THE DRAGON(S) OF SYDNEY

Transcription

1 THE DRAGON(S) OF SYDNEY Michael John Paton University of Sydney ABSTRACT In traditional dili (principles of the earth) and fengshui (wind and water), mountain ranges are called dragons. The ridge lines of a mountain range are called the dragon s veins. The relationship between these dragon veins and water allows the development of vital qi, i.e. the energy/ether underlying the life force, through the development of topsoil and rivers. In Australia, the Great Dividing Range is the major dragon with traditional dili theory explaining why over 80% of the population of Australia live between this dragon and the coast. The theory even explains why downtown Sydney is where it is. The major dragon of Sydney can be traced from the Blue Mountains through the Hills district down the ridge line through the site of Government House to the Opera House. This paper focuses on an understanding of the Dragon of Sydney from a southern hemisphere perspective with discussion of the problems of the ritualisation of knowledge. KEY WORDS Dragon, Sydney, ritualisation of knowledge, southern hemisphere INTRODUCTION Fengshui 風水 (wind and water) originated on the loess plateaux of Northern China as an early art/science of the relationship between fertility and human habitation with its basic theoretical structures based on careful observation of amenable places for the living even though the original existing texts are on the nourishment of the spirits of the dead (Yoon, 2008). Nevertheless, Guo Pu s circa 300 CE Book of Burial 葬書 gives great insight into traditional site selection for the living as much as the dead. It defines fengshui as site selection in relation obtaining water and storing from the wind so as to nourish the development of vital qi, the matter/energy that enables life to flourish in traditional Chinese cosmology. The basic theory holds that qi flows through the topography along veins of ridge lines according to the configurational force shi of the landform and where this qi is held by water life flourishes as shown in the following quotes from the Book of Burial. Qi circulates through the earth according to the configurational force of the earth. It gathers where the configurational force stops. The qi follows the trunk of a hill and branches along its ridges. The Classic says that if the qi rides the wind it is scattered, if it is bounded by water it is held.. 1

2 .The Classic says that when qi circulates through landforms, entities are thereby given life. The configurational forces of the earth are the basic veins. The configurational forces of the mountains are the basic bones. They snake either west to east or north to south, curling back on themselves as if crouching and waiting, as if with something in their grasp. Qi desires to proceed but it is cut off. It desires to halt and becomes deep. Where it approaches and accumulates, stops and gathers, there will be a clashing of yang with a harmonising of yin, the earth will be rich and the water deep, the grasses lush and the forests luxuriant. The hydrological cycle can be seen to be tied to this theoretical construct in the supposedly late Han fengshui text the Qing Wu Classic of Burial 青烏先生葬經, which echoes the insights of the early Chinese geographical text, Huainanzi 淮南子 : When the qi of yin and yang is exhaled it ascends and becomes clouds, descending as rain. When it circulates in the earth it is vital qi. When the vital qi circulates in the earth it ferments and gives life to the myriad things. Man receives his form from his parents. His basic frame obtains qi and the form he is given accepts it and harbours it there. Life is the gathering of qi. Thus, the basic theory involves water evaporating to become clouds, which then rain on mountains to help create topsoil and rivers with the concept of shanmai, literally mountain veins or longmai (dragon veins) integral to this as they enable the flow of qi. The modern translation of shanmai is mountain range. This traditional dili 地理 (principles of the earth) concept is similar to that of acupuncture in that qi 氣 energy flows in lines or veins, but along the ridge line. This has some basis in scientific thinking in that the area of a mountain with the greatest potential energy due to gravity is along its highest points, i.e. the ridge line. The motive force for the energy flow along the ridge line is the configurational/geodetic force shi 勢. The original theory as seen in the Book of Burial was localised around the burial site with mountain ranges (dragons) surrounding the site to the north (Dark Warrior), east (Azure Dragon), west (White Tiger) and south (Vermilion Sparrow) and with meandering water flowing between the burial site and the southern range. The theory was taken to the continental level in the writings of the late Tang dynasty scholar, Yang Yunsong 楊筠宋 (circa 880CE) in the Arousing the Dragon Classic 撼龍經. DRAGONS OF SYDNEY To consider the siting of Sydney from a dili/fengshui perspective, first of all focus it is necessary to delineate the difference between mountain dragons and water dragons. The suitability of mountain dragons is as outlined above. In contrast, the suitability of water dragons, where the source of vital energy is the water itself, depends on the availability of a branching watercourse (the branch) off a main watercourse (the trunk). The beginning of Chapter 1 of the Water Dragon Classic 水龍經 outlines the difference between trunks and branches: This chapter especially explains the principle of the branches and trunks of the water dragon. In fact, consider the passage of large bodies of water as the moving dragon and call this the trunk. Consider small bodies of water such as canals and ditches as the separating borders and call them branches. The method for nodes is to seek from the branches but not from the trunks. This is like there being no true connection amidst the rise and fall of high mountains and folded ridges, yet the old dragon develops tender shoots and there begins to be a structure. 2

