location that has a hexagram element number that forms the second Hetu combination with the door facing hexagram element number. This location is simply the direct opposite of the incoming mountain hexagram, which also forms Combination of 10 with it.
As you can see, getting a Long Shan Xiang Shui Yi Gua Chun Qing structure may not be so difficult after all. The secret is simply tilting the door to get the hexagram you want. Also, take precaution that the mountain and water direction must not be located in Out-of-Gua 出卦 trigrams, else their effect are no longer effective.
After you have achieve the auspicious formation, you may still want to fine tune it further using Chou Yao Huan Xiang 抽爻換象 of the 384 Yao divisions to get the best yao. If you want to incorporate other systems, you may also use the Sanhe 120 dragons (fenjin) and the 72 dragons for fine tuning. 60 dragon cannot be used because it is only suitable for yin house or graves.
IS Xuan Kong Da Gua a superior system above others?
This article came about as I was having a private email correspondence with a fellow fengshui acquaintance discussing about Xuan Kong Da Gua 玄空大卦 (XKDG). I thought I might as well take this opportunity to write my thoughts on why I think Xuan Kong Da Gua is a far better system compared to other Feng Shui systems or schools.
“先天為體, 後天為用” is a very common phrase used when talking about feng shui. It literally means “Early Heaven is the Body and Later Heaven is the Application”. This is why most feng shui systems use the Later Heaven Bagua for their feng shui applications and theories. When people said feng shui originates from the Yijing 易經, I always tend to agree, specifically when they meant Li Qi 理氣 feng shui rather than Luan Tou 巒頭 or Xing Fa 形法 feng shui.
In Yi Gua 易卦 feng shui, specifically Xuan Kong Da Gua (XKDG), the Early Heaven and Later Heaven “先
天為體, 後天為用” concept is the core fundamental principles that it relies on. Unlike other feng shui systems where there is a need to refer to “physical objects” like need to see a mountain here or want water flowing out there, etc in order to conform to their theories, XKDG totally embodies the entire concept of Early Heaven and Later Heaven into a holistically integrated manner, using Yijing 易經 hexagrams and trigrams as the foundation source principles.
The theories of Feng Shui Yi 易 is not something physical but something of a higher realm - symbolic and virtual at the same time. It is based on the universal theory of constant change. This Yi 易 is not the Yi that Confucius wrote about in the Yijing 易經. This Confucius Yi is basically talking about philosophy on how a gentleman 君子 should behave in society. This is “Yi with Words”.
The Yi 易 that XKDG uses is “Yi without Words”; it is about using the numerology of Early Heaven (Hetu ) and Later Heaven (Luoshu 洛書) symbols and images in the theories, integrating it with the concept of time using 60 JiaZi 甲子, Yin Yang 陰陽, Five Elements 五行 in a constantly changing manner. Because of this, XKDG can be used for both Yin House and Yang House feng shui as well as high-rise apartments and single storey houses. It is also not constrained by the physical proximity of Earthly Qi or Heavenly Qi to the house or grave.
In terms of precision, XKDG can be applied to a direction of 0.9375 degree (384 yao) refinement, as opposed to other systems of 45 degrees (8 trigrams), 30 degrees (twin mountain), 15 degrees (24 mountains), 6 degrees (60 dragons), 5 degrees (72 dragons) or 3 degrees (120 dragons). For Date Selection 擇日, XKDG is also applicable using the same basic principles. In another words, XKDG is a complete system by itself.
Although I am that XKDG is a superior system, I do not imply that other feng shui systems or schools are no good. Nothing is perfect in this world but some things are just better than others. I use it as my primary system and also incorporate other systems into my practice.
Credit and Acknowledgment: The original article was authored by Cyril Quah and was initially published on January 23, 2008. Although his website is no longer active, I strongly believe that such valuable knowledge should not be forgotten and still be kept available online for both Feng Shui beginners and experienced practitioners to benefit from.