With the development of technology and some historical reasons, the inheritance of folk Fengshui culture has suffered terrible damage, so many people in the city do not understand these things at all, but in the countryside, many of the ancestral things are still passed down.
Take building a new house for example. When building a new house in the countryside, there are many things to pay attention to. First, you need to invite a Fengshui master to look at the land. Then, according to the location of the land, you need to calculate whether it matches the zodiac of the owner of the house. Then, you need to look at the direction of the mountain to see if it is a favorable year. Finally, you need to decide on the day to start the construction.
The Fengshui master my dad found is a very famous Fengshui Immortal Wang family in our town. His name is Wang Zekun.
The Wang family was the same as Fatty's family. They had been looking at feng shui for generations, but unlike Fatty's poor family, the Wang family was not poor at all. Instead, they were overflowing with wealth.
Bai Shixing from the Fatty's family belonged to the lower class. He only knew about funerals, so it was hard to avoid the five drawbacks and three defects. The Wang family was a proper Fengshui master. As long as they didn't violate any taboos, they naturally wouldn't be disturbed by the five drawbacks and three defects. Moreover, the Wang family did have real ability. They relied on their ability to make a living and easily made a lot of money.
In the past, when Old Man Wang was still alive, I heard that even the county magistrate came to ask for his fortune. He was very famous in the surrounding villages.
My father had to put in a lot of effort before he managed to invite the Wang Family to help us.
At this time, I understood some metaphysical knowledge. When my father told me about this Wang Zekun, I felt that this name was a bit strange. Ze was water, and Kun was Yin. The person with this name must have a strong Yang fire in his life. He was a stubborn man who was hard to get along with.
It was true. Wang Zekun looked like he was in his forties. He wore a serious face and didn't smile much. When he came to my house, he casually glanced at the plot of land and said that it was a good place to build a house. Then, he wrote down the date of construction on a piece of red paper that my father had prepared. He also confirmed the location of the main gate, the four residences, and the kitchen.
These three elements were the most important in Fengshui of a Yang residence.
As long as there were no major problems with these three elements, the geomancy of the house would not be too serious.
I looked at the location Wang Zekun had chosen. The gate faced the south, which was the most common location. Of course, there wouldn't be any problem.
As for the East and West Residences, the position of "Master Xun of the Li School" was set. According to the "Death Scripture", "Master Xun of the Li School, the Fire Wind Ding Xi, the Good Kind Family", was originally a Fengshui layout that was managed by the adopted son, named "Tianyi Auspicious Residence".
China was very particular about family bloodline. There was a saying, "There are three ways to be unfilial, and having no descendants is the worst." Even if one had a fortune, no one would inherit it in the end. It was said to be a lucky house, but in fact, if it was in ancient times, it would be a haunted house.
However, times are different now. Speaking of it now, I am the only child in the family, so it isn't too serious of a problem that we don't have many children. Looking at it from a comprehensive point of view, this structure is superior in that 'men and women are benevolent and righteous, and women run the household'. It can be considered a good structure.
As for the position of the kitchen, Wang Zekun chose the "Qian" position.
Although the main gate and the East and West Residences were important, they weren't as important as the last one, the kitchen. It was said that "food is the God of the people." Among the people, there was also the custom of offering sacrifices to the Kitchen God. It was said that it had been around since the Qin Dynasty. All of these proved the importance of the kitchen in the Fengshui of the Yang Residences.
If the Fengshui of the other residences wasn't good, it could be remedied. However, once the Fengshui of the kitchen was set, it couldn't be easily changed. Even if it was changed, it would have to wait for three years before it could take effect.
The Fengshui of the kitchen had two points. The first was the position of the kitchen, which was the "Qian" position that Wang Zekun had chosen.
The second was the position of the kitchen door. This door wasn't for people to walk through. It was for offering sacrifices to the Kitchen God.
These two points had to be put together to see if it was good or bad.
According to our custom, the location of the kitchen was set at the beginning, but the position of the kitchen door was set after the house was finished. Then, on an auspicious day, the location of the kitchen door was set. It was called "Opening the Kitchen Door." It was a time to hold a banquet and invite relatives and neighbors.
After verifying the information I had learned, I felt that there was no problem with the Fengshui Mr. Wang had set. My father and I packed a bag of one thousand renminbi and respectfully sent them to the door. Then, we set a date to come to our house to open the kitchen door.
Soon, it was time to build the house. The carpenters in the village came to the homestead and started to break the ground.
When it came to breaking the ground, there was a set of procedures that needed to be followed.
The first procedure was to level the foundation of the house.
When it was time to level the foundation, they had to find a black ox and use it to set up a plow. After that, they had to plow the ground three times. Then, they had to manually fill the ground.
After the foundation of the house was leveled, they had to put down the foot of the wall. When they did that, they had to put down the stone that was attached to each pillar. That was the first procedure.
The second procedure was to erect the horse.
Before erecting the horse, all the wood had to be cut on the spot. Then, they had to choose a day to let it go green. To let it go green, they had to choose a tree and invite the carpenters to cook it. Then, they would go to the tree and light three joss sticks to offer their food. After the carpenters had finished chanting the auspicious words, they would chop down the Third Elder first. After that, the others could start. After the wood was cut, they had to bring it to the foundation of the house and erect the horse. Before erecting the horse, the carpenters had to make a new wooden horse. When all the wood was ready, they would use the wooden horse to send the horse.
The third procedure was to erect the horse.
