Bamboo Celetial protectors, Feng Shui Garden.

The importance of the Celestial Animals or Protectors when planning and planting bamboos and grasses in oriental style Feng Shui gardens

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 to the East of the property. However, in practice it is very rare that it is ever possible to achieve this configuration, unless you are fortunate enough to be designing your own home. So we must be creative and simulate the perfect form. Ornamental grasses and bamboo offer us the perfect medium by which we can achieve this"

' Qi Concepts'

“The Subtle Essence, as conveyed by the teaching of the integral Way, is the goal of all serious science, but it leaves behind all partial and temporal descriptions of the Integral Truth.” Hua Ching Ni.

The Trigrams

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

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

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

The lines represent three levels of the Trinity of Earth, Heaven and Man. Earth the bottom, Man the middle and Heaven the top level. They also amongst other things, for example, represent family; Illustrated left is the column of trigrams with Chi’en, male absolute yang top 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 the Chinese philosophy for thousands of years,

There are two traditional arrangements where the Trigrams are arranged around an octahedron, an eight-sided symbol called the Pa Kua or Ba Gua. These arrangements relate to specific compass directions on a Pa Kua. They are known as the Early Heaven Sequence, Xian Tian Pa Kua, and Later Heaven Sequence, the Hou Tian Pa Kua.

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

The Four Celestial Animals or Protectors

	"Qin Long"	In China the common practice of Feng Shui corresponds to the Chinese cosmology of correlative thinking. The ancient Chinese believe that the good Qi. 'The stuff of life', 'The Dragons Breath' the Sheng comes from the South. China is situated mostly in the temperate zones and therefore when facing South at midday anywhere in China you are facing towards the sun and it’s benevolent warmth and light. At your back will be the cold mountains and winds of the Northern Steppes and the invading hoards. It is considered that a house that faces South is very auspicious and that is why on the Chinese geomantic compass the South is always at the top.
	Hibanobambusa tranquillans 'Shiroshima'.	In Ancient China,heaven was divided into the four celestial quadrants of the Four Celestial Animals or Protectors. These quadrants protectively surround the central region of the heavenly palace. The Chinese consider that an ideal site for a house is in a location protected by all the Four Celestial animals. When considering a location there should be; most importantly, protection from cold wind at the back of the property provided by a crescent of hills.
	Stippa Tenuissima the perfect White Tiger	These hills represent the Black Turtle“Xuan-wu”. In front of the property,the land should slope gently away, and if there is a meandering stream or river at the front then this would be considered most auspicious. The Red Phoenix represents this front area. This area in front of the facing direction is also known as the “Ming Tang”, The Bright Hallway. As you stand looking out from the properties facing direction, with the Black Turtle“Xuan-wu” behind you, and the Red Phoenix “Zhu-que” in front of you, there should be ideally to your right a low undulating hill which is referred to as the White Tiger “Bai-hu”.

	Imperata "The Blood Grass". An excellent Red Phoenix	O n the opposite side to your left should be another low hill a little higher than the White Tiger but lower than the Black turtle, which is the Azure or Green Dragon“Qin-long”.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 to the East of the property. However, in practice it is very rare that it is ever possible to achieve this configuration, unless you are fortunate enough to be designing your own home
	Carex Comans Small Red	When the form of the land or the arrangement of the building is such that we cannot face South, we should still try to maintain the configuration of the Four Celestial Animal based the properties facing direction. That means the Red Phoenix is to the front as you look out from your front door or facing direction. This configuration is very useful when planning landscape areas like the garden to create the right form, by symbolically adding a row of bamboo such Semiarundaria Fastuosa to symbolize the Azure Dragon or placing a water feature or pond in the front of the property and a rockery or row of Fargesia nitida at the back to symbolize 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 when planning and planting bamboos and grasses in oriental style Feng Shui gardens

The Four Celestial Animals or Protectors