3 Furthermore, Problem 17 of the Twenty Four Difficult Problems 難解二十四篇 prescribes the difference between mountain dragons and water dragons: The land in mountains and valleys and that which emerges at the sea are dissimilar. How can it be determined and selected? Within mountains and valleys where nodes form, firstly it is essential for the basic structure to be beautiful and delicate, and for there to be layers of walls surrounding (the node) on all sides. The layer closest to the body wraps the most important beauty and wetness. The outer layers are of progressively coarser material and closer in are layers of progressively finer material. The central hall must be large and spacious. This is the method of (node) formation within mountains. Therefore, it is said that mountains take advantage of beautiful qi and that the mingtang is difficult to obtain in high mountains. Thus one knows that where beauty can be taken advantage of and the hall can be faced, true qi will without doubt coagulate. Land which emerges at the sea is not like this. Needless to say, large breaks cut through the fields and there is more wilderness than beauty and delicateness. There are only nodal situations which take advantage of qi from obtaining what is suitable. If a water city does not approach such places, a node will not develop. The idea here is that sites on the coast must have a water dragon to be suitable for the nourishment of the spirit. Another dili consideration to take into account for sites on the coast for cities such as Sydney is that of wind and waves with coastal typhoons or cyclones and tsunami the epitome of negative impacts. As the Ballad of Seeking the Veins of the Water Dragon in the Water Dragon Classic states: waves beating and the wind blowing are what one can be most concerned about. Fortunately, Sydney does not have a history of the annual cyclones that plague the coast further north although climate change due to global warming may see such phenomena impact Sydney in future. Tsunami are another matter. The geological record of Sydney shows a number of large tsunami hitting Sydney over time, with as many as six in the past 10,000 years (Bryant, 2008). A further negative dili aspect to take into consideration is reclaimed land. As the Marshy Water Pattern (Figure 1) at the conclusion of Chapter 5 of the Water Dragon Classic states: Figure 1: Marshy Water Pattern With water of low lying, marshy land which is alternatively wet and dry, the accumulated dirt represents moss and lichen. If it is filled with muddy, stagnant water, it resembles the back of a toad or the filth of a cow's nose. 3

4 Guard against there being neither water nor land as this produces suffering and the descendants bear the burden of madness. The form is not dignified enough for the spirit. The poison of the water causes boils on the legs and there is the fear of serious illness. Again unfortunately, the heated property market of Sydney has seen many new developments on reclaimed land. The Blue Mountains and their off-shoot ranges form the major nurturing dragon of Sydney. In fact, they form a traditionally very favourable dili armchair pattern around the aptly named Sydney Basin as shown in Figure 2 below: Figure 2: the armchair of the Sydney Basin This armchair pattern would be even more favourable if it faced north towards the sun, but its eastern facing direction is the next best as it is nourished by the rising sun. A closer look at the topography of the Sydney Basin itself indicates a number of minor mountain (actually low ridge) dragons as shown in Figure 3 below: One of these nourishing ridges follows the Pacific highway from the north to North Sydney. Another series of ridge lines, perhaps the most important, comes down from the Blue Mountains through the Hills district to then meander through Pemulwuy, Greystanes, Woodpark, Guilford, Chester Hill, Sefton, Yagoona, Potts Hill, Rookwood, Strathfield, Burwood Heights, Ashfield, Ashbury, Petersham, Newtown, Abercrombie St, Redfern Station, Strawberry Hills and down through Hyde Park to Sydney Cove. This perhaps explains why the initial settlement of the northern hemisphere peoples was focused on this cove. 4

