60 



De Groot ' has given already a full account of its origin, elements, 

 meaning and influence. "It is", says he, "a quasi-scientific system, 

 supposed to teach men where and how to build graves, temples 

 and dwellings, in order that the dead", the gods and the living 

 may be located therein exclusively, or as far as possible, under 

 the auspicious influences of Nature" ^. The dragon plays a most 

 important part in this system, being "the chief spirit of water 

 and rain" ', and at the same time representing one of the four 

 quarters of heaven (i.e. the East, called the Azure Dragon*, and 

 the first of the' seasons, spring) ^. "The word Dragon comprises 

 the high grounds in general, and the water-streams which have 

 their sources therein or wind their way through them. Hence 

 it is that books on Fung-shui commonly commence with a bulky 

 set of dissertations, comprised under the heading: 'Eules concerning 

 the Dragon' (f| ^), in reality dealing with the doctrines about 

 the situation and contours of mountains and hills and the direction 

 of water-courses" ". 



Finally, we may quote the following passage from the same 

 work': "Amoy is unanimously declared by all the wise men of 

 the town to be indebted for its prosperity to two knolls flanking 

 the inner harbour, and vulgarly styled Ho-fao soa" {^^ |i| ), 

 or 'Tiger-head Hill', and Lmg-fao soO" (f|H|JLl), or 'Dragon- 

 head Hill'. The latter, which is situated on the opposite shore, 

 on the islet of Kulangsu, is crowned with huge boulders poised 

 in a fantastic manner, upon which professors have had several 

 blocks of granite arranged for the purpose of helping the imagination 

 to discover the outlines of a dragon on the spot. The costs of 

 these improvements were borne by some well-to-do citizens, 

 anxious to promote their own prosperity and that of their fellow 

 townsmen". A "Dragon's head Mountain" is mentioned in the 

 Sin shi San Ts'in ki^, where we read the following: "The Dragon's 

 head Mountain is 60 miles long; its head enters the water of 

 the Wei (a large- tributary of the Yellow River), its tail reaches 

 the Fan river. The height of its head is 20 chang, the tail goes 



1 Religious System of China, Vol. Ill, Ch. XII, pp. 935—1056. 



2 P. 935. 3 P. 949. 



4 P. 949. The four quarters are called: the Azure Dragon (East), the Red or Ver- 

 milion Bird (South), the White Tiger (West) and the Black Tortoise (North) (De 

 Groot, 1.1., Vol. I, p. 316). 



5 P. 951. 6 Ibidem. 7 Pp. 959 seq. 



8 ^& ^ ^ ^^ gjj ' "Annals of the three Ts'in states written by Sin", quoted 



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