In the Chou (Zhou) dynasty, the compass was invented. This is also the same time when a lunar calendar based on the 10 celestial stems and 12 earthly branches emerged. By marking the compass with the 10 celestial stems and 12 earthly branches, space and time met the first time. The Daoism practitioners used the new invention in their study of I Ching.
The Pa-k'ua was first used during the Chou dynasty (1122-207 BCE) to describe patterns of change in the natural world. By the eight century BCE, the Chinese were using pa-k'ua and the I-Ching to promote the flow of nourishing energy inside a city or a palace; thus, bringing the kingdom harmony and wealth.
The art of k'an-yu (k'an means "mountains"; and yu means "low places";) was developed by the Taoists Huang-shih Kung and Ch'ing Wu, during the Han dynasty (206 BCE-219 CE). They theorized that geological bodies, particularly mountains and rivers: They referred to the mountains as the dragon's veins and the waterways or rivers as the dragons. K'an-yu was first use only by emperors and nobles to select auspicious burial sites. Not until the Chin dynasty (265-420 CE) did common citizens started using k'an-yu to choose sites for houses (yang-domain feng shui) and burial grounds (yin-domain feng shui).
During the Sung dynasty (960-1279 CE), Hsu Jen-wang school was formed and used the Flying Stars System to evaluate buildings using the building direction and the bagua.
It is recorded that Feng Shui's last phase of development overlapped with the Ching dynasty (1644-1911) and the Republic China period (1911-1949). Early in the Ch'ing, Jo-kuan Tao-jen founded the Pa-chai (Eight Mansions) school. With the residents year of birth, a house can be matched with the residents. Also, during this period, Hsuan-k'ung school began to use the principles of Landform Classification, in addition to the compass and the Flying Stars system, to evaluate the feng shui of a building. Today, the San-yuan, Hsuan-k'ung, and Pa-chai schools remain in practice and are known as the Four Schools of traditional Chinese Feng Shui.
When Buddhism reached China, it took the Feng Shui principles and incorporated it with their own beliefs and practices. If you look around, most Buddhist temples are built with Feng Shui principles in mind. In Taiwan, people are complaining that Buddhist temples built up on the mountains are ruining the natural enviro
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