Note 61 — Chapter XIII · The Symbolism of Jade

Not only graves, but houses and towns, were so placed as to secure the requisite balance between the forces of Nature. De Groot notes that Amoy is reputed by Chinese believers of the Fung-shui system to owe its prosperity to two knolls flanking the inner harbour, called “Tiger-head Hill” and “Dragon-head Hill”. Canton is influenced by the “White clouds”, a chain of hills representing the Dragon on one side of its river, and by undulating ground opposite representing the Tiger. “Similarly”, he says, “Peking is protected on the north-west by the Kin-shan or Golden Hills, which represent the Tiger and ensure its prosperity, together with that of the whole empire and the reigning dynasty. These hills contain the sources of a felicitous watercourse, called Yu-ho or ‘Jade River’, which enters Peking on the north-west, and flows through the grounds at the back of the Imperial Palace, then accumulates its beneficial influences in three large reservoirs or lakes dug on the west side, and finally flows past the entire front of the inner palace, where it bears the name of the Golden Water.”61