5 Figure 3: Dragons of Sydney It is also interesting to note that this dragon passes through Rookwood, the major cemetery in Sydney. The importance of this cemetery in the development of Sydney can be seen in the fact that an elaborate mortuary station was built next to Central Station to transport bodies and their mourners to Rookwood in the early twentieth century. Ironically, the railway system has had a negative effect on this dragon because it cuts through the ridgeline in a number of places, cutting off the flow of qi. This was one of the reasons advanced in the nineteenth century against the building of railways in China. As for the water dragons of Sydney, if the Pacific Ocean is taken to be a trunk dragon, the three major watercourses of Sydney could be thought of as branch dragons forming a water city as outlined in Problem 17 of the Twenty Four Difficult Problems to enable a node to develop, so that the land is nourished. Unfortunately, the only diagram in the Water Dragon Classic that approximates these three watercourses is the Pincers of the Centipede Pattern, which has similarity to the course of the Parramatta River into Sydney Harbour as shown in Figure 4 below. Figure 4: The hundred feet of the centipede produce bravery 5

6 If the environmental history of Australia is taken into account, even though Sydney is comparatively well nourished, the need for bravery can perhaps be seen. Because of Australia s inordinately thick continental crust (Flannery, 2002), there has been little development of mountains over geological time with the Great Dividing Range the only substantial mountain range although this would be considered to be mere foothills on other continents. This lack of substantial mountain veins sees a lack of vital energy (shengqi 生氣 ) and thus a lack of topsoil and water. However, the very different brave ecology of Australia fooled the northern hemisphere people when they first came to the continent. Captain Cook on sailing past the Wollongong escarpment for the first time wrote in his journal of it being like a gentleman s parkland (Flannery, 2002). Even fengshui theory is tricked by Australian ecology. Where the forests are luxuriant, there is bound to be an abundance of vital energy according to the Book of Burial. But eucalypts, the major Australian tree species, go on very little vital energy. This can be seen by the fact that by 1976, eucalypts had been exported to 180 different countries, the majority planted where trees had never previously been grown due to the poverty of the soils (Food & Agricultural Organisation, 1979). I had personal experience of this in Libya in 1993 where I saw large eucalypts growing in cities that did not even have one blade of grass. This misunderstanding by the northern hemisphere peoples of both the robustness and delicacy of the Australian environment has seen a continuum of mistakes in attempting to harvest its resources over the past 200 years. These mistakes have resulted in widespread salinisation, loss of top soil, destruction of the east coast red cedar forest, and the introduction of exotic species including rabbits, prickly pear, thistle, and cane toads. A major factor causing such a lack of understanding was the strength of the northern hemisphere people s knowledge systems, which had become ritualised over millennia. RITUALISATION OF KNOWLEDGE The ritualisation of knowledge is what the philosopher of science Davidson (in Hacking, 2002, p. 175) calls the dogma of scheme and reality. Examples of such ritualisation brought from the northern hemisphere to Australia include the ideas that all swans are white; that new year comes just after the winter solstice; and that the seasons of the year are the basis for understanding climate. The indigenous peoples of Australia could have disabused the northern interlopers of such notions but the cultural chauvinism of the latter precluded taking 40-60,000 years of inductive knowledge into account. The history of the development of fengshui theory is indicative of the ritualisation of knowledge over time. Early fengshui theory was certainly based on careful observation. As the Twenty Four Difficult Problems states: The saying of the ancients that three years is spent seeking the land and ten years is spent isolating the node is prudent. However, later theoretical constructs had little to do with reality with observation needing to fit the theory not vice versa. An example of this is the calculation of a traditional Chinese year as 360 days. A similar problem is the difficulty of the theoretical relationship between the celestial stems, terrestrial branches and the Five Phases, which Pang (1985, p. 101) saw as an example of the difficulty metaphysics encounters when confronted with science. 6

