NO. 2 FOLK RELIGION IN SOUTHWEST CHINA — GRAHAM II3 



among the descendants, and they will not prosper. People have been 

 known to do things that they believed would ruin the fengshui of 

 the ancestral graves of their enemies so that their enemies would not 

 prosper. 



The fengshui of towns, cities, prefectures, and larger areas is also 

 regarded as important. It can be improved by temples, pagodas, feng- 

 shui stones, and fengshui trees, and can be affected for good or ill 

 by the location of city gates and by other factors. If a fengshui pro- 

 fessor finds that the fengshui of a city gate is bad, the gate may be 

 closed permanently. If he finds that the fengshui of a city or region 

 is bad, measures will be taken to improve the fengshui. A few miles 

 down the river from Lo-shan, a tower with several stories was built 

 to improve the fengshui of the city. The natural features of a locality, 

 the nearness, directions, and shapes of the mountains, hills, and 

 ridges, and the nearness and directions of streams, valleys, and de- 

 pressions, determine whether or not the fengshui of a particular spot 

 or locality is good. 



One way to improve the fengshui of a city or a locality is to erect 

 a pagoda. Practically every town or city has at least one pagoda, and 

 I-pin has three — the white pagoda, the black pagoda, and the old 

 pagoda. But a pagoda must be in the right place, or it can do harm. 



At Pai-shou-ch'i, a city west of I-pin, there was formerly a pagoda 

 on the south side of the Yangtse River. Because some scholars liv- 

 ing in the city died, it was decided that the pagoda was not in a 

 good spot and was harming the fengshui of the city, so it was torn 

 down and the city has no pagoda. About 25 miles up the Min River 

 from Lo-shan is the village of Hsiang-pi-ssu, or Elephant's Nose 

 Monastery. Years ago the people began to erect a pagoda to improve 

 the fengshui, and soon after the work was begun, some local scholars 

 died. It was decided that the pagoda was wrongly located, so that it 

 was ruining the fengshui of the town, and the pagoda was never 

 completed. 



Some temples are believed to have a good influence on fengshui. A 

 short distance east of An-pien is a large temple from which one can 

 look up the narrow valley of the Huen-chiang River, which enters the 

 Yangtse River here from the south. People believe that this temple 

 exerts a very important influence for good on the fengshui in and 

 around An-pien by opposing and turning back any harmful influences 

 that may come down the valley of the Huen-chiang River. 



There are a great many fengshui trees and fengshui stones in 

 West China. The fengshui tree may be a banyon, a cypress, a pine. 



