Guides to Taoist Practice & Chinese Metaphysics
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Guides · 术数指南
符箓
上香
红绳
护身
风水
Feng Shui Bedroom Layout: The Command Position and Five Fixes
How to arrange a bedroom by feng shui principles: the command position for the bed, what to avoid above and opposite it, mirror rules, and five practical fixes for common layouts.
Front Door Feng Shui: The Mouth of Qi
Why the front door matters most in house feng shui: colors and directions, what should and shouldn't face the entrance, and simple upgrades for apartments.
The Wealth Corner: Finding and Activating Your Money Area
How to locate the wealth corner (cai wei) of a home or room, what to place there — plants, water, crystals — what deactivates it, and the honest limits of money feng shui.
瑞兽
易经
求签
数理
五行
通书
历法
幸运色
合婚
Folklore & Tales · 民俗志怪
丧仪
Borrowing Years: The Chinese Belief That Lifespan Can Be Transferred
Jie shou — 'borrowing years' — the folk belief that one person can petition to give lifespan to another, its roots in the Dipper star bureaucracy, and why the tradition always attaches a price.
The Seventh Day: Why Chinese Families Leave the House Empty
Tou qi (头七) — the belief that the dead return home on the seventh night, why the family withdraws, and the custom of spreading ash to see whether anything walked.
The Substitute: Straw Effigies and the Chinese Idea of Standing In
Ti shen (替身) — the straw or paper figure made to take a person's place, how the substitute is built and named, and why the tradition treats a name as the binding part.
Keeping Vigil: The Rules of the Chinese Wake
Shou ling (守灵) — sitting with the body until burial: why the lamp must not go out, why no animal may cross the coffin, and why someone must always be awake.
Calling the Soul: Jiao Hun and the Frightened Child
Jiao hun (叫魂) — the rite of calling back a child's startled soul: the rice bowl, the worn clothing, the two-voice call, and the one rule about never looking back.
鬼神
Paper Offerings: Why the Chinese Burn Houses, Servants and Money
Zhi zha (纸扎) — the craft of funerary paper goods: how the figures are built, why the eyes are the last thing added, and the rule about not keeping one overnight.
The Soul-Guiding Lantern: Light at the Head of a Chinese Funeral
Yin hun deng (引魂灯) and the yin hun fan banner — the lamp carried before a Chinese funeral procession, what it is for, and the rules about who carries it.
The Ghost Market: China's Pre-Dawn Trade and Its Legend
Gui shi (鬼市) — the market that opens in the dark and closes at sunrise: the real trade behind the name, and the older legend of a market where the customers are not living.
Corpse Driving: The Xiangxi Legend and What Was Actually Happening
Gan shi (赶尸) — the western Hunan practice of walking the dead home: the bell, the night roads, the rules travellers were given, and the sober explanations offered by researchers.
Ghost Month and the Water: Why Nobody Swims in the Seventh Moon
The seventh lunar month, the Hungry Ghost Festival, and the water taboo — the belief in shui gui seeking a substitute, and the river lanterns floated to guide the dead.
器物
Mirrors in Chinese Belief: Covered at Death, Never Facing the Bed
Why Chinese households cover mirrors during a funeral, why a mirror must not face the bed, and the older idea of the mirror that shows what a thing really is.
Shoes for the Dead: Burial Footwear and the Rules Around It
Shou xie (寿鞋) — the shoes made for the dead: why the soles are unworn, why the living do not wear a dead person's shoes, and the taboos about where shoes point.
The Figure in the Painting: Chinese Beliefs About Painted People
From the classical tale of the painted wall to the household rule about hanging portraits: why Chinese tradition treats a painted figure as not entirely inert.
The Door Gods: Who Is on Your Door and Why They Face Outward
Men shen (门神) — the paired guardians pasted on Chinese doors at New Year: their two origin stories, the rule about not removing them early, and how to tell which way they should face.
The Ever-Burning Lamp: Tomb Lights and Lamp Offerings
Chang ming deng (长明灯) — the lamp that is not allowed to go out: perpetual tomb lamps, the light kept before a memorial tablet, and the merit of offering lamps.
承负
Foundation Sacrifice: The Bridge That Needed a Name
Da sheng zhuang (打生桩) — the legend that a bridge or wall requires a life buried in its foundation: where the story comes from, how far it spread, and why folklorists treat it as a tale type rather than a practice.
