Qīngnáng xù 青囊序
Preface to the Blue-Bag (geomantic preface to Yáng Yúnsōng’s tradition) attributed to 曾文辿 (Zēng Wéndiàn / Zēng Wéntiàn, late Tang / Five Dynasties — disciple of 楊筠松)
About the work
A 1-juan geomantic-tradition preface attributed to Zēng Wéndiàn 曾文辿, the principal disciple of Yáng Yúnsōng (楊筠松). The work is conceived as the prefatory exposition for the Qīngnáng àoyǔ 青囊奧語 (KR3g0023) — the latter being attributed to Yáng Yúnsōng directly while the present Xù (Preface) is the disciple-school’s exposition of the master’s teaching.
Per the 提要, Zēng Wéndiàn was “a man of Gànshuǐ; his father Qiúyǐ 求己 had earlier fled to Jiāngnán [under the Five Dynasties], where the Jiézhì (Provincial Governor) Lǐ sīkōng recruited him to administer the Nánkāng military matters; [Zēng] Wéndiàn accordingly obtained Yáng Yúnsōng’s technique. Later [the technique was] transmitted to Chén Tuán 陳摶”. The Chén Tuán transmission-claim links the Yángshì geomantic school to the Chén Tuán cosmological tradition — providing institutional continuity between the late-Tang geomantic school and the Northern-Sòng xiāntiān (Pre-Heaven) cosmological tradition.
The work develops the Yángshì school’s distinctive 24-mountain divided into yīnyáng methodology: the 24 directions are partitioned into 4 groups (water-fire-metal-wood) corresponding to the jiǎbǐnggēngrényǐdīngxīnguǐ chǒu numbered earthly-branches, with each group analyzed for chángshēng (long-life) and kù (storehouse) positions. The yīn directions move right; the yáng move left; the result is 4 × 12 = 48 configurations. The 提要 traces this technique to the Yìjīng Shuōguà’s yángshùn yīnnì (yáng-flow yīn-reverse) example.
Through this work, the Yángshì school’s lǐqì (principle-and-pneuma) division of geomancy was established. Subsequent expanders (Wú Gōng 吳公, Liú Bǐngzhōng 劉秉忠, the monk Chèyíng 徹瑩) developed the methodology into the late-Yuán-Míng lǐqì school’s elaborated practice — but per the 提要, this expansion did not invalidate the original methodology.
The Sìkù 提要 explicitly notes that early editions had a forged Liú Jī 劉基 (Liú Bówēn) attribution to the commentary, with Lǐ Guóběn 李國本’s emendation; the Sìkù-recension deletes the forged commentary to avoid confusing the original text.
For the related works, see KR3g0023 Qīngnáng àoyǔ (the master-text this is preface to), KR3g0024 Tiānyù jīng (related work), KR3g0021 Hànlóng jīng (Yáng Yúnsōng’s principal work). For Yáng Yúnsōng’s biography, see 楊筠松.
Tiyao
[Full text in source file, combined with KR3g0023’s 提要. Dated Qiánlóng 46 (1781).]