VIETNAMESE LEGEND & FOLKLORE
14. FENG SHUI GEOMANCER TA AO
Phạm Kim Long

He was born in the Ta Ao village, Nghi Xuan district, Thanh Hoa province. His family name was Nguyen and his nickname Duc Huyen but his given name fell into oblivion right after his death, so he was named Ta Ao after his natal village.
Being very poor in his childhood, he earned a poor living as a handyman to support his old parents. One day when passing the river Phu Thach, he saved a rich Chinese trader from drowning. After having recovered consciousness, the latter offered him a great sum of money to express his gratitude, but Ta Ao refused resolutely. Being good at Chinese Physiognomy and Oriental Horoscope, the Chinese trader congratulated him because he had a fairy-like manner.
“You’ve a surpassing appearance,” the latter spoke in a sincere manner. “Being helpful to everybody, you aren’t gain-minded. Therefore, you should study Feng Shui geomancy so that you may be of service to everybody. I’m willing to defray the cost of your study and residence in China to repay my debt of gratitude to you.”
Being jubilated over the Chinese stranger’s suggestion, Ta Ao accepted his generous kindness and followed him to China. The latter guided Ta Ao to the Quang Dong province and introduced him to a famous Feng Shui geomancer. Being devoted and kind-hearted, his Chinese teacher instructed his Vietnamese student wholeheartedly in Feng Shui geomantic arts. After one year of laborious study, suddenly his teacher suffered from an acute malignant conjunctivitis and would be half-blind if there was no effective treatment. Indeed all traditional physicians were helpless to cure it after many months of continuing treatment. Suddenly Ta Ao remembered one secret method of his hereditary treatment. His five-generation ancestor had been an experienced physician. He asked his teacher for permission to put his hereditary method into practice. It would seem that his teacher reached an impasse. He disinfected the patient’s back by rubbing slices of ginger on it for some times. After having dried a sewing needle on the fire, he punctured it on some points of his teacher’s back to bleed some drops of violet blood. Afterward he boiled some medical herbs to obtain a thick liquid and told his master to drink it. Only after a week, his teacher recovered from his illness and his eyes became normal. To show gratitude to his dutiful disciple, his teacher instructed him wholeheartedly. After three years of diligent study, his teacher tested him in Feng Shui geomantic knowledge. He leveled a heap of sand after having hid 100 coins in it. After having drawn 100 geomantic points on the sand, he told his pupil to locate the sites of 100 coins in the sand. They were the typical of 100 geomantic sites according to the Chinese art of Feng Shui geomancy. After having handling his knowledge and what he had learned from his teacher, Ta Ao could unearth 99 among 100 coins hidden in the sand. His teacher was elated because he was the first among his disciples to have such mastery.
“My Feng Shui geomantic art is now bequeathed to Vietnam!” he spoke under his breath regretfully.
He knew well that the mastery of Feng Shui geomantic art always required three elements: intelligence, diligence and especially endowments. He had five children but only two sons took up Feng Shui geomancy as a profession but they both got no innate ability. He also gave his dear disciple two precious items: a Feng Shui compass and a very rare handbook covering Feng Shui geomancy, talismans and spells.
“These two things are very special, especially in Vietnam,” he recommended to him in a pleading voice. “You should keep them for yourself and keep them secret. Nobody has permission to get them.”
Before his return to Vietnam, he knelt down to say farewell to his teacher respectfully.
“There’s a magical burial site in the Chau Phuc district of the Nghe An province,” his teacher again recommended to him secretly. “You should exercise extreme caution to inform it to your client. That geomantic site is only reserved for the blessed. Fate decides our act. We can do nothing against God’s will. Your bad decision may cast blight on you and even on your teacher too. You’ll get serious consequence if you do against conscience.”
After having returned to his native village, he began earning his living by searching prosperous sites. One day, he recalled his master’s recommendation so he went to the Chau Phu district. It was an auspicious site which departed from the Hong Linh mountain range. It had 36 dragons in attendance while the Phu Thanh riverside looked like a royal council chamber, besides, thousands of soldiers and horses were surrounding this geomantic site. He thought that this site was only reserved for the qualified emperor or king and he had no permission to sell his information to anybody even he got well rewarded. He would get immediate effects if he was greedy for gain. So he kept it secret.
