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Feng Shui
At I-chou there lived a high official named Sung, whose
family were all ardent supporters of Feng-Shui; so much so,
that even the women-folk read books on the subject, and
understood the principles of the science.
When Mr. Sung died, his two sons set up separate
establishments, and each invited to his own house geomancers
from far and near, who had any reputation in their art, to
select a spot for the dead man's grave. By degrees, they had
collected together as many as a hundred apiece, and every
day they would scour the country round, each at the head of
his own particular regiment. After about a month of this
work, both sides had fixed upon a suitable position for the
grave; and the geomancers engaged by one brother, declared
that if their spot was selected he would certainly some day
be made a marquis, while the other brother was similarly
informed, by his geomancers, that by adopting their choice,
he would infallibly rise to the rank of Secretary of State.
Thus, neither brother would give way to the other, but each
set about making the grave in his own particular place, --
pitching marquees, and arranging banners, and making all
necessary preparations for the funeral.
Then when the coffin arrived at the point where roads
branched off to the two graves, the two brothers, each
leading on his own little army of geomancers, bore down upon
it with a view to gaining possession of the corpse. From morn till dewy eve the
battle raged; and as neither gained any advantage over the
other, the mourners and friends, who had come to witness the
ceremony of burial, stole away one by one; and the coolies,
who were carrying the coffin, after changing the poles from
one shoulder to another until they were quite worn out, put
the body down by the road- side, and went off home.
It then
became necessary to make some protection for the coffin
against the wind and rain; whereupon the elder brother
immediately set about building a hut close by, in which he purposed leaving some of his attendants to keep guard; but
he had no sooner begun than the younger brother followed his
example; and when the elder built a second and third, the
younger also built a second and third; and as this went on
for space of three whole years, by the end of that time the
place had become quite a little village.
By-and-by, both
brothers died, one directly after the other; and then their
two wives determined to cast to the winds the decision of
each party of geomancers. Accordingly, they went together
to the two spots in question; and after inspecting them
carefully, declared that neither was suitable. The next step
was to jointly engage another set of geomancers, who
submitted for their approval several different spots, and
ten days had hardly passed away before the two women had
agreed upon the position for their father-in-law's grave,
which, as the wife of the younger brother prophesied, would
surely give to the family a high military degree.
So the
body was buried, and within three years Mr. Sung's eldest
grandson, who had entered as a military cadet, actually took
the corresponding degree to a literary master of arts.
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