XXXIX. A Traditional Method for Surveying and Reasoning: From Booking to Follow-Up Review

1. Step One: Define the Question and the Scope of Authority

Before surveying, first ask whether the shop's need is site selection, renovation, opening, an annual review, or a specific adjustment to the door, the stove, or the register. Different tasks require different data and allow a different scope of change. If the tenant has authority only over soft furnishing, altering a load-bearing wall cannot be listed as an option; if a mall unit has no right to place anything outdoors, the public corridor cannot be treated as one's own bright hall to decorate.

At the same time, write out plainly what will not be done: no guarantee of revenue, no substitute for structural or fire-safety inspection, no collection of unrelated personal information, and no diagnosing an illness or accusing a staff member on the basis of a star. If the principal wants a date selected, confirm the specific action, the deadline, and the participants separately; a pure space survey should not automatically extend into personal fate analysis.

2. Step Two: Gather Building and Timing Data

What is needed includes the floor plan, the boundary of ownership or lease, the year of completion, past major renovations, major door changes, and the timing of any long vacancy and reoccupation. Data should be numbered by its evidence tier; the original documents need not have their sensitive information disclosed in the report — only the verified conclusion needs to be recorded. The building's completion, the mall's opening, and the tenant's move-in are three distinct dates and must not be conflated.

The floor plan should be checked for scale, north direction, walls, the column grid, doors and windows, stairs, elevators, the toilet, drainage, the stove, and equipment. Where the drawing and the site disagree, the actual measurement takes precedence, with the change marked in red. For an irregularly shaped unit, draw the complete boundary first, to avoid the pivot drifting later on.

3. Step Three: Survey the Region's Overall Configuration

Walk in from a relatively distant node around the shop, observing the rise and fall of the terrain, the main roads, rivers, the height of building clusters, and where the commercial foot traffic comes from. Walk at least two main routes to the shop — do not simply arrive by car and stop right at the door. Photograph or record whether the shopfront is visible from far, middle, and near distances, following privacy rules and any restrictions of the venue.

On a map of the area, sketch the dragon-like trend: from which direction traffic and foot traffic enter the block, and where it turns, splits, or halts. Record the slope direction and the actual drainage — do not guess the flow of water by eye alone. If the overall configuration clearly runs against the shop, state this plainly up front, and do not let attractive interior decoration paper over it.

4. Step Four: Observe the Front of the Shop at Four Times of Day

Ideally, revisit at least two or three different times — morning, afternoon, evening, and on a rainy day. Record traffic speed, the direction of foot traffic, wind, light, noise, odor, standing water, sign visibility, and parking. A mall unit should be checked on both weekdays and weekends, at both peak and off-peak hours, and whether the escalator's direction changes by time of day.

In front of the door, draw the boundary of the bright hall, the curve of the road, any intersection, and the water mouth, and measure the distance of any major sha form and whether it is truly aimed at the shop. Where a sharp corner is seen, extend its axis on the plan; where a reverse bow is seen, mark the inside and outside of the curve; where a road rush is seen, record the road's length, width, grade, and any buffer. A form-school conclusion must always be backed by a factual sentence.

5. Step Five: Measure the Direction with the Compass

First check the compass and the needle, and set aside any magnetic items on one's person. Take multiple readings — in an open spot outside the shop, outside the door, in the middle of the door, inside the door, and along the interior axis — with three readings at each point. Record the readings to sufficient precision and note any fluctuation, without rounding just to obtain a true facing. If the door frame causes interference, the exterior reference and the wall axis take priority.

At the same time, distinguish the building's direction, the unit's own direction, and the actual main door's direction. A freestanding building is usually more unified, while a mall requires separate layers. State whether magnetic north or true north is used, and keep a record of how the drawing's north direction was converted. If the reading falls near a boundary of the Twenty-Four Mountains, enter the slant-facing re-measurement procedure rather than plotting a single chart outright.

6. Step Six: Establish the Pivot and Divide the Palaces

On a properly scaled floor plan, fix the main enclosing boundary and find its center. State clearly whether a missing corner, a protrusion, outdoor seating, or an attached storeroom is included in the calculation. A duplex unit should have its overall pivot fixed first, with each floor then given its own sub-pivot; a small room only serves as an auxiliary and should not be given its own separate chart without limit.

Pass the adopted sitting-facing line through the pivot and lay the Nine Palaces' positions onto the drawing. Mark any door, stove, or register near a palace boundary as straddling two palaces, and record the center point and the coverage proportion. Mark the function first and only then look at fortune or misfortune, avoiding the trap of moving a palace boundary just to place an item in a more favorable palace.

