賴公撥砂法 - GASTRONOMIC EMBRACE OF LAIGONG

​THE CHEF : THE LAIGONG’S PEDIGREE賴公三合派

​Lai BuYi 賴布衣 SanHe Sect 賴公三合派 also known as SanHe Heavenly Star School 三合天星派 is an integral part of the New Method 新法. Lai BuYi claimed to have written, a difficult book, Urging Officer Scroll 《催官篇》. It contained techniques known as Embrace Leaning Star Method 撥砂挨星法: -
 
1.       Leaning Star 挨星法 is to Establish Facing to Receive Water 立向收水.
2.       It is also called, eliminate embrace to acquire water 消砂納水.
3.       Or simply Recline Mountain and Push Killing 收山出煞.
 
Many different jargons same story. This Leaning Star is called – Assistant Star Water Method 輔星水法. 

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​INGREDIENT 01 : ASSISTANT STAR WATER METHOD 輔星水法

​The operative word – Assistant Star 輔星, self-explanatory is rooted in Changing Yao 飛爻, starts from the Assistant Stars – FuBi 輔弼, ends with WenQu 文曲. These 8 stars will determined the auspiciousness of incoming and outgoing water. Offspring of Assistant Star Method 輔星水法 are Five Ghost Carry Wealth 五鬼運財. This technique is mentioned in Entering Earth Eye 《入地眼》. This work was believed to predate all other YangGong technique. The Human Plate 人盤 and the Heaven Plate 天盤 have not been invented. Assuming. Lai BuYi borrowed this method, the use of Human Plate 人盤 to measure will not get consistent results. Assuming this Entering Earth Eye has been bastardized and somehow Assistant Star Method managed to creep into its pages, shouldn’t the Heaven Plate 天盤 be used to audit water? Blatantly, Entering Earth Eye state that Heaven Plate 天盤 is full of crap, years before Lai BuYi was born! Furthermore, what about Assistant Star’s long lost cousin, Huang ShiGong 3 Nobles 6 Auspicious 黄石公三吉六秀? Simultaneous application or standalone? 

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​​INGREDIENT 02 : 24 HEAVENLY STARS METHODOLOGY 廿四天星法

​The predecessor to Assistant Star Method is believed to come from the 24 Heavenly Stars Method 廿四天星法. 24 Heavenly Stars were derived from the ZiWei enclosure. These stars represent the Imperial Court such as Heavenly King 天皇, representing the Monarch. It was said that the Hai Dragon 亥龍 produces Emperor. Hai 亥 is associated with Heavenly King 天皇 star. The other nobles are: -
 
1.       Great Subtlety天贲,
2.       Heavenly Market 天市,
3.       Great Yi 太乙 and
4.       Lesser Subtlety 少微.
 
These collectively made up the 3 Nobles 6 Auspicious 三吉六秀 where the 6 Auspicious were derived from 24 Obscure Heavenly Stars NaJia 廿四渾天星纳甲. To those school who subscribed that Entering Earth Eye 《入地眼》 predates Urging Officer Scroll, they will annex these 24 Heavenly Stars to the Earth Plate 地盤, while LaiGong School 賴公派 will annex these 24 Stars to the Human Plate 人盤 , to derive YinYang. This method became the qualifier to Assistant Star Method and 3 Nobles 6 Auspicious三吉六秀.

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​​INGREDIENT 03 : HUMAN PLATE CENTRAL NEEDLE EMBRACE TECHNIQUE 人盤中針撥砂法

​Assistant Star Method 輔星水法 and 3 Nobles 6 Auspicious三吉六秀 measure the dynamic. The Human Plate 人盤, invention of Lai BuYi, measures the static. Static and dynamic are the manifestation of Formula versus Landform as the saying goes 巒頭無假理氣無真. Within Human Plate 人盤, its YinYang were derived from the 24 Heavenly Stars while its element is derived from the 28 asterism 廿八天星.
 
24 Heavenly Stars 廿四天星 differed from 28 asterism 廿八天星. 24 Heavenly Stars are star groups within the ZiWei enclosure while 28 asterism are star groups within the equatorial belt. It is this 28 asterism 廿八天星 that defined the static elements of the Human Plate 人盤. Human Plate’s 24 mountains were divided into 6 groups: –
 
1.       4 Yang Stems,
2.       4 Yin Stems,
3.       4 Ordinal Gua,
4.       4 Stables,
5.       4 Growths and
6.       4 Graves.
 
Mountains within the same group shares the same element, which correspond exactly to the 28 asterism.
Human Plate 人盤 is used to: -
 
1.       Evaluate the quality of the embrace 砂
2.       Ascertain that the embrace protects the meridian.
 
It is not a water method 水法 but an embrace method 砂法.
All the peaks within the embrace 砂 shall collectively produce 生 or prosper 旺 the Xue in the 5 elemental五行生克 interplays.

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​​INGREDIENT 04 : THE SECRET OF CENTRAL & FIRE TWO STAR TECHNIQUE 中火二星​法

​Zhang JiuYi 張九儀 (1660 – 1730) studied under Jiao RenShan 焦仁山, disciple to Lai BuYi 賴布衣. He is believed to be the torch bearer for LaiGong’s lineage. From his writing, Earth Study Alchemical Towrope《地理鉛彈子》, it is learnt that one undisclosed secret technique called – Central & Fire Two Star Methodology 中火二星法, is the key to ignite LaiGong’s method.
 
