In the Forbidden City in Beijing and in the temples and monasteries in China, Dragon-Lines (Leylines) intersect. They give residents and visitors life force and carry the information of the rites performed here in the country.
In the last Weblog has been shown that the large-scale structure of the Forbidden City in Beijing matches with the graphic representation of the most important I Ching hexagrams. (Required for compliance is the arrangement of the eight trigrams on a circle in the order of the Early Heaven.) The imperial Palaces in the Forbidden City are located on the north-south axis, which connects in the I Ching, the trigrams Heaven and Earth and the hexagrams 1 and 2. The positions of the double signs (hexagrams, constituted of two identical trigrams) in the I Ching correspond to the positions of the altars in the Forbidden City. Of the four altars only the Temple of Heaven is still there.
Hexagrams 1 and 2 are named:
Hexagram 1) Ch’ien / THE CREATIVE, which is composed of six yang lines (twice the trigram heaven) is in the I-Ching in the south,
Hexagram 2) K’un / THE RECEPTIVE, which consists of six yin lines (twice the earth trigram) is in the north.
The two Hexagrams 1 and 2 are the strongest pair of all I Ching Hexagram-pairs. They are the only ones, of which the description speaks of dragons. The dragon represents the strongest expression of creativity, the I-Ching says.
The Sinologist Joseph Good writes:
„According to ancient Chinese idea Fuxi and Nuwa are the first human couple from whom descended the whole human race, especially the Chinese themselves. Fuxi and Nuwa both are descended from dragons. These have a human torso and a snake-like lower body. The Dragon can’t be defeated by any creature in this world … and he also became the emblem for China and the special emblem of the emperor, the Son of Heaven on the dragon throne.“
In China, dragons are generally friendly to the people and have great power. The dragon-lines (in Europe called Leylines or Geomantic zones) are attributed to them. They border the areas of powerful spirits of nature against one another. Nature spirits that are seen as dragons patrol on these lines. From the origin, the Chinese dragons are mainly responsible for rain and fertility. The number of dragon deities, revered in China, is large. Every sea, river, stream and lake, pond and pool is guarded by a dragon, just as the rain clouds. These are dragons of the water. There are also dragons of the earth, the heaven and other ones.
Since the connecting line between the hexagrams 1 and 2, connects two hexagrams, that dragons are attributed, the connection line between the two hexagrams can be called a dragon-line. If the I-Ching is used as the Master Plan for the seat of an emperor or a monastery this includes the following requirement: The north-south axis of the planned facility must be a dragon-line that is crossed by an east-west dragon-line in the center. That is the demand of the I Ching. When there are no dragon-lines they can be installed by Dragons. The Dragons will do this, when monks asking them for it by prayers, sacrifices and rites. Then subtle energies are available to residents and visitors of these places that enhance their vitality. In addition, the rites, that they are performing, influence the surrounding country. In the Forbidden City in Beijing, this is realized. In its center, two major dragon-lines cross each other, one of which is in north-south direction over the Feng Shui hill, the other runs in east-west direction. The subtle energies of the dragon-lines and especially of their intersections increase the vitality of the people who are at these places. They become healthier and live longer. In addition, the power and information of the rites, conducted by the emperor, was transported by the dragon-lines out into the countryside, where they influenced the local people and other beings.
The Chinese Monasteries are in several aspects similar to The Forbidden City in Beijing. They are, with some exceptions, arranged symmetrically in rectangular or square building complexes along a north-south axis and are usually surrounded by a high red wall. The main temples are situated high on a kind of platform on the north-south axis and there are many illustrations of dragons. They are to be seen as paintings, mosaics pictures and as stone reliefs. This all is similar to the Forbidden City in Beijing.
The most important agreement but is that two dragon-lines intersect in the center of the Forbidden City in Beijing as well in the center of the monasteries. One of them runs in the north-south direction and the other east-west. The author observed this at the Forbidden City in Beijing and in all twelve monasteries he visited on a tour of China.
But something important also is else in the monasteries and temples than in The Forbidden City: The dragon energy in the monasteries and temples is intended to use for spiritual development of the nuns, monks and visitors. In meditation this energy is accumulated. Dragon energy is necessary for the transformation connected with the spiritual development.
Chinese people knew this, as an old story shows, an abbess refers to in the sermon to her nuns more than 1000 years ago. “There has not yet been a single recorded case of someone’s becoming enlightened (of the nuns)”, she says, “whereas as soon as the Dragon’s King daughter appeared, the entire great assembly was inspired” (to advance along the spiritual path).