7. Step Seven: Grade the Form School

Grade separately across the four layers: the region's overall configuration, the block's middle configuration, the near configuration in front of the door, and how the interior receives it. Each layer should list sentient items, unsentient items, and the degree to which they can be adjusted. There is no need to force a flowery name onto the dragon, the lair, the sand, the water, and the facing for each one — the real question is whether the incoming force, the halting and gathering, the guarding, the flow, and the facing form a continuous whole.

Grade any inauspicious form as strong, moderate, or weak, based on five factors: whether it is truly aimed at the shop, its distance, its scale, whether it is in motion, and whether anything screens it. Strong sha takes priority; weak sha should not be piled on for its own sake. For each issue, first write a physical avoidance or engineering plan, and only then a Five Phases supplement; if nothing actually needs treating, state clearly "recorded for observation, no object placed."

8. Step Eight: Determine the Period and Plot the Chart

Select which period to use based on evidence of construction, renovation, and occupancy; where the evidence is insufficient, plot candidate charts instead. Enter the period star into the center, plot the period chart by the adopted rule, and then plot the mountain-star and facing-star charts according to the yin-yang of the cycle-dragon at the sitting mountain and the facing point. Keep the basis for every step of the calculation on record, along with the software version used, and manually spot-check at least two palaces.

Whether a slant facing calls for a substitute trigram must follow whichever stated boundary and reference table is being used. If two neighboring charts are both plausible, first find what they agree on. The city gate is worked out as a separate, auxiliary judgment, and must never be quietly substituted for the main facing chart. The Eight Mansions chart, the annual chart, and any personal destiny trigram should each be drawn separately, and their numbers should never be written into the same unlabeled grid.

9. Step Nine: Overlay Form and Principle Palace by Palace

Starting from the main door, write out, for each palace, the mountain star, the facing star, the period star, its flourishing or decline, the exterior form, the interior function, and the balance of movement and stillness. Then move on to the register, the stove, the main counter, the office, the toilet, the storeroom, the spirit tablet, and the central palace. Give each palace a single core judgment, such as "suited to movement, not to a long-seated position," "suited to quiet guarding, add no water or fire," or "can serve as a secondary display, not the main door."

Then place the exterior roads and any real body of water into their palaces. Where the facing star needs water, check whether there is genuinely a door and path there; where the mountain star needs solid support, check whether a wall or a tall cabinet is not pressing too heavily. A number with no form behind it earns a downgraded conclusion; a form that is sentient but whose star does not currently govern can still be put to ordinary use without being forcibly activated.

10. Step Ten: A Plan for the Door, Path, Register, and Stove

Draw both the current path of qi and the planned path of qi. The door is responsible for receiving; the passage for guiding; the interior bright hall for pausing; the display for turning; the register for gathering and guarding; the back area for storing. Wherever this chain breaks, point to a specific action to fix it. Compare at least two candidate register positions, ranked through five layers: safety, form, chart, annual star, and actual use.

For a food-service operation, draw the water-and-fire route separately — the stove, the sink, cutting, serving, and bussing cannot be judged by palace alone. If an auspicious palace lacks proper venting and piping, it should not be chosen. Write out the primary and secondary schedule for the main door and any side door by time period, and never lock an emergency exit.

11. Step Eleven: Putting the Five Phases to Use

For any palace that needs adjustment, first write out the base chart's Five Phases chain — for example, "Nine Fire generates Two Earth, and the door's lighting adds still more Fire" — with the goal of reducing Fire and draining Earth; then list a strong, moderate, and weak version of the plan. Prefer reusing functional materials already needed, rather than buying anything exaggerated. Any action should be reversible, maintainable, and given a removal date.

A color plan should note the area covered; an object plan should note the quantity and position; a moving-water plan should note the volume, flow direction, and safety conditions; a lighting plan should note its function and duration. Without this information, an instruction like "add Metal to transform the Earth" is too vague to be checked later.

12. Step Twelve: Overlaying the Annual and Monthly Stars

Take the Start of Spring as the year's boundary, fly the annual star, and separately mark Taisui, suipo, and the Three Killings. Write an annual plan only for high-weight points such as the main door, the register, the stove, and any palace under construction. Use the monthly chart to choose a window and make short-term, light adjustments — moving a structural counter every month is not recommended.

