A Complete Study of Commercial Shop Fengshui (Esoteric Edition): From Form School and the Luopan to Xuankong Dating
A systematic account of commercial shop fengshui built on the traditional arts themselves — exterior form school (luantou), the Twenty-Four Mountains, Three Cycles Xuankong plotting, doors/paths/registers, annual date selection, Five Phases remediation, and worked case studies.
XL. A Raw Record Sheet for the Compass and the Nine Palaces
1. The Basic Project Fields
The basic fields record a project code rather than an unnecessary full client name, with the address redacted according to the scope of authorization. Record the purpose of the survey, the trade, the floor area, the floor level, the boundary of ownership or lease, the main business hours, the planned opening date, what may be changed, and any restrictions from the property manager or fire code. The participants and the version date should also be noted.
The timing data is listed separately: the building's completion, its first occupancy, past major renovations, the unit's move-in, any door changes, long vacancies, and reopening. Beside each date, note the source of the evidence and its confidence level. Where a date cannot be confirmed, write "unknown" rather than filling the gap with a guess.
2. The Direction-Measurement Fields
The following fields are recommended: measurement-point number, description of the location, distance from the door frame, time of measurement, the state of any switchable equipment, the first reading, second reading, third reading, the average or range, the source of any magnetic interference, and the photo reference number. Also set up three separate types: the building's reference line, the unit's door line, and the interior axis.
The final-adopted field records the facing degree, the sitting degree, the facing mountain, the sitting mountain, the degree of offset from the centerline, whether it is a slant facing, whether a substitute trigram is used, whether magnetic or true north was used, and the surveyor's name. If two charts are kept side by side, both A and B should be listed — unfavorable data must never be deleted.
3. The Pivot Fields
Record the floor-plan file version, its scale, how the boundary was treated, whether outdoor seating was included, how any missing corner or protrusion was handled, the center coordinates, and the method used for dividing each floor's sub-pivot. The Nine-Palace diagram should include a north arrow, the sitting-facing line, and the palace boundaries. Any item straddling two palaces should have its center point and coverage range recorded.
Number each item in turn: doors and windows, stairs, elevator, escalator, stove, sink, toilet, register, main counter, storeroom, office, spirit tablet, moving water, sound system, strong lighting, and air-conditioning vents. Later parts of the report should refer to these by number, avoiding a vague phrase like "that door on the left."
4. The Exterior Form-School Fields
Record, by far, middle, and near distance, the incoming force, the left-and-right sand, the rear of the sitting position, the front of the facing, the bright hall, the case and facing mountain, the water mouth, and any road or real body of water. For each item, note its direction, distance, size, whether it moves or is still, how it changes across business hours, and whether it is actually aimed at the shop and whether anything screens it. The traditional terminology is placed only after the factual description.
The inauspicious-form table sets out the name, the fact, the strength, the real-world risk, the traditional imagery, the priority measure, and whether professional correction is needed. If something is only suspected, write "pending re-measurement." A report must never list a distant, unmeasured sharp shape as a strong sha.
5. The Flying-Star Chart Fields
Record the conclusion on the determined period, the evidence, the school's convention adopted, the period chart, the mountain-star chart, the facing-star chart, the steps for starting the stars forward or in reverse, the substitute-trigram table used, and the city-gate judgment. Fill in each of the Nine Palaces with its period, mountain, and facing stars, along with five further columns: form, function, movement-and-stillness, judgment, and recommendation.
An annual appendix records the year's central-palace star, the boundary date, Taisui, suipo, the Three Killings, and the Nine Palaces' annual stars; a monthly appendix is only set up when needed. The house chart's numbers should use a fixed font or color, with the annual star given a separate format, and a legend attached, to prevent confusion when the chart is copied.
6. The Door, Path, Register, and Stove Fields
The door table records the door's width, its opening direction, how often it opens and closes, whether it is primary or secondary, the exterior approach, how the interior receives it, which palace it belongs to, and its star combination. The path table records whether the main customer flow, staff flow, goods flow, delivery flow, and emergency-egress flow cross one another. The register table compares at least two candidate positions, listing rear support, visibility of the door, whether it takes a clash, the star chart, queuing, and safety.
The stove table records the fuel, the cooking equipment, the burner's mouth, smoke exhaust, water supply, waste discharge, which palace it belongs to, and any adjacent water or fire. Any fengshui plan can only be carried out after it has passed a professional kitchen inspection. High-heat equipment in a non-food-service shop can likewise be entered into a fire-equipment table of this kind.
7. The Five Phases Remediation Fields
Each entry records the palace with the issue, the base chart's Five Phases chain, the goal, the intended Five Phase, the specific material or action, its intensity level, any safety restriction, the installation date, and the removal or review date. For example, rather than writing "add Metal," write "keep the existing two curved stainless-steel edge trims in place, and add no further sound-producing item."
If water, fire, heavy stone, or a hanging object is used, additional notes on electrical safety, waterproofing, fire resistance, load, and fastening method are required. Where compliant conditions cannot be met, mark it "do not implement." A receipt for purchasing an object, or a religious ceremony, does not count as evidence of any effect.
8. The Date-Selection Fields
List the matter, the available window, the candidate dates, the solar-term month, the stem-branch of the year, month, day, and hour, the Tongsheng almanac's suitabilities and taboos, the Establishment-and-Removal officer, the Yellow or Black Path, the virtue spirits, any clash with the sitting mountain, any clash or harmony with the principal, the annual and monthly star's palace, practical feasibility, and the final tier assigned. Both the first choice and the backup should be filled in completely.
After execution, record the actual time the door was opened or the construction carried out; if it deviated, do not backfill it as the originally planned time. An honest record is what allows the plan to be reviewed later — data should never be altered in pursuit of appearing perfect. Weather, approvals, and personnel changes can be noted as remarks.
9. The Version and Change-History Fields
Every time the door is changed, the lease expanded, the stove or register moved, a water feature added, or an annual remediation carried out, a new version should be generated, recording the reason for the change, who approved it, and the result of the review. Old versions should be kept, not overwritten. Only this way can the original judgment, the annual adjustments, and any business renovation be told apart.
Since this data touches on the shop's security and privacy, access should be restricted. The location of a safe or a security camera's blind spot, for a jewelry or finance project, should never be published openly. A traditional survey record must also follow proper data-protection principles.