Graveyard Feng Shui

Zhaoling Mausoleum, Xi'an

Chinese people have developed the theory of graveyard Feng Shui over a long time. In ancient times, people were usually buried near the capital city, in their hometown in a burial place, or in a place the people longed for when alive. Wherever buried, there was a basic rule, which was “water in front of the grave, mountain behind and luxuriant plants around”. Nowadays, there is a reduced selection of graveyards due to the popularity of cremation; but there are still some Fengshui tips popular among Chinese people.
 There should be a large wooded mountain behind the cemetery. It is even better to have more mountains behind that mountain. If there are mountains on two sides, they should be lower than the mountains to the rear. Any mountains in front of the cemetery should be far, leaving a large and wide space in the center. It is preferable to have water flowing by.
 1. Choose a site with sunlight. Otherwise the owner may have few male offspring and female offspring may be unhappy for no reasons;
2. Avoid sites on a mountain ridge or mountain top, which may lead the offspring to have harsh lives. A site with thin soil is also not good;
3. Do not choose a site with water flowing through, in order not to have ill or sick descendants;
4. Avoid sites below high-voltage wires to avoid bad luck for the family;
5. The site at the foot of the cemetery walls is not good, as it may lead later generations to have conflicts with others;
6. Avoid a used graveyard. If the burial plot soil is from a used graveyard, bring some new soil from auspicious places;
7. A good graveyard should be larger than 1.2 square yards (about one square meter) and have boundary lines which can meet at right triangles. It is even better to build low walls around the grave. But there must be an entrance, which should be in the middle of a wall and the entrance should face south, southeast or south-southeast;
8. It is good to plant some trees around the tomb. Evergreen pines and cypresses are best. Usually, the trees are in even numbers and arranged on two sides of the tombstone symmetrically. Please note that the trees should not be too close to the tomb, at least 3 yards meters (about 3 meters) away, to avoid the roots growing into the tomb. Trim the branches if they spread over the tomb.
9. It is also not good for surrounding wild grasses to spread over the tomb. So sweep the tomb at least once a year. In China, there is even a festival called Tomb-sweeping Day for people to sweep tombs of their ancestors.
10. Do not cover the graveyard with stone or concrete floor completely; leave some space for soil, flowers and plants.

Graveyard Feng Shui is very comprehensive and these are only some basic rules. If you have a chance to visit famous tombs in China, like Emperor Qin Shi Huang's Mausoleum in Xi'an, Ming Tombs in Beijing and Dr. Sun Yat-sen's Mausoleum in Nanjing, read the descriptions or listen to the guide carefully, you will find more details of graveyard Fengshui.