Qīngnáng àoyǔ 青囊奧語
Recondite Sayings of the Blue-Bag (Yáng Yúnsōng’s mystical-geomantic verse-treatise) attributed to 楊筠松 (Yáng Yúnsōng / Yáng Jiùpín, late Tang / Five Dynasties)
About the work
A 1-juan compact verse-treatise of recondite-sayings (àoyǔ 奧語) on geomantic methodology, attributed to Yáng Yúnsōng. Together with the Qīngnáng xù 青囊序 (KR3g0022, by his disciple Zēng Wéndiàn), the two works constitute the foundational qīngnáng (Blue-Bag) couplet of the Yángshì geomantic tradition — the Bluè-Bag being the legendary repository of secret geomantic knowledge that Yáng Yúnsōng allegedly stole from the Tang imperial palace during the Huáng Cháo rebellion.
The work consists of compact 7-character verse-lines presenting the foundational Yángshì methodology in mnemonic form. Topics covered:
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The 9-star mountain-classification mnemonics: “Kūn rén yǐ — Great-Gate emerges from the head; Gèn bǐng xīn — every position is Army-Breaker; Xùn chén hài — all are Martial-Crooked positions; jiǎ guǐ shēn — Greedy-Wolf, one path proceeds*“. This relates the 24 directions to the 9 stars (the foundational Yángshì mountain-classification scheme).
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The 10 essential propositions (shítí): “The first essential — must recognize the dragon-body’s going-and-stopping”; “The second principle — the proper-vein, the bright-hall cannot be biased”; “The third method — the transmission-officer cannot be high-pressed”; etc., enumerating the 10 fundamental geomantic protocols.
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The 5-star mountain-shape classification: “The 5 stars: round, square, sharp, elegant, must distinguish”; “Knowing high and low, the star-peak must distinguish the subtle”. This reduces the 9-star scheme to a more elementary 5-shape (round = water, square = earth, sharp = fire, elegant = wood, plus a fifth) classification.
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The acupoint-determination procedures: “Recognizing the dragon, establishing the acupoint, must clarify”; “[the operator’s] careful distinction depends on Heaven’s heart [the celestial center]”; etc., on the geometry of xué (acupoint) determination.
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The water-and-fortune correlation: “Looking inside the orientation, observing the water-discharge”; “From outside generating-into is called jìn (advancing) — definitely know wealth-and-treasures will accumulate like a mountain”; “From inside generating-outward is called tuì (retreating) — household money-and-property will all be exhausted”; etc.
The work concludes: “Knowing this piece’s true subtle wonder, [you] will see Guō Pú come forth again” — explicitly linking the Yángshì tradition back to Guō Pú as foundational figure (see KR3g0020).
For the prefatory work by Zēng Wéndiàn, see KR3g0022 Qīngnáng xù (whose 提要 also covers the present work). For the related Yáng-attributed works, see KR3g0021 Hànlóng jīng and KR3g0024 Tiānyù jīng. For Yáng Yúnsōng, see 楊筠松.
Tiyao
The 提要 for this work is preserved in the source file of KR3g0022 Qīngnáng xù, treating both works together. The combined 提要 provides the broader textual-historical context and the substantive methodological assessment.