7 As dili/fengshui theory was ritualised, the focus of the system became the enhancement of luck rather than original conception of siting in relation to the nourishment of the land and the resultant fertility, such that what I call the ethics of chance held sway. The Twenty Four Difficult Problems gives us insight into this shift in focus: The whole of this work discusses the form, force, feeling and nature of water. It is never ignorant of the important principles as are the practitioners of the theories of direction who absurdly match longevity, the receiving of favours, becoming an official and imperial prosperity with good and evil spirits and good and ill fortune, consequently causing the lucky not to be buried and those buried not to have good fortune. In deluding the world and misleading the people, nothing is worse than this. To the author of the Twenty Four Difficult Problems those practitioners of the art who used on the then novel fengshui compass, i.e. the practitioners of the theories of direction, practised the art of swindlers because of their focus on good and bad luck. The author s argument is summarised in the following quotes: and In general, everything which obtains qi will develop. Thus one must desire to extend this principle to the idea that it is not the case that a branch obtaining auspicious qi should flourish and a branch obtaining inauspicious qi should wither. If this is the case, how can we explain the creation of things? What is meant is that on a single tree there is both flourishing and withering. I humbly say that one should discern whether the land is, in fact, auspicious or inauspicious. One should not worry in advance whether it will develop good fortune and happiness. It is rather that the heavenly way is profound and vague. If one can fully understand human affairs, be contented with this. The divination of a mountain over a hundred li cannot be accomplished at a glance. How more difficult is it with several hundred li? To seek it thus is but one method for the divination of mountains. As this is said to be more inferior, the present day practitioners of the art have abandoned form and configurational force and speak of bearing, and they are certainly already lost. Moreover, because they are deluded by bearing and discussions of what is auspicious and inauspicious, the error has increased even more. Moreover, the Twenty Four Difficult Problems argues very much against the use of astrology in the choice of a site... many of this generation also know the theories of astrology to be absurd. According to their theories of the stars, Jizhou, Guanzhong, the city of Yan and Xiluo necessarily begin to accord with the constellations. With Hangzhou much of such accordance is already inadequate. So, how much worse for the other provinces and prefectures? If this is the case, unless there is a capital, mountains and graves will seldom accord with the constellations. However, even though the author of the Twenty Four Difficult Problems calls for an empirical approach to siting from a very much proto-scientific perspective, he looks to the past rather than the future to assuage the excesses of the practitioners of the art. The above four points are rejected by the present practitioners of the art, who indeed conduct the art of swindlers. Therefore, generations guard their theories and do not change, not knowing that their words are distant from the classics and betray the way. Oh, the sorrow of it! How can there be an affair not modelled on the ancients or a righteousness that does venerate the classics and yet still not be a defiance against the correct? 7

8 Such a fixation on the past reinforced the ritualisation of knowledge even by those who argued against the ethics of chance. Nevertheless, early fengshui theory with its focus on dragon veins and their relationship to configurational force, form and the flow of water did show a strong rationality. This was pointed out by the renowned geologist Weng Wenhao in his 1925 geological paper on the development of the theory of mountain veins in Chinese thought, a system he dubbed orography. He particularly wrote of the development of fengshui (he used the term kanyu 堪輿 ) theory from the writings of the Buddhist monk, Yi Xing to the late Tang dynasty author Yang Yunsong. Weng Wenhao s paper even quoted the opening lines of Yang Yunsong s Arousing the Dragon Classic, which, as shown above, took fengshui theory to the continental level. However, even though Weng Wenhao showed that the observation of dragon veins by fengshui theorists came from the observation of nature and so the system can be seen to be quite intelligent, he argued that the tendency at this time was not to base mountain veins on the observed geology but on the line which was taken by the watercourses, thus creating an unavoidable false analogy (Huang, 1989). Thus, fengshui can be thought of in relation to the history of science, but its scientific roots were lost in the ritualisation of its knowledge systems. SOUTHERN HEMISPHERE In the conclusion to his treatise on mountain veins, Weng Wenhao argues that orography was a particularly Chinese science and that European geologists did not understand its subtleties because they based their theories on their own experience. Using a traditional Chinese expression he questions why we should cut our feet to make the shoes fit. This is an early example of an argument for the geographic basis of knowledge. I have previously argued for this point in regards to the southern hemisphere, both separately and with a co-author, the Chinese astrophysicist, Zhang Chengmin (Paton, 2015; Paton & Zhang, 2016). Those in the southern hemisphere look north to the sun, creating a southern culture that more readily perceives the ritualisations of knowledge of the power bases of northern hemisphere and sees the concepts of East and West as a northern hemisphere construct based on a fallacious bifurcation of knowledge. An obvious example is the celebration of the New Year. Whether lunar or solar, this is a northern hemisphere based celebration of the passing of the winter solstice towards the waxing of life in spring. In the southern hemisphere, the 1 st of January celebrates the passing of the summer solstice towards the waning of life towards autumn. This is perhaps why some serious northern hemisphere rituals like Palm Tuesday associated with Easter are satirised in the south as in Rio de Janeiro s Mardi Gras and Sydney s Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras. From the perspective of the history of science, however, it is particularly in the science of meteorology that the peoples of the southern hemisphere have made the most impact. In fact, it could be argued that the modern science of meteorology was created in the southern hemisphere because the traditional framework of spring, summer, winter and autumn do not sufficiently explain the variations in weather in the south. Southern hemisphere insights enabled an understanding of El Nino and La Nina weather patterns that make up the Southern Oscillation Index, which is now known to markedly affect the weather of the entire globe (Webb, 1997). It is somewhat ironic that the study of meteorology reflects the literal wind and water meaning of fengshui. 8

