Faweilun 發微論 "About uncovering the secrets [of landscape]" is a book on geomancy (fengshui 風水) written by the Southern-Song-period 南宋 (1127-1279) scholar Cai Yuanding 蔡元定 (1135-1198), who also wrote a book on music, Lülü xinshu 律呂新書.
The short book Faweilun consists of 16 chapters that describe the importance of dragons (long 龍), energetic "vessels" (mai 脈), Yin and Yang 陰陽, hardness and softness, ghosts and spirits for the auspicious or inauspicious character for certain spots in the landscape. The Faweilun was, for a long time, an important classic of geomancy.
It is included in the series Dili daquan 地理大全, Siku quanshu 四庫全書 and Dili zhenjue 地理真訣. In the Dili daquan version, the author is called Cai Mutang 蔡牧堂, which was the style of Cai Yuanding's father Cai Fa 蔡發 (1089—1152).
1. | 剛柔 | Gangrou | Hard and soft |
2. | 動靜 | Dongjing | Moving and quiet |
3. | 聚散 | Jusan | Gathering and dispersing |
4. | 向背 | Xiangbei | Facing and averting |
5. | 雌雄 | Zixiong | Female and male |
6. | 強弱 | Qiangruo | Strong and weak |
7. | 順逆 | Shunni | Obedient and obstreperous |
8. | 生死 | Shengsi | Living and dead |
9. | 微著 | Weizhu | Secret and open |
10. | 分合 | Fenhe | Disparting and uniting |
11. | 沉浮 | Chenfu | Submerging and floating |
12. | 淺深 | Qianshen | Shallow and deep |
13. | 饒減 | Raoxian | Abundant and lacking |
14. | 趨避 | Qubi | Inclining and avoiding |
15. | 裁成 | Caicheng | Diminishing and completing |
16. | 感應 | Ganying | Feeling and responding |