After having mastered the Feng Shui geomantic art, but having no condition to execute it, he decided to travel round the country to search qualified clients. One day, he reached the Bat Son village of the Hoang Hoa district and found an auspicious site.
“I’ve just found a prosperous site in this region,” he told to the local people. “If you bury your parent’s corpse in the Dan (tiger) time (3-5 o’clock), you’ll acquire wealth at the Mao (cat) time (5-7 o’clock). I only get one tenth of your gain as a reward.”
After having heard such strange word, a middle-aged man came to make contact with him. Following his advice, the latter buried his dead mother’s bones in the newly dug grave. After having done his job, he took his dirty tools to clean them in the next river. Suddenly he saw a corpse of a drowning man. To show mercy to the ill-fated man, he dug a deep hole to bury him. He lifted up the corpse but it was too heavy so he touched its body and found that it had a big parcel. He opened it and found that it contained 50 taels of gold. Ta Ao only got 1 tael of gold as his reward. Afterward he told him how to bury that ill-fated victim.
One day he reached the Thanh Hoa district of the Ha Nam province and discovered an auspicious site which would render dukedom.
“This prosperous site may give you a golden occasion to become a duke,” he again told to the local people. “I only get one tael of gold as a reward.”
A rich old man in that village came to make contact with him. During that time rebel Mac Kinh Do was at war with the Later Le dynasty. But finally after having lost a great battle, he was reluctant to escape for some consecutive months. The king decreed that any person could turn him to the local mandarin would be rewarded with dukedom. After having heard such news, the rich man hired some detectives to investigate the rebel’s trace. After many days and nights of dodging the hot pursuit, the rebel suffered great hardships and became in low spirits to surrender. He told to the rich man that he agreed to be turned to the king if he had a sumptuous feast. After having turned the rebel to the king, the rich man received a dukedom in reward for his bravery. He gave the Feng Shui geomancer one tael of gold as a reward. From then on, Ta Ao was famous throughout the country. He traveled round the country from the north to the south: in any zone of the country he also gave auspicious sites to qualified clients. The greatest one was to become a Doctorate winner or a high-ranking mandarin and the smallest one was to become a Baccalaureate holder or a district chief.
One day he reached the Thien Mu village and discovered a divinely auspicious site. He wanted to sell his information to a rich landlord named Tran. But after three times of putting his Feng Shui compass on that site, it fell off the table onto the ground three times. Finally, he burned incense to pray and bow to the Local Deity to get information. The latter explained that God had reserved that prosperous site to a certain man named Nguyen Quy Duc because its site owner would get the position of Prime Minister for three generations. The Local Spirit also told that the Tran family had no permission to enjoy that auspicious site because of his unblessed cause. Ta Ao understood that if he broke the heavenly law, he would get disaster. Afterward he relinquished his intention of selling it to the Tran family.
One day he discovered the special site of an utmost prosperity in the Ham Rong zone of the Nghe An province. This site may offer kingship to descendents for thousand years. At once, he returned home to inform it to his brothers to carry their dead father to that site. It was turning to rain while there was a thunder-storm. This auspicious site was a small pit. Suddenly it became large and deep while columns of smoke were rising from it.
“We must put our dead father in that pit,” he raised his voice urgently. “Hurry along, my brothers! The magical dragon is opening its jaws. If we delay, it’ll shut its mouth. It’ll only open its jaws after each five hundred years.”
His brothers refused to put their dead father in the pit because they didn’t want to lose their father’s corpse for ever. Suddenly, there was a roll of thunder and the pit disappeared while the ground became perfectly even.
“The dragon has just shut its jaws!” he told them regretfully. “It’s over now! We’re resigned to our fate! Our descendants will live their simple lives.”
Finally, he told them to bury their father in a prosperous site about two miles from the former pit. It was an auspicious site too and their father would become a Blessed Genie to enjoy worship yearly by the local people.
At the age of 60, he decided to return to his native village to live peacefully with his great family and to end his career in Feng Shui geomancy. Then one day he felt rather diseased and understood that he was at death’s door so he told his two sons to convey him on a stretcher to the Dong Phuong district about 100 miles from his native village. This region had an auspicious burial site which may offer kingship to descendants for one thousand years. But they only set out half the way when their father was dying. Finally, he told them to bury him in a small hill to get worship yearly by the local people. It was fated that he would be a Presiding Genie of an on-spot village.
