Mystical Dragon Horse
The He Tu which according to legend was bequeathed to mankind by a mystical creature which had the body of a horse and the head of a dragon.
On its body were markings of rows of dot in red and white.
As noted earlier, it is wiser to spend time deciphering the code rather than to figure out its history.
What are important are the following key points.
1 The principle of yin and yang
You will notice that there are dots, in our picture black and white. Irrespective of what the original colors were, they represent the same thing. The white dots are yang or masculine and the black dots are feminine.
The story behind these is that yin and yang are the root qualities of everything. We can call the things we see touch and feel phenomena. The sun, the moon and the stars in the sky are also phenomena. They all can be reduced into two basic qualities and that is yin and yang.
Yin and Yang are complementary. Some have the impression that yin is negative maybe prejudiced by the notion that haunted places are yin or that darkness (associated with fear) is yin. In Chinese medical science, one can be unwell which can be caused by too much yang as much as it can be caused by too much yin.
Grasping this root concept is the key to understanding the balance of harmony in feng shui studies and other metaphysical studies as well.
2 The Four Cardinal Directions South West North and East
The Chinese compass has South on the top of the paper. This is purely a convention started probably because in the freezing northern winter, the south is where the warm wind blows from. The western compass points north whereas the Chinese calls the compass ‘the south pointing needle’.
It does not matter. All that needs to remember is that feng shui convention is to have the south at the top of the paper. This goes for all the charts and so forth.
The HeTu defines these four cardinal directions and within each direction are yin and yang.
3 Odd and Even Numbers
Odd numbers are yang and even numbers are yin. The use of numbers again is a much modern invention. There were no Arabic numerals then. Written language or at least written Chinese history was recorded during the Shang dynasty, that is about 3,600 years ago. Even until recently, the Chinese still use pictographs to denote numerals. Not surprisingly, dots were used to code the maps.
It is a modern invention to associate energies to numbers. Some would write a 5 and say that it brings bad or good luck. Really so? Another would say the 4 sounds bad because it sounds like “die’. Really so?
If so, it would seem that 4 would be bad for the Chinese or if you understand Chinese but would not be so for an African or French who pronounce it differently. This is so subjective and being so cannot be universal in application.
Rather, the placement of the dots indicate the principle that yin and yang do not exist independently and furthermore for harmony it has to be that way.
4 The Five Elements the Four Seasons
Within the map is included the five elements of earth, water, fire, wood and metal.
From 1 at the north arises water.
From 2 at the south arises fire
From 3 at the east arises wood
From 4 at the west arises metal
At 5 at the center arises earth
The yin yang pairs are 1-6, 2-7, 3-8, 4-9, 5-10
The purity of the north produces water and the heat of the south produces fire
The unhurried nature of the east or spring produces wood
The lack of vigor and vim of falling autumn leaves produces metal
The center is stable and a combination of all the qualities produces earth.
These are interesting and very easy to get a little misled by reading too much into them. For most purposes, it is sufficient to know that they are symbolic of the structure of our universe. Very importantly, they remind us that things are in constant change just like the seasons and the weather.
Nature always seeks to find equilibrium and that equilibrium is possible only when the yin and yang and the elements are in balance. Neither too much nor too little is the word.
Some, especially the more academics among the students have said that 4 is metal and thus would use sets of 4 of some metal objects to distribute around their houses to ‘remedy’ something or other. This is rather absurd and misses the point.
5 The Productive Cycle of the Five Elements
Let us take a closer look at the River Map. In the center are the dots that shows 5 and 10. This is the earth element.
Following the sequence in a clockwise order we have this:
Center 5, 10 earth produces 1,6 water of north
North 1,6 water produces 3,8 wood of the east
East 3,8 wood produces 2,7 fire of the south
South 3,8 fire produces 5,10 earth of the center
This is the productive cycle and is also in accordance with the cycle of the seasons –
winter →spring → summer → autumn
All appears as a natural perfect code.
6. The numbers are Early Heaven Numbers
These numbers are earlier heaven numbers and are not to be confused with the later heaven numbers or the LuoShu numbers.
For example the number 7 is described as earlier heaven fire. (whereas in the later heaven sequence, it metal.
7 HeTu is the Base Model
What this means is that the HeTu is the model from which we work. It is the prototype.
Just like when we want to design a car. The process begins with a prototype, a model or a framework from which to begin. In this case, it may be as simple as a sketch or a skeletal model complete with the wheels. From this prototype, the engineers then has a starting point.
Likewise in feng shui and other related metaphysical studies, the HeTu is the prototype. It is the structure from which harmony is understood. It will take a while to fully get this point but with effort it will show itself.
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