The 120 Gold Divisions (百二十分金)
