M&D: luopan

[Doug Millison]

I finally found an illustration of this device, in the "Made In 
China" engagement calendar for 2001 published by Chronicle Books 
(www.chroniclebooks.com) that my lovely wife gave me as a new year 
gift. A full page picture of a luopan illustrates the calendar page 
for end of October beginning of November 2001.  It's a flat, circular 
device with a compass in the center.  Surrounding the compass is a 
series of concentric rings that each contain hanzi (Chinese 
characters).  The innermost ring, just beyond the circumference of 
the compass, contains the six ideograms of the I Ching. Alice says 
you use the compass to find the direction, then read the various 
expressions that line up with the compass needle, in order to 
determine the feng shui of a particular site or building interior. 
This luopan is quite an impressive looking instrument.
-- 
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