9 Traditional dili/fengshui theory is still applicable today in that the configurational force of the Hamalayan orogeny could be seen to develop an immense amount of vital qi, which enables the land to support the large populations of China, India and Southeast Asia. Even in the southern hemisphere the theory explains why more than 80% of the population of Australia live between the Great Dividing Range and the Pacific Ocean as these two topographical features hold and nurture more vital qi than much of the rest of land mass of Australia, which is often no more than desert. However, if fengshui is ever to be considered a science, we need to see past the ritualisations that are only applicable to the northern hemisphere as with meteorology. An obvious example is in the consideration of form. Having a Dark Warrior in the north just does not fit with the Australian environment; the cold winds generally blow from the south, which is where the Dark Warrior should be located to enable protection from these winds. The Vermilion Sparrow should similarly be to the north rather than the south because the sun is to the north in the southern hemisphere and it is the sun that allows nourishment. The compass aspect of fengshui theory is more problematic. The Yellow Emperor s Classic of House Siting 黃帝宅經 is the original existing text of the Compass School and its theoretical framework includes the twenty-four directions ( 二十四路 ), the eight trigrams ( 八卦 ) of the Yi Jing ( 易經 ), and the nine palaces ( 九宮 ). Each of these became specific rings on the fengshui compass. Some argue that the theories of the Compass School remain the same no matter which hemisphere. However, they fail to realise the environmental basis of both the Yi Jing and the nine palaces. The Yi Jing is based on the concepts yin 陰 and yang 陽. According to Bo Mou (2009, p. 74), the word yang originally means the bright side of a hill facing south whereas yin means the shaded side facing north. Thus, in the southern hemisphere empirically yang becomes yin and yin becomes yang. Moreover, Stephen Field (1999: 27-31) argues persuasively for the environmental basis of the nine palaces showing their relationship to the seasons with the Houtian 後天 map of the cosmos. But these are the seasons of the northern hemisphere. A similar hemispherical difficulty is found in the relationship between the earth and the constellations. In relation to the nine palaces, the Zhang Heng section of the History of the Later Han states that the primary palace is the spirit of the North Star and the other 8 palaces are those of the 8 trigrams which move below it. The problem is that the North Star is not visible in the southern hemisphere. In fact, astronomically the south is very different and the southern sky abounds in constellations unknown in the northern hemisphere (Paton & Zhang, 2014). Unlike the north, the southern sky is an opening to the Milky Way. This makes the night sky so filled with stars that traditional Australian indigenous astronomy looked more towards the dark patches rather than those filled with stars. One such indigenous constellation is known as the Emu in the Sky, which is defined by dark nebulae visible against the brightness of the Milky Way with the head next to the Southern Cross and the legs and body trailing along to the constellation of Scorpio (Norris & Hamacher, 2013). Moreover, the pointers of the Southern Cross have become the arbiters of direction in the southern hemisphere much like the role the North Star plays in the northern hemisphere. 9