As a rule of thumb, this technique require one to: -
 
1.       Employ the Heavenly Ruler 量天尺, simply means measuring the 28 asterism 廿八天星.
2.       There is a full fledge art of doing this - Seven Governors and the Four Remainders 七政四餘.
3.       Narrow down and to locate the positions of the Central Star 中星 and the Fire Star 火星 (see table).
4.       To establish the 4 Auspicious and the 3 Nobles 四吉三奇 within.
5.       4 Auspicious 3 Nobles 四吉三奇 are Yi乙, Bing丙, Ding丁, 3 Nobles 三奇.
6.       Locate the Salaried Horse Nobleman Method 祿馬貴人法 within.
 
It is really Rocket Science in Lai BuYi’s time. In Urging Officer it states, Fiery Star 火星 not rise Officer 官 not prominent 火星不起官不顯. In Zhang’s writing, it states, without the Central Star, nobility will not see 無中不發富, without the Fire Star, ignition will not take place 無火不開科. Can you believed it? We must take this with a huge pinch of salt…

THE COOKING...

The 24 Heavenly Star methodology 廿四天星法 forms the Body 體 or the Principle. To some it is a way to locate the Meridian Spot – LaiGong Dotting the Meridian Technique 賴公點穴法. Others believed that it is how based on the precedents of the Royal Imperial Tombs’ FengShui, these proved the quality of the TangLang 贪狼, JuMen 巨门, WenQu 文曲, WuQu 武曲 and FuBi 輔弼 stars are auspicious perpetually as it corresponds to the Great Subtlety 天贲, Heavenly Market 天市, Great Yi 太乙, Lesser Subtlety 少微, Heavenly Monarch 天皇 and the Purple Enclosure 紫微. Collectively, they are named – Mother Earth Flipping Trigram Nine Star Plate 地母反卦九星盤, where Kun trigram is the Host. That is also where GuiChang 归藏 was to be arranged…

Mother Earth Flipping Trigram Nine Star Technique 地母反卦九星法 was later enlarged to cover what is now known as 3 Auspicious 6 Elegance 三吉六秀 as Mountain Method 山法 and Assistant Star 輔星 as Water Method 水法. Both methodologies form the Application 用. When one uses the Mountain Method 山法, one is able to simultaneously narrow down to the specific 60D Penetrating Dragon 穿山龍 GuiChang Gua 归藏卦. When one uses the Water Method 水法, one is able to simultaneously narrow down to the specific 60D Penetrating Dragon 穿山龍 Obscure Heaven Gua 渾天卦.

Human Plate Embrace Method 人盤中針撥砂法 is a static application to evaluate the quality of the embrace 砂 protecting the Meridian 穴.  When one uses the Embrace Method 砂法, one is able to simultaneously narrow down to the specific 60D Penetrating Dragon 穿山龍 LianShan Gua 连山卦, by measuring the embraces’ peaks. All the 3 sets of Gua 三般卦 derived from the 3 sets of   60D Penetrating Dragon 穿山龍 GuiChang 归藏, Obscure Heaven 渾天 and LianShan 连山 Gua would enable a detailed readings of: -

1. Salaried Horse Noblemen 祿馬貴
2. 3 Mysterious and 6 Auspicious三奇四吉

Having said so, there is a much reserved techniques called the Central and Fire Two Stars Methodology 中火二星法. It is where you need to determine the arrival of the Central 中星 and Fire Stars 火星 respectively. These require a little bit of acrobatics with astronomy as both stars are in reference to the Pole Star 紫微 (To locate the Pole Star read HERE) and the planet Mars 火星, to enable specific date selections so as to allow for immediate FengShui outcome.
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To eliminate Killing Qi or ShaQi 殺氣, the techniques of Great Sun and Great Moon formulas 太陽太陰到山 are prescribed as the saying goes, when the Great Sun and Great Moon 太陽太陰到山 arrived at the particular mountain, all malignant Qi will be dissolved. This will enable one to determine your seating… not just the greatly misunderstood basic date selection techniques.

​THE EATING...

​There are 2 sets of 28 asterism rings currently found in most modern LuoPan: -

1. The Old – Epoch is set in the beginning of Sung Dynasty  宋朝  960, known as KaiXi 開禧 epoch.
2. The New – Epoch is set in the beginning of Qing Dynasty 清朝 1644, known as ShiXian 時憲 epoch.

By 2008 (another JiaZi cycle) it would have lapsed 364 years. By virtue of YuXi 虞喜 calculation (being the first Chinese astronomer who observed the Precession of the Equinoxes), suggested that for every 70+ years the precession of the equinoxes ShuiCha 歲差 would rendered the asterisms to be deviated by 1 degree and with such 364 years, that will make up a total of 5.2 degree deviations. 

LaiGong 賴公 uses the Old Epoch. By this time, due to precession of the earth, the current degree of the 28 asterism 廿八天星 would have been out of sync by 15 degree (that is One Mountain). By the same token, it means to say these techniques of LaiGong 賴公 would have been stale. Some practitioners warrant that the current degree of the 28 asterism 廿八天星 would have to be updated every 70 years – most likely you only need to do once every life time and to re-engineered the entire techniques to keep them applicable.

One School suggested that you may need to read the New Epoch and to traced back to the Old Epoch when validating old graves based on LaiGong's methodology.

What a daunting task…