On the night before the erection of the pillar, the carpenters had to make offerings to Lu Ban. The host family had to fill a bucket with food for the carpenters to put in the Lu Ban memorial tablet. After the memorial tablet was set and the joss sticks were lit, the carpenters went to send the horse. When it was time to send the horse, the carpenters would hold a bottle of clean water and stand at the crossroads facing the East. Then, they would spit out a mouthful of clean water and recite the incantation.
"The first chant is that the Eastern Diabolical Path hides in all directions. The second chant is that the Western Diabolical Path burrows out. Go back to where you came from. Return to where you came from. With Jiang Taigong here, all the gods retreat."
After reciting the incantation, the bowl was broken and the chicken head was placed on the horn of the wooden horse. Then, the chicken head was chopped off and thrown forward. If the chicken head was facing forward, it meant that the horse had already started. If the chicken head was facing backward, it meant that the horse had not started. The host family had to pick up another chicken and send it again.
The fourth procedure was the pillar.
In front of the pillar, a piece of green cloth was used to wrap the hammer. The carpenter stepped on the second pillar with his left foot and began to recite the incantation.
"The former Heng Li Zhen, facing the toilet, not the Xiong Bian, cutting the water to drive the waves, suppressing the earth to guard the Gate of Heaven, entering the Middle Palace Pillar, the rivers and seas to protect my body.
Not a copper hammer, not an iron hammer, but a wooden hammer passed down by Master Lu Ban. "
After reciting the incantation, the carpenter aimed the hammer at the second pillar on the left and shouted, "Rise!" Then, the rest of the people started to draw the pillar.
The last one was to raise the beam.
Before raising the beam, one had to lower the beam.
When building a house in the countryside, there was an old saying, "The father owes the girl a beam, the girl owes the father a sheep." When building a house, most of the beams were sent by the father-in-law's family.
After the beam was opened, one had to toast the master with tea and wine. The carpenter drank the wine and then congratulated him.
"Drink the master's cup of wine, the master's generation will be rich. Drink the master's cup of tea, the master's generation will be rich."
Then, the master carried a rooster and asked the carpenter to lower the beam. The carpenter held the rooster and recited, "Purple Beam, Purple Beam, where was it born, where did it grow?"
After reciting the incantation, he answered, "Born on the back of an old dragon, grown on the waist of an old dragon, a thousand people passing by do not dare to touch it, ten thousand people passing by do not dare to cut it, Master Lu Ban snorted, you will fall into the rock stratum, you will not be able to reach the beach, you will not be able to shine, Master Lu Ban will push you up to the light."
After the incantation, he began to raise the beam.
First, he pulled the beam to the big window and asked the relatives and friends to hang a red cloth. Then, he lifted it up and pulled it to the top.
The carpenter used a ladder to climb up while reciting the incantation, "My feet step on the ladder to heaven, my hands hold the silver ladder, I climb the first river, I climb the second river, my descendants will come out to be high-ranking officials, No.1 Middle School climbs the beam, my descendants will come out to be nobles."
After the beam was placed, it wasn't the end. Two carpenters sat on each side of the beam, one holding a teapot filled with water, the other holding a wicker basket.
The wicker basket contained Yuan Bao, coins, and food.
The master and his wife stood in the main hall and used a bedsheet to receive the Yuan Bao. The carpenter first threw the Yuan Bao into the master's bedsheet and asked, "Do you want it rich or expensive?"
The host replied, "Even if you're rich, I want you."
After throwing the Yuan Bao three times, the other carpenter poured water down. The master wanted to shout, "Money comes, water comes, gold, silver, and other valuables come in."
Finally, the carpenter with the wicker basket grabbed the food and threw it in all four directions, shouting, "Good luck."
At this point, the ceremony of building a house came to a successful end.
After understanding the customs of building a house, I compared the geomancy of houses recorded in the Death Scripture. I found that some of the ceremonies were related to geomancy, while others weren't.
However, all the ceremonies contained a yearning for beauty and blessings to the master's house. I followed the carpenter and watched the ceremony, feeling that it was very interesting.
Although the villagers were particular about building houses, the layout was small. The group of carpenters worked for one month and built a brand new house.
Soon, it was the day Wang Zekun and I had agreed to open the kitchen door. A few days ago, my parents had informed their relatives and neighbors to come and have a drink.
Early in the morning, our relatives and neighbors came to our new house to celebrate. My parents had been busy the whole morning, preparing a sumptuous feast.
When it was almost noon, Wang Zekun arrived home. He said a few celebratory words out of courtesy. Then, he went to the kitchen and started to calculate the location of the 'kitchen door' with a compass.
Opening the kitchen door was different from other geomancy methods. The main gate and the four residences all had their own rules. Even if you didn't look for a geomancy master, you could follow the location of other houses.
However, the location of the kitchen door had to be determined according to the overall situation of the master's house.
Even Wang Zekun had to use his compass.
Shortly after, he put away the compass and pointed at the southeast side of the kitchen. "That's the best location to open the kitchen door."
Of course, the masons who built the house were present during the opening ceremony. They immediately opened a small door at the place Wang Zekun had pointed at.
Then, the relatives and neighbors started to congratulate my parents. My parents smiled happily and thanked them one by one.
However, I couldn't smile at this moment.
Wang Zekun had pointed at the southeast side of the kitchen door. According to the Eight Trigrams, it was the Xun position.
Wang Zekun had set the Qian position for our kitchen.
According to the Death Scripture, the Qian and Xun positions were a battle between metal and wood. It was called the 'Heavenly Wind and Fire'. It was said to harm humans and animals, and cause women to go crazy.
The conclusion in the scripture was: "The Charm Trigram leads to a bitter death. The officials and concubines give birth to lewd lives. The women go crazy.