Bamboo Celetial protectors, Feng Shui Garden.

The importance of the Celestial Animals or Protectors whenplanning and planting bamboos and grasses in oriental style Feng Shuigardens

The perfect orientation

Should of course be with the Red Phoenix to the South,the Turtle to the North, the White Tiger to the West and the Azure Dragon tothe East of the property. However, in practice it is very rare that it is everpossible to achieve this configuration, unless you are fortunate enough to bedesigning your own home. So we must be creative and simulate the perfect form.Ornamental grasses and bamboo offerus the perfect medium by which we can achievethis"

'Qi Concepts'

TheSubtle Essence, as conveyed by the teaching of the integral Way, is the goal ofall serious science, but it leaves behind all partial and temporal descriptionsof the Integral Truth. Hua Ching Ni.

The Trigrams

The Trigrams of the I Ching, are taken from a complexline system that was developed before written history by Fu Xi. They expressthe principals of civilization.

Trigram means simply, three lines. The Trigrams inFeng Shui are a set of eight symbols that are a combination of three broken orunbroken lines or a combination of both.

Theunbroken lines are yang (Male) and the broken lines are yin (Female).

The lines represent three levels of the Trinity ofEarth, Heaven and Man. Earth the bottom, Man the middle and Heaven the toplevel. They also amongst other things, for example, represent family;Illustrated left is the column of trigrams with Chien, male absolute yangtop down to Kun female absolute Yin bottom.

Trigrams are representative of many other different things on many different levels. They have been used as a part of theChinese philosophy for thousands of years,

Thereare two traditional arrangements where the Trigrams are arranged around anoctahedron, aneight-sided symbol called the Pa Kua or Ba Gua. These arrangements relate tospecific compass directions on a Pa Kua. They are known as the Early HeavenSequence, Xian Tian Pa Kua, and Later Heaven Sequence, the Hou Tian PaKua.

[Celestial Animals][ The Form ][ Garden Layout ][ Alignment ][ The Cycles ][ Your Feng Shui ]

The FourCelestial Animals or Protectors

	"Qin Long"	In China the common practice of Feng Shui corresponds tothe Chinese cosmology of correlative thinking. The ancient Chinese believe thatthe good Qi. 'The stuff of life', 'The Dragons Breath' the Sheng comes from theSouth. China is situated mostly in the temperate zones and therefore whenfacing South at midday anywhere in China you are facing towards the sun andits benevolent warmth and light. At your back will be the cold mountainsand winds of the Northern Steppes and the invading hoards. It is consideredthat a house that faces South is very auspicious and that is why on the Chinesegeomantic compass the South is always at the top.
	Hibanobambusatranquillans 'Shiroshima'.	InAncient China,heaven was divided into the four celestial quadrants of the FourCelestial Animals or Protectors. These quadrants protectively surround thecentral region of the heavenly palace. The Chinese consider that an ideal sitefor a house is in a location protected by all the Four Celestial animals. Whenconsidering a location there should be; most importantly, protection from coldwind at the back of the property provided by a crescent of hills.
	StippaTenuissima the perfect White Tiger	These hills represent the BlackTurtleXuan-wu. In front of the property,the land should slopegently away, and if there is a meandering stream or river at the front thenthis would be considered most auspicious. The Red Phoenix represents this frontarea. This area in front of the facing direction is also known as theMing Tang, The Bright Hallway. As you stand looking out from theproperties facing direction, with the Black TurtleXuan-wu behindyou, and the Red Phoenix Zhu-que in front of you, there should beideally to your right a low undulating hill which is referred to as the WhiteTiger Bai-hu.

	Imperata"The Blood Grass". An excellent Red Phoenix	O n the opposite side to your left should be another lowhill a little higher than the White Tiger but lower than the Black turtle,which is the Azure or Green DragonQin-long.The perfect orientationshould of course be with the Red Phoenix to the South, the Turtle to the North,the White Tiger to the West and the Azure Dragon to the East of the property.However, in practice it is very rare that it is ever possible to achieve thisconfiguration, unless you are fortunate enough to be designing your ownhome
	Carex Comans SmallRed	When the form of the land or the arrangement of thebuilding is such that we cannot face South, we should still try to maintain theconfiguration of the Four Celestial Animal based the properties facingdirection. Thatmeans the Red Phoenix is to the front as you look out from your frontdoor or facing direction. This configuration is very useful when planninglandscape areas like the garden to create the right form, by symbolicallyadding a row of bamboo such Semiarundaria Fastuos a tosymbolize the Azure Dragon or placing a water feature or pond in the front ofthe property and a rockery or row of Fargesia nitida at the back tosymbolize the protection of the Black Turtle
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[Celestial Animals][ The Form ][ Garden Layout ][ Alignment ][ The Cycles ][ Your Feng Shui ]

The importance of the Celestial Animals or Protectors whenplanning and planting bamboos and grasses in oriental style Feng Shuigardens

The FourCelestial Animals or Protectors