The day started bright and early for the students of the inaugural Mastery Academy Imperial China Excursion as we caught the 9am flight from ShenYang to Beijing.

The last 3 days in ShenYang saw students going far and wide in the Liao Ning Province in their quest for greater understanding and appreciation of Luan Tou (Classical Land Forms Feng Shui) and in the task of training their eyes to search and identify the incoming Dragons (Lai Long), the Dragon Spot (Long Xue), Water Mouths, Water Flow and Rivers. They had walked the mountains (albeit in a bus!) and saw real mountain examples of the Gou Kong Long, Ping Kong Long and Ping Yeong Long (High Protruding Mountains, Mid Range Mountains and Flat Land Dragon).

After a fortifying lunch, students were ready to tackle the challenge posed to them at the Yonghe Lamastery in Beijing, the first stop in the Beijing leg of the Mastery Academy Imperial China Excursion.

What is the significance of the monastery? From a broader overview, the students were essentially tracking the Feng Shui of the Qing Dynasty through the generations.

The last 3 days in ShenYang focused on the Feng Shui of the first three Emperors of the Qing Dynasty, Nuerhachi, his son, Huang TaiJi and Huang Tai Ji’s son, Shun Zhi. Students were evaluating both the Yin and Yang Houses, with landform structure at the forefront of the audit and analysis.

Day 4 saw students coming back to evaluating Yang Houses, armed with the experience they had garnered from the previous 3 days. Prior to becoming a Lamasery in 1744 during the reign of Emperor Qian Long (1736-1795), Yonghe Gong (as it was then known) was the palace residence of Prince Yong (YinZhen), the 4th son of Emperor Kang Xi (1662-1722) whom later become the famous Emperor Yong Zheng and the birthplace of Emperor Qian Long.

Yonghe Lamasery was chosen by Joey for an audit for several reasons but the key linkage to the Qings was that this was the palace that that spawned two Emperors. It was certainly worth taking a look to see what exactly gave this palace its exceptional Emperor-producing prowess.

As before, students were given the opportunity to walk around the sprawling grounds of the lamasery and to pay respects to the famous 23 metre tall Maitreya Buddha, carved from a single white sandlewood tree trunk and which is recognised in the Guinness Book of Records. Students then gathered to share their findings with each other in the shaded grounds just outside the lamasery.

With their prowess in observing structures growing each day, students were well-prepared for the analysis session. They had learnt to immediately zero in on the layout map of the palace (which was also found in most of the other sites visited) so as to assist them in picking out the Bright Hall and observing the way the building was laid out, structurally. Some had also quickly bought maps of the city, so as to be able to observe the location of the river in relation to the lamasery.

The presence of the river at the back of the lamasery was a cause of confusion for some, the prevailing ‘idea’ being that water at the back is not ‘good’. Students also picked up that the lamasery, being a long building rather than a rectangular one, had long Qi. The building also had 3 Bright Halls and each tier of buildings was slightly elevated.

Naturally, Joey allowed all the students to explore their ideas and theories before launching into his own analysis. Students had picked up most of the key points but Joey helped put the finishing touch to the observations when he pointed out that not only were each tiers of the buildings elevated, but the entrances to each ‘section’ were built in a manner to prevent the escape of Qi and to keep it circulating and undulating around the building.

The elevation in the first tier at the main door was to deflect the Killing Sha from the long straight entrance into the lamasery. The Bright Halls collected the Qi, and the zig-zagged corridors and undulating tiers worked to circulate and contain the Qi. Hence, the presence of water at the back of the lamasery, from the river, did not affect the palace, due to the superior structure of the buildings. Superior structure, according to Joey’s analysis is qualified by the land formation which was matching with a special Xuan Kong Da Gua configuration. This was made effective with the natural river that was at the rear of the palace. The Yonghe Gong’s feng shui is based upon the principles of flatland dragon theory and Qi distribution.