Lingcheng jingyi 靈城精義

Lingcheng jingyi 靈城精義 is a book on geomancy (kanyu 堪輿, fengshui 風水), the authorship of which was attributed to He Pu 何溥, courtesy name Lingtong 令通, from the Southern Tang empire 南唐 (937-975). The book is not listed in the essential book catalogues compiled from the Song period 宋 (960-1279) on.

The book is divided into two juan. The first fascicle discusses forms and "energies" (xing qi 形氣) of terrain, primarily describing the configurations of mountains and rivers and the methods for identifying dragons (long 龍) and lairs (xue 穴). The second juan discusses the nexus between energies and the Heavenly principle (li qi 理氣), focusing on elucidating astrological hexagram patterns and the omens of fortune, misfortune, growth, and decline.

The text states that there are significant correlations within the universe, with energy cycles (qiyun 氣運) taking precedence; earthly cycles (diyun 地運) move while heavenly energies (tianqi 天氣) follow suit; and when heavenly cycles rotate, the earthly energies respond accordingly. These ideas seem to have been developed upon the teachings in the Huangji jingshi 皇極經世 of Shao Yong 邵雍 (1011-1077), indicating that this book was not written by a person from the tenth century. The compilers of the imperial book catalogue Siku quanshu zongmu tiyao 四庫全書總目提要 even assume that the book was a forgery from the mid-Ming period 明 (1368-1644) or even later, which can be seen in some quotations from other writings.

However, many theories expounded in the book were, in fact, popular during the tenth century. Such is the belief that "great terrain has no shape but reveals its spirit, while small terrain has no power but reveals its essence" (da di wu xing kan qi gai, xiao di wu shi kan jing shen 大地無形看氣概，小地無勢看精神); water takes form and rests upon mountains, while mountains take form and rest within water (shui cheng xing, shan shang zhi, shan cheng xing, shui zhong zhi 水成形，山上止，山成形，水中止); or that the dragon represents terrestrial energy, and water represents celestial energy (long wei di qi, shui wei tian qi 龍為地氣，水為天氣).

The text is included in the imperial series Siku quanshu 四庫全書.