Zangshu 葬書

Zangshu 葬書 "Book of burial", also called Zangjing 葬經, is a book on geomancy traditionally attributed to the Jin-period 晉 (265-420) scholar Guo Pu 郭璞 (276-324), who is known for his expertise as a magician and geomancer, as described in his biography in the official dynastic history Jinshu 晉書, as well as in Gan Bao's 干寶 (286-336?) story collection Soushenji 搜神記. The latter narrates how Guo Pu analysed the most ideal burying place for his mother. This story is also mentioned in the book Shishuo xinyu 世說新語. Yet, in fact, it is far from sure whether Guo Pu was the real author of the Zangshu or not.

The earliest surviving bibliographies in the histories Jiutangshu 舊唐書 and Xintangshu 新唐書 list the books Zangshu dimai jing 葬書地脈經 and Zangshu wuyin 葬書五陰, but do not list an author. Guo Pu is first mentioned as the author of the book Zangshu in the bibliography in the history Songshi 宋史.

The short text is written in very concise and crude language, which also shows that it was not written by a famous literate person such as Guo Pu. It includes 20 chapters and became one of the most prominent books on traditional geomancy in China. During the Song period, Cai Yuanding 蔡元定 (1135-1198) shortened it to twelve chapters. It was again revised during the Yuan period (1279-1368) by Wu Cheng 吳澄 (1249-1333), who selected the most important and clearly written parts to build the "inner chapters" (neipian 內篇), while those written in a less refined style and of minor importance were to constitute the "outer chapters" (waipian 外篇). Parts of inferior quality were appended in the so-called "miscellaneous chapters" (zapian 雜篇). This is also the structure of the transmitted text.

The result of this revision is a text whose first part is written in a concise, yet elegant language. It describes the method to use places of vital energy for tombs. These energies would pacify the remains of a corpse and profit the living. The importance of water for tombs was much higher than that of winds (the Chinese word for geomancy is fengshui 風水 "wind and water"). The Zangshu is the first Chinese book that mentions the term fengshui. Based on these premises, the text describes concrete methods to select an ideal and auspicious burying place.

The Zangshu is included in the series Siku quanshu 四庫全書 (with the title Zangshu), Xuejin taoyuan 學津討原, Jindai mishu 津逮秘書, Xiao shisanjing 小十三經, Nianerzi quanshu 廿二子全書 (with the title Qingwu Xiansheng zangjing 青烏先生葬經), as well as - with the title Zangjing 葬經 "Classic of burial" - in the Dili daquan 地理大全, Yimen guangdu 夷門廣牘 and Yingyin Yuan-Ming shanben congshu 景印元明善本叢書.

In most of these collections the Zangshu is called Zangjing. This is somewhat misleading because there is also another book called Zangjing that was written by a master called Qingwuzi 青烏子 "Master Green Crow", who is sometimes identified with Prince Chulizi 樗里子 from the state of Qin 秦.

Yet another book called Zangshu 葬書 is part of the anonymous series Zangshu wu zhong 葬書五種 from 1854. The series includes Chen Que's 陳確 (1604-1677) Zangshu 葬書, Xu Ying's 許楹 Wangjilu 罔極錄, Fan Kun's 范鯤 Shushan zangshu 蜀山葬書, and Zhang Chaojin's 張朝晉 Shenzhong luyao 慎終錄要.

There is a translation of the Zangjin/Zangshu by Stephen Field (2003-2009), The Zangshu or Book of Burial (Trinity University, San Antonio, TX), and another one by Juwen Zhang (2004), A Translation of the Ancient Chinese : the Book of Burial (Zang Shu) by Guo Pu (276-324) (Lewiston, NY: Mellen).