The Shadow: Chinese Beliefs About What Follows You
Why mourners step back so their shadow does not fall into the grave, why treading on a shadow is avoided, and the old idea that a shadow is a part of a person.
Borrowed Mouths: Spirit Mediums Who Speak for the Dead
Wen mi (问米) and guan wang — the Chinese practice of calling the dead to speak through a medium, how a session runs, and the tests families used to check it.
The Well: Chinese Taboos About Looking Down
The well god, the rules about wells at night, and the belief that the drowned wait below for a substitute — the folklore of the most dangerous object in a Chinese courtyard.
The Rice Measure: Borrowing Grain and the Dipper on the Altar
The dou (斗) — the wooden grain measure that is both the instrument of village credit and the central object of the Taoist Dipper rite for life and longevity.
阴宅
Encoffining: The Cord, the Coins and the Rules of Laying Out
What happens between death and the coffin in Chinese custom: the foot cord tied and then cut, the mouth coin, the covering cloth, and who is permitted to do each part.
Moving a Grave: The Rules of Qian Fen
Why Chinese families relocate ancestral graves, what must be done on the day, and the custom of putting a radish into the emptied pit.
Trees on Graves: What Chinese Tradition Reads Into Them
A tree growing from a grave mound is treated as a serious warning in Chinese geomancy — the roots and the coffin, which species are planted deliberately, and why nobody simply cuts it down.
Water in the Grave: The Worst Finding in Yinzhai
Shui pao guan — water reaching the coffin — is treated as the most serious defect a burial site can have. Why, how it is detected, and what families do about it.
The Eight Directions of a Grave and the Family Members They Answer To
In yinzhai practice each of the eight compass positions around a grave is assigned to a member of the family. What the scheme is, how practitioners use it, and why it should be read with care.
Sitting and Facing: How a Chinese Grave Is Oriented
Zuo xiang — the sitting and facing of a burial — is the single most consequential decision in yinzhai practice. How the compass is used, what a few degrees are held to mean, and why the stone gets checked every year.
形煞
The Beam Overhead: Why Feng Shui Moves Your Bed
Heng liang ya ding — a structural beam over the bed, stove or desk. The oldest complaint in residential feng shui, what tradition says about it, and the entirely ordinary reason it works.
Glare Sha: When the Building Opposite Throws Light Into Your Home
Guang sha — reflected glare from glass facades and harsh artificial light — is the newest member of the classical sha list, and the one with the most measurable effects.
Sky Slice Sha: The Gap Between Two Buildings
Tian zhan sha — a narrow gap between two towers aligned with your window or door. What the tradition claims, and the real wind behaviour that produced the claim.
Sharp Corner Sha: The Building Edge Pointing at Your Window
Jian jiao sha — the corner of a neighbouring building aimed at your home. What the tradition means by a pointed form, and the ordinary reasons a corner opposite is genuinely unpleasant.
A Bed Without Backing: The Wall Behind Your Head
Chuang tou wu kao — a bed whose head does not rest against a solid wall, and the related complaint of a bed head under a window. What the tradition asks for and why it is right.
Piercing Heart Sha: When a Straight Line Runs Through the House
Chuan xin sha — front door and back door in a straight line, or a corridor running the length of a home. Why the tradition dislikes a through route, and what a screen is for.
Road Rushing Sha: When a Street Points at Your Door
Lu chong sha — a straight road running directly at a house. The oldest and most cited of the external sha, what tradition claims, and the traffic data that agrees with it.
Door Facing Door: The Sha Between Neighbours
Men chong sha — two front doors directly opposite, or a door facing a stairwell or lift. The one sha that is about your neighbours, and how it escalates.
Reverse Bow Sha: The Road That Curves Away
Fan gong sha — a road, river or flyover curving with its back toward your building. Why Chinese geomancy cares which way a bend faces, and what the difference actually is.
Cutting Foot Water: When Water Reaches the Foundations
Ge jiao shui and the sickle sha — water running hard against the base of a building, or a flyover curving like a blade. What the tradition warns about and what it is describing.
Graves Behind the House: The Yin-Facing-Yang Arrangements
Yin gan yang — a dwelling with burial ground behind or opposite it. The four configurations tradition distinguishes, and how to think about living near a cemetery.