10 CONCLUSION Australia has a very thick geological crust that has prevented recent mountain formation. Dili/fengshui theory would thus indicate a lack of the vital energy necessary for fertility, and this is borne out by the general poverty of the soils and by its aridity. This would indicate some universal rationality in the theory towards a science of what Weng Wenhao termed orography. Nevertheless, the Confucian system saw ritual as one of the bases of society, and fengshui became part of the ritual of the imperial court from the Song dynasty. However, if knowledge becomes ritualised, it tends to lose its empirical base as can be seen in the failures of some of the projects of the northern hemisphere peoples in the south. Science is a continuum; it can never be fixed. If fengshui is to be considered in any way scientific, the theory needs to incorporate the southern hemisphere. As the traditional Chinese saying goes, 一方水土養一方人, or the soil and water of a place gives birth to the people of that place. REFERENCES Bo Mou (ed.) (2009) Routledge History of World Philosophies Volume 3 History of Chinese Philosophy (Routledge: London & New York). Book of Burial Rooted in Antiquity, Gu ben zang jing nei pian «古本葬經內篇», written by Guo Pu, Jin dai bi shu Vol. 5 no. 42 of the Ji gu ge, (Shanghai: the library of Mao Jin of the Ming dynasty, Shanghai bogu zhai yingyin, 1923). Bryant, Edward (2008) Tsunami: the Underrated Hazard (Springer: NY). Burial Classic of Qing Wu Esquire, Qing Wu xiansheng zang jing, «青烏先生葬經» Wu Qinze (annotator), Jin dai bi shu Vol. 5 no. 42 of the Ji gu ge, (Shanghai: the library of Mao Jin of the Ming dynasty, Shanghai bogu zhai yingyin, 1923). Field, Stephen L. (1999) The Numerology of Nine Star Fengshui: A Hetu, Luoshu Resolution of the Mystery of Directional Auspice, Journal of Chinese Religions, 27:1, Flannery, T. (2002) The Future Eaters, (New Holland publishers, Victoria, Australia). Food and Agricultural Organisation of the United Nations, Forestry Department, (1979) Eucalypts for Planting, (FAO: Rome). Hacking, I. (2002) Historical Ontology (Cambridge, Mass.; London: Harvard University Press). Huang Jiqing (1989) Weng Wenhao xuanji (The Collected Writings of Weng Wenhao), (Beijing: Ye jin gongye chubanshe). Norris, R.P. & Hamacher, D.W. (2013) Australian Aboriginal Astronomy: An Overview In Handbook of Cultural Astronomy, edited by C. Ruggles. Springer, NY. Pang, Pu., Origins of the Yin-Yang and Five Elements Concepts, Social Sciences in China, Vol. 6, no. 1, March, 1985, p Paton, M.J. (2015) The Geography of Styles of Reasoning: East and West; North and South Philosophy East and West vol. 65 no. 1, pp Paton, M.J. and Zhang Chengmin (2014) Southern Culture and the North/South Divide: more than a metaphor Journal of the Oriental Society of Australia. vol. 46, pp

11 Secretly Passed down Water Dragon Classic, Mi chuan shuilong jing, «秘傳水龍經», Jiang Pingjie (ed.), Cong shu ji xuan 0178, (Taibei: Xin wen feng chuban gongsi, 1988). Twenty Four Difficult Problems, Nan jie ershisi pian, «難解二十四篇», Author anonymous, Jin dai bi shu Vol. 6 no. 53 of the Ji gu ge, (Shanghai: the library of Mao Jin of the Ming dynasty, Shanghai bogu zhai yingyin, 1923). Webb, Eric K. (1997) Windows on Meteorology: Australian Perspective. (Collingwood, Victoria: CSIRO Publishing). Yang Yunsong, Arousing the Dragon Classic (Han long jing), «撼龍經», Qin ding si ku quan shu, (Taibei : Yi wen yin shu guan, 1985), p Yellow Emperor's Classic of House Siting, Huangdi zhai jing, «皇帝宅經» Jin dai bi shu Vol. 6 no. 51 of the Ji gu ge, (Shanghai: the library of Mao Jin of the Ming dynasty, Shanghai bogu zhai yingyin, 1923). Yoon, Hong-key (2008) The Culture of Fengshui in Korea: An Exploration of East Asian Geomancy. (Lanham, MD: Lexington Books). Corresponding Author: Dr Michael Paton School of Economics University of Sydney Michael.Paton@sydney.edu.au 11