There were many famous Feng Shui (FS) masters since the
advent of FS in old China. Amongst these masters, four of them are still very
much talked about until now days. They are: ZenWendi (曾文迪), Liao JinJing (廖金精), Lai Buyi (赖布衣)
and Yanng Junsong (杨筠松). The above
gentlemen are known as ‘the four saints of FS’ amongst the FS practitioners.
Amongst the four saints, Master Lai is the most talked about
especially amongst the Cantonese folks as he has stayed in Guangdong ( 广东) for quite a number of
years. Legend has it that Master Lai's real name was Lai Wenjun (赖文俊) and he was from the state
of Chu (处州) or the Jianyang County in
Fujian (福建建阳县) in modern times.
Master Lai was an official in Jianyang and as he was so knowledgeable
in the science and arts of FS that the Song Emperor bestowed him with the title
‘the teacher of the kingdom’ (国师).
Prime minister of that time was Qingui (秦桧) and he has a hidden agenda as he wanted to become
the next emperor. So, PM Qingui invited Master Lai to his mansion and promised
Master Lai that he will give Master Lai money and power if Master Lai helped
him in materialising hi plans.
Master Lai knew Qingui wasn’t an honest and loyal fellow, so
he excused himself from Qingui, resigned his position and flee from the county.
Thereafter, Master Lai called himself ‘Buyi’ (布衣) or literarily ‘plain shirt’. And local folks
continue to call him as Lai Buyi until today.
There are many stories and practices related with Master Lai,
perhaps we can explore one or two in the next postings…
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