Record when each annual object is installed and removed in the table. If the house chart's base is auspicious, an arriving annual sha need only be temporarily contained; if the base is weak, an arriving annual auspicious star should only be put to short-term use. Never let a single year's star override the fixed chart. When work is planned to span across a year boundary, check both years' boundaries and dates separately.

13. Step Thirteen: Date Selection

First sort the opening, ground-breaking, installing the door, installing the stove, and installing the counter into separate matters, and determine the available date window for each. Fix the monthly command by the solar term, and use the Tongsheng almanac's suitabilities and taboos for a first screen; check the sitting mountain and any clash or harmony with the principal; check the Twelve Establishment-and-Removal Officers, the Yellow and Black Paths, and Heavenly and Monthly Virtue; and finally plot the day chart's Four Pillars and the hour. Record both the hard exclusions and the secondary preferences.

Give a first choice, a backup, and dates to avoid — never manufacture "the one auspicious day in a hundred years." If real-world conditions change, use the backup first; if an urgent, major safety repair is needed, do not wait for an auspicious day. Write the ceremony's sequence into the execution schedule together with fire-safety and property-management rules.

14. Step Fourteen: Prioritizing the Plan

Sort the measures into immediate correction, implementation during renovation, completion before opening, annual fine-tuning, and items for observation only. Electrical leaks, blockages, structural issues, and hygiene problems fall under immediate correction, to be carried out by qualified professionals; the door, path, and counter fall under the renovation period; annual color and object adjustments fall under the yearly category; a weak sha falls under observation.

Mark each item with a cost range, whether approval is required, whether it is reversible, who is responsible, and the date for follow-up review. A fengshui recommendation with no execution boundary is easily exaggerated at will by a renovation team. Any drawing change must be brought back into the final as-built plan, and the palace positions updated accordingly.

15. Step Fifteen: Briefing on Site

When briefing on site, explain the main thread first, not the inauspicious labels. Explain where the exterior force comes from, how the door receives it, where it gathers inside, which palaces suit movement or stillness, and what to watch for during the year. Make sure both the proprietor and the design-and-construction team can understand the position and the reasoning behind it. Where an object of religious significance is involved, discuss it only with those who take part voluntarily.

Mark candidate points on site with tape or removable labels, but never mark on fire-safety floor lines or stick anything in a public area. Re-check the sightline behind the register, the swing of the door, the queue, and the clearance needed for equipment servicing. If a drawing looks auspicious but is unusable on site, change the drawing — do not ask people to accommodate the drawing.

16. Step Sixteen: Re-Measurement After Completion

Once the renovation is finished, re-measure the door's direction, and confirm whether any metal equipment is causing local magnetic interference; verify that the wall, cabinets, stove, and door match the drawings. Check whether the pivot has shifted due to an expanded lease, a sealed door, or a merged unit. Photograph from the same angles for comparison, and record every actual deviation.

Test-run any water feature to check for leaks, noise, and flow; check lighting for heat and glare; check plants for their care conditions. Confirm any installed object is securely fixed and cannot fall. If a reasonable adjustment was made on site to improve usability, re-plot the chart and reassess it — do not automatically treat every construction deviation as a taboo violation.

17. Step Seventeen: Executing the Opening

Complete genuine cleaning and equipment testing the day before opening; the auspicious hour need only carry the symbolic moment of the door opening. The ceremony must not delay staff training or emergency drills. Enter the first sale into the books honestly, with cash, payment devices, and receipts fully prepared. If weather or traffic problems arise suddenly, use the backup plan.

On opening day itself, do not suddenly move a heavy cabinet, add open flame, or block the door for photos. Handle any malfunction immediately according to the safety contingency plan, without concealing it out of superstition. The point of a traditional ceremonial order is to steady the team, not to add to their anxiety.

18. Step Eighteen: Three-Stage Follow-Up Review

A short-term review can be done in one to two weeks, checking congestion at the door and paths, the equipment, the lighting and water features, and register operation. A medium-term review at one to three months checks whether the division of movement and stillness has stayed stable and whether objects are being maintained. An annual review, around the Start of Spring, updates the annual star and any construction plan. These timeframes are only management suggestions — business data should never be used to prove a causal claim about the esoteric arts.

Each time, change only what needs changing, and keep a version history. If the shop changes its main door, expands or merges with an adjacent unit, substantially alters the stove's position, or undergoes a major renovation that crosses a period boundary, the direction and pivot must be re-measured; if only the display changes, a local update is enough. Regular review is what keeps the traditional judgment in step with the site itself.