There was an anecdote about Ta Ao. One day after a nightly banquet, the Chinese emperor took his ministers of state to the royal park to study astrology. After a moment of observing the astral phenomenon, his royal astrologer pointed at a brilliant star in the south and informed the emperor that the Vietnamese Feng Shui geomancy was reaching its highest peak and that in a near future Vietnam would surpass China in culture and armaments. He also explained that a certain Chinese Feng Shui geomancer had transmitted this art to a Vietnamese. At once, the Chinese emperor issued an imperial decree to punish those who broke the law. After having heard about bad news, the Chinese geomancer at once made plans for redressing his mistake. He told his two sons to visit his former disciple in Vietnam to destroy some most auspicious sites and to add some wrong characters in his rare handbook of talismans and spells. After a two-month journey, they met their former schoolfellow. Ta Ao entertained them generously and concealed nothing because it was his right obligation of a disciple toward his venerable teacher. Sometimes he guided them to observe few auspicious sites. But they always pleaded their own discovery to go alone without his company. After having reached some most auspicious sites which had been determined by their father, they found way to destroy dragon’s important veins so that these most auspicious sites became valueless. Afterward they again returned to his house to stay for a fortnight to wait for occasion. Right when he absented himself from home for some days, they began expediting their malicious plan. They mixed lampblack with coconut oil to make a kind of black ink and added some ambiguous characters in his handbook of Feng Shui geomancy which had been given by their father to Ta Ao. Due to their deeds, their father enjoyed immunity from prosecution because Vietnam was always inferior to China and was never powerful to encroach on China. It was told that Great Emperor Quang Trung, after his glorious victory over the Chinese invaders in 1789, prepared his seasoned army and military supplies for attacking China to claim back two provinces (Quang Dong & Quang Tay) but was struck by sudden death in 1792. It was said that his ancestor’s remains were buried in one of those most auspicious sites which had been secretly destroyed one hundred years ago.

Notes
1. Geomancy
According to Wikipedia, “geomancy” is a method of divination that interprets markings on the ground, or how handfuls of dirt land when someone tosses them. It has existed in China, Arabic countries, Africa… for thousands of years. Due to the above definition, geomancy is a mere method of divination performed and based on the local ground.
2. Feng Shui
Feng Shui is only for the living people because it only brings good luck to its on-spot people. It may derive from the “safety first” idea. In olden times the population was still ignorant and sparse so they always selected a safe zone against wild animals and brigands. For them, a safe place always stood against any hill and was in front of a river or a big lake. Their above prejudice became their conception of life to select their safety place to build their houses. Finally, it became the Feng Shui theory. Gradually, only in rural zone they could build their houses close to a river and a hill, but in towns there were no river and mountain so they were reluctant to find other artificial work to substitute for water and mountain, which was a man-made set of miniature rock and spring to put in their houses.
It is the ancient Sino-Vietnamese practice of placement and arrangement of space to achieve harmony with the environment or to normalize the balance of Yin and Yang elements in the world because the ancient people believed that energy grids (below or above the ground) or the electromagnetic field had an effect on health, wealth, reputation and power of human beings. This ancient practice serves any person concerned when he or she is still living. It describes the environmental interaction with the human beings or the direct relationship between people and their environments.
3. Feng Shui Geomancy
I must coin a new word “Feng Shui Geomancy” to denote a divination method of the ancient Sino-Vietnamese people who believed that the location of burial site can conceivably have consequences – good or bad – on future generations of the dead person buried in that grave.
Feng Shui geomancy is only for the dead, but it may bring good luck to its on-spot deceased and especially to the children of the dead.
It is the ancient Sino-Vietnamese practice of discovering an auspicious area for a burial site to inter a corpse or mortal remains (bones, cremated remains) because subtle energies (earth radiations, electromagnetic field) may affect the dead person’s descendants for some next generations. The type of environment you bury your parent’s corpse can have profound influences on your present life and your own family for your present life or for some next generations. For example, a burial site which is located on a mountain range “like a woman lifting up her skirt” will produce future generations of prostitutes; a burial site which is located near a low hill and a pond “like a pen and an ink-pot” will generate future descendants of literature…
Retold by Phạm Kim Long
Saigon, 2006