神煞
Kong Wang: The Void in a Chinese Birth Chart
Every ten-day cycle of the Chinese calendar leaves two earthly branches unpaired. Those two are the void — kong wang — and a chart that lands on them is read as an emptiness.
The Mourning Gate and the Visiting Guest
Sang men and diao ke — two of the plainest-named stars in Chinese astrology. What the annual funeral stars are, how they are derived, and the custom of the extra stool at a wake.
The Solitary and Widowed Stars
Gu chen and gua su — the stars of solitude in Chinese astrology. What they are held to indicate, how they are derived, and the custom of laying an extra place at the table.
The Golden Carriage: The Star of Being Carried
Jin yu — the golden carriage star — is one of the few unambiguously favourable entries in Chinese astrology. What it signifies, how it is derived, and why the image is a vehicle.
Tian Yi Gui Ren: The Noble Helper
The most valued star in Chinese astrology is not about wealth or rank but about someone turning up when you are in trouble. What the noble helper is and how it is derived.
Yi Ma: The Travelling Horse Star
The post-horse star governs movement — relocation, travel, changes of job and the temperament that cannot settle. What it is, how it is derived, and what the post system it is named after actually was.
Hua Gai: The Canopy Star
The canopy star marks solitude of a particular kind — the scholar, the artist, the monastic. What the ceremonial canopy was, and why the tradition attached it to being apart.
Yang Ren: The Blade Star
The blade star marks excess force — the point where strength passes beyond what can be controlled. What yang ren is, why it is drawn as a knife, and how practitioners actually read it.
Tian Yi: The Heavenly Doctor Star
The heavenly doctor star governs medicine — meeting the right practitioner, aptitude for healing work, and recovery. What it indicates, and a note on family prescriptions.
术数
Chinese Palm Reading: The Three Main Lines
Shou xiang — the Chinese approach to reading hands: the three principal lines, how it differs from Western palmistry, and the one thing the life line does not tell you.
Ce Zi: Divination by Taking a Character Apart
Chinese character divination asks you to write one character and then dismantles it — components, strokes, the moment of writing. How the method works and what it is really doing.
The Outer Response: Divination That Uses the Room
Wai ying — in plum blossom numerology, whatever happens around you at the moment of casting is part of the answer. What the doctrine is and why it is the method's most interesting idea.
Hexagram 18: Gu, and the Work of Repairing What Was Left
The eighteenth hexagram is a bowl with worms in it. Its line texts are about a child putting right what a parent left wrong — the Book of Changes at its most uncomfortable.
Liu Yao: The Chinese Divination That Answers 'When'
Six-line divination casts a hexagram and then loads it with calendar information — relatives, world and response lines, and timing. The system that answers questions the I Ching won't.
The Six Spirits: Azure Dragon to Dark Warrior
Liu shen — six named spirits assigned to the lines of a hexagram according to the day's heavenly stem. What each one colours, and why the White Tiger has the worst reputation.
The Twelve Day Officers: Jian, Chu, Man, Ping
Every day in a Chinese almanac carries one of twelve rotating officers. What the cycle is, how it is derived, and what each of the twelve permits and forbids.
民俗
Peng Zu's Hundred Prohibitions: One Rule for Every Day
Jia does not open the granary, yi does not plant. The Peng Zu prohibitions attach a specific ban to each heavenly stem and earthly branch, and they are printed in almanacs to this day.
Waking at the Same Hour Every Night: The Meridian Clock Reading
Chinese medicine assigns each two-hour period to an organ system. If you wake at three every night, the tradition has a specific answer — and so does sleep science.
Never Pick Up a Red Envelope From the Road
A red packet lying in the street is the subject of one of the most widely known Chinese superstitions: it is a ghost marriage proposal, and picking it up is accepting.
Weighing the Bones: Yuan Tiangang's Fate Scale
Cheng gu suan ming converts a birth date into a weight in taels and mace, and reads the total against a set of verses. The simplest Chinese fortune method, and the most misunderstood.
The Long-Life Cord: Five Colours Tied at the Dragon Boat Festival
Wu cai sheng — the five-coloured thread tied on wrists at Duanwu, worn until the first rain, and then thrown into the river. One of the oldest continuously practised Chinese customs.
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