Page 105 - Are You Future Ready?
P. 105
Chapter One - To Know the Present
Through the Past
Sideline
/ Yin & Yang /
The Chinese book Declassification of the Great
Universal Geographic Map: The World of Surveying
and Mapping in Ming Dynasty pointed out that
China is an agricultural country, and sunshine is
the lifeblood of agriculture. As there is no sunshine
to the north of a mountain, it is difficult to have
a productive harvest. Therefore, the south of a
mountain should be chosen. At the same time, the
Yellow River and the Yangtze River run from the west
to east, with mountains on both sides and sunshine 103
on the north side of the river, thus, it is called
Hanyang or Huaiyang. The south side is blocked by
mountains and lacks sunlight. Therefore, if using the
mountain as the standard, the north of the mountain
is “Yin”; if using the river as the standard, the south
of the river is “Yin”. This understanding affects land
use and planning, that is, using the places with
plentiful sunshine for farming, and the place without
sunshine for tombs. For example, the north of
Luoyang City and the south of the Yellow River are
places for famous cemeteries; the imperial tombs
of the Song Dynasty were also built in Gongyi, the
mountain of “Yin”.
