Classical Texts Behind Every Reading

The second pillar of Taoism after 道德經. Inner Chapters (內篇) are the authenticated core; Outer + Miscellaneous are later additions. The 齊物論 (Discussion on the Equality of Things) is the deepest classical argument for perspectival qi — central to why feng shui treats context as primary.

One of the Five Classics. 洪範 (Hong Fan / The Great Plan) is THE origin of the Five Elements as a cosmological framework — it's where 水火木金土 first appear as the ordering principle of the world. Every 五行 claim in MingTang descends from this chapter.

One of the Four Books. Only ~1,700 characters but the compact statement of self-cultivation → family → state → world that grounds every Chinese ethical text after it. Short enough to memorize.

One of the Four Books. The classical exposition of harmony, balance, and sincerity (誠) as cosmic and personal principles — the same balance logic that underlies feng shui's pursuit of equilibrium.

The second great Confucian text after 論語. Known for 「天時不如地利，地利不如人和」 (Heaven's timing is not as good as Earth's advantage; Earth's advantage is not as good as human harmony) — the three pillars every classical feng shui strategist works with.

The definitive Bazi compilation. 600 years of accumulated case studies and doctrinal clarifications on Four Pillars analysis. Every MingTang claim about Day Master, favorable/unfavorable elements, and Bazi element interactions cites back here.

The foundational Bazi text — where the Ziping method (day-stem-centered Four Pillars analysis that every modern Bazi reading uses) was first systematized. Our bazi tool's compute logic traces its doctrines here.

THE canonical residential (陽宅) feng shui classic — the urban counterpart to 葬書's burial-site tradition. Door placement, stove orientation, room layout, courtyards, and window alignment. Every modern Yang Zhai practice descends from this Ming-dynasty text.

The foundational form-school (巒頭派) feng shui text. Source of core doctrines like 「氣乘風則散，界水則止」 — qi dispersed by wind and gathered by water — that govern all landscape analysis. Every four-animals, dragon-vein, and water-flow rule in MingTang traces here.

Foundational compass-school (理氣派) text. Establishes the yin-yang / Five Elements / Eight Trigrams framework that underlies Flying Stars, Eight Mansions, and all Luo Pan analysis.

The world's oldest surviving strategic treatise. Its 「地形」 (terrain) and 「九地」 (nine terrains) chapters are the original environmental-strategic texts that classical feng shui built upon.

The foundation of Chinese metaphysics. The 64 hexagrams, their judgments, and line statements underlie every tool in MingTang — Bagua, Wuxing, Flying Stars, and Eight Mansions all build on the Yi.

The foundational Taoist text. Feng shui's language of 無為 (wu wei), the balance of opposites, and the idea that empty space carries the most potency all trace here. Widely cited in classical feng shui manuals.

The Confucian foundation for ritual, ethics, and social order. Cross-referenced by every classical text on ceremony — and ceremony is the armature of 月令, 呂氏春秋, and classical feng shui dating-selection.

The foundational text of traditional Chinese medicine and the origin of the yin-yang / five-element / qi-channel framework that every feng shui element claim rests on. Scope here: the 24 volumes of 素問 (Plain Questions); 靈樞 (Ling Shu, the other half) pending.

The oldest surviving systematic Chinese astronomy. Cosmogony, the sun and moon, the 28 lunar mansions, the sexagenary cycle, and the yin-yang / five-elements framework — the foundation our jie_qi and bazi tools rest on.

The Twelve Chronicles (十二紀) are the parallel canonical monthly-ordinance text to 月令. Essential cross-reference for any claim about seasonal qi, directional rituals, or agricultural timing. Scope here: the 12 Chronicles only; 8 Surveys and 6 Discussions pending.

The definitive source for seasonal ritual, feng shui timing, and the 24 Solar Terms. Every classical feng shui date-selection rule traces back to this text.

The Ming-dynasty landscape-feng-shui compendium. Attempts to reconcile Form-school and Compass-school methods. The source every modern practitioner cross-references when identifying 龍脈, 砂, 水, and 穴. Scope here: the authoritative front matter (凡例, prefaces, 琐言凡十条, 論風水名義, 論龍脈穴砂名義) — the 35-volume body is not yet on Wikisource.

The classical Water Dragon Classic. Attributed to 蔣大鴻 (Qing dynasty). THE text on the role of water in feng shui — 「平地以垣為山，以溝為水」 and all subsequent water-dragon principles trace here. Transmitted via the Gujin Tushu Jicheng encyclopedia, juan 671-674.

The classical statement of how the nine Luo Shu stars (紫白九星) are judged by time: a star is generating, prosperous, retreating, killing or dead (生旺退煞死) according to the Three Cycles and Nine Periods (三元九運). Source of the core pairings — 四一同宮 for scholarship, 二五交加 for illness and death, 三七疊至 for robbery and lawsuits, 九七合轍 for fire — and of 五黃 as 正煞 and 二黑 as 病符. The upper chapter covers timing, the lower chapter star combinations. Text only; the site's interlinear commentary is omitted.

A rhapsody of omens for star pairs meeting in a palace: 七弼同黃, 三廉夾綠, 赤紫致災, 黑黃釀疾, 四蕩一淫, 七剛三毅. Opens with the rule that governs every reading — 承旺承生得之足喜，逢衰逢謝失則堪憂: the same star is a blessing when timely and a harm when not. Text only; commentary on the source page is omitted.

Short Xuan Kong rhapsody on how trigrams and the nine stars combine: favour and enmity between elements (恩仇), true and false pairings of the eight palaces, and the body parts and family members each trigram governs. Names the auspicious stars by their Big Dipper names — 輔 (8), 巨 (2), 貪狼 (1), 武曲 (6). The Wikisource text may be an excerpt; it ends at 金取土培，火宜木相.

One of the core Xuan Kong texts collected in Shen Zhureng's 沈氏玄空學. Couplets on what star and trigram combinations bring — 虛聯奎壁 for literary talent, 雞交鼠 for exile, 火剋金 for fire — and the principle 吉神衰而忌神旺 / 會有旺星到穴，富積千鍾: timeliness decides whether a star helps or harms. Text only; commentary on the source page is omitted.

A short mnemonic verse on Flying Star chart technique rather than star omens: 旺山旺向, 城門訣, 合十, 打劫 (the 七星打劫 method), and the danger of 反吟伏吟. Useful for citing chart-structure rules. Date and author are uncertain.