CHINESE METAPHYSICS: THE THREE BEGINNINGS
1. BU - DIVINATION
The first means of seeking to interpret the will of Heaven by the ancient Chinese was by reading the resulting cracks on animal bones or tortoise shells after a hot metal rod in a ritual burned them. It is called Bu, or Zhan Bu, and may have its origin dated around 2,600 BC or even earlier.
The second means, documented in around 1,600 BC, was the use of fifty straws of a special kind of grass to arrive at conclusions after some sophisticated steps of counting randomly split quantities. The interpretation was represented by 64 hexagrams grouped into the Bagua (Eight Gua, or eight divinatory symbols) diagram we know today. And the description of the 64 hexagrams and their 4,096 possibilities has formed the book I-Ching, or Yijing - The Book of Changes.
Divination is an one off means to seek a straightforward answer to a very specific issue that has defined parameters, e.g., 'Should it be option A or option B?' Although there are several methodologies for seeking divination, Yijing consultation remains the most well known.
Yijing (I-Ching)
Although the concept of Yin and Yang can be found in the more ancient book Laozi, Yijing was the first to describe it more specifically as a philosophy and a way of life and using it to interpret all the phenomena in the universe.
Uniquely Chinese, today the method of the 64 hexagrams and their multiplied possibilities described in I-Ching are being practised to get quick answers to specific events. Instead of straws of grass it is now practised with three bronze coins with a square hole in the centre.
The coins are cast 6 times to build up trigrams to refer to the description in Yijing. This method is practised for specific queries, for instance, whether a lost item can be found, if yes, where and when can it be found.
Other Methods
Several other forms of divination consultation have also been developed in this essence, the simplest and the widest reaching in Chinese communities is the drawing of lots (qiuqian) in temples by devotees. Likewise 100 divinations are compiled and they are referred to when a numbered bamboo or wooden stick is drawn from a pile after shaking the container, which holds them.
Whether using Yijing or drawing lots in a temple, traditional Chinese believe that they are consulting the deities, while new age thinkers, more likely Yijing practitioners, believe that they are trying to unlock the messages already existed in the universe.
2. FROM ASTRONOMY TO ASTROLOGY
Perhaps at the same time as omens were read from animal bones and tortoise shells, ancient Chinese also made astronomical observations for less divine purposes. Though evidence of the recording of lunar phases has been revealed by notches carved on animal bones dating before the development of agriculture, the specific descriptions of the five stars and the sun and the moon were found before 1,100 BC.
Soon after, the complete descriptions of the circumpolar constellations, those which surrounded the pole star, which were considered particularly important, had been categorised into the 28 Su (constellations), were found as early as in the Zhou Dynasty.
Our ancestors at first relied upon astronomy when it was imperative to know when the seasons and flood and drought were due. In ancient China it soon developed into astrology when rulers tried to find divine signs revealing the reins of their political power. Since then the terms astronomy and astrology became interchangeable, and gradually, this form of Chinese astrology studying celestial bodies had become an exclusive right of the rulers, and hence, it did not flourish like its Western counterparts.
However, the rise of the Yin-Yang concept and the influence of Daoist philosophy, which is based on I-Ching, gave birth to other forms of Chinese astrology, which, unlike their Western counterparts, are not astral in nature.
Other Developments
At around the same time as the birth of the Yin yang Doctrine, the Five Elements (Wuxing) Theory was also documented. The combination of these two doctrines has formed the basis of most of the Chinese astrology and Fengshui (= Wind and Water) we practise today which are not oracular in nature althougth Yijing has great influence on their conception.
The two main schools of Chinese astrology are the Ziping School - the study of Bazi (the Eight Characters), and Ziwei Doushu (the Emperor Astrology). Many scholars are making serious studies into these two methods as they are shown to be logical and scientific, much alike the recognition Chinese qigong and acupuncture have gradually acquired in the modern world.
3. FEATURE READINGS (Including FENGSHUI)
Another popular method of reading an individual, including his/her personality and luck, though with a different beginning, and sometimes not classified as the same as the abovementioned two, is the reading of bodily features, including facial reading (Physiognomy), palmistry and bone structure reading (by touching). Feature reading has an equally ancient origin as history records show that it was practised before the Shang Dynasty as a means to select talents to be officials.
Fengshui falls under this category as it is the features of the tomb (Yin Fengshui) or the building (Yang Fenghsui) that are being studied to see how the physical features and orientations affect the living.
