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cover of episode Laws of the Land: Feng Shui in Chinese History

Laws of the Land: Feng Shui in Chinese History

2024/11/26
logo of podcast Barbarians at the Gate

Barbarians at the Gate

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J
Jeremiah Jenne
T
Tristan Brown
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Tristan Brown: 我研究发现,风水在中国历史上并非仅仅是迷信或玄学,而是与法律、社会和环境管理密切相关。它被广泛应用于解决土地纠纷、环境保护和社会秩序维护等方面。通过对四川省地方志的分析,我发现风水在司法实践中扮演着重要角色,影响着人们对土地和资源的认知和利用。例如,墓地位置的选择、树木的保护以及建筑物的布局等都与风水密切相关,并成为法律诉讼中的重要证据。此外,风水也影响着城市规划和环境保护,它既可以被用来维护个人利益,也可以被用来维护公共利益。 我的研究挑战了西方对风水的误解,揭示了它作为一种复杂社会制度的深层意义。它不仅是个人行为的指导,也是国家治理的重要组成部分。 Jeremiah Jenne: 通过与Tristan Brown的对话,我更加深入地了解了风水在中国历史上的作用。它不仅仅是一种文化现象,更是一种社会控制和环境管理的工具。风水案例的分析显示,它在调解社会冲突、维护社会秩序方面发挥了重要作用。同时,风水也与土地所有权、资源利用等密切相关,影响着人们的日常生活。 此外,我还注意到,风水在不同社会群体中的应用方式有所不同,精英阶层利用风水来维护自身利益,而普通民众则利用风水来改善生活环境。这体现了风水在不同社会阶层中的适应性和多样性。 David Moser: 此次访谈让我对风水有了全新的认识。它不仅仅是一种传统的占卜术,更是一种复杂的社会和环境管理系统。通过对历史文献的解读,我们可以看到风水如何影响着中国社会的法律、经济和文化生活。 特别值得关注的是,风水在处理中外文化冲突中的作用。外国人在中国建造建筑物时,常常会与当地的风水观念发生冲突,这引发了诸多法律纠纷。这表明,风水不仅是中国的传统文化,也是理解中国社会和历史的重要视角。

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Shownotes Transcript

In this episode, hosts Jeremiah Jenne and David Moser speak with MIT professor Tristan Brown) about his award-winning book Laws of the Land: Feng Shui and the State in Qing Dynasty China). Brown reveals how Feng Shui was far more than just the art of furniture arrangement or grave placement - it was a sophisticated system of environmental management and social control in imperial China.

Drawing from rare county archives in Sichuan province, Brown shows how Feng Shui served multiple functions: regulating urban development, managing environmental resources, and mediating social conflicts. Through fascinating examples, he explains how both elite families and common people used Feng Shui in legal disputes, from establishing ancestral claims through strategic grave placement to fighting against disruptive mining operations.

Brown's book challenges common Western misconceptions about Feng Shui, presenting it instead as a complex system of environmental regulation and social organization that shaped Chinese society for centuries. It's a fascinating look at how cosmological beliefs, environmental management, and state power intersected in imperial China.

Topics Covered

  • The Power of Archives: Using rare Qing dynasty court records from Sichuan to uncover how Feng Shui shaped legal and social life
  • Graves and Identity: How burial sites and ancient trees established claims to belonging
  • Environmental Management: Feng Shui as an early system of zoning and environmental protection
  • Foreign Architecture: The clash between traditional Chinese urban planning and Western religious buildings

Notable Quotes

"Legal cases involving feng shui could be completely nakedly self-interested... or it could be something that's really talking about environmental ethics. It hugs that whole spectrum, which is why it's real, which is why the state had to engage with it." — Tristan Brown on Feng Shui's dual nature"It's not the number of relatives you have living there. It's the number of relatives you have in the local graveyard that ties you to a place." — On the importance of graves in establishing local identity"The thing about gravesites... what is the element of the landscape that you can't lie about? The trees. Old trees are legitimately old. Everyone knows it." — On how families proved their ancestral claims###

Brown reveals how Feng Shui served as more than just spiritual practice – it was a sophisticated system of environmental management and social control. From regulating building heights to controlling industrial development, Feng Shui provided the legal framework for managing space in imperial China.

The discussion illuminates how different groups engaged with these practices: elite families used them to establish ancestral claims, poor families adapted them for survival, and foreign religious groups either successfully navigated them (like Sufi Muslims) or created conflict by ignoring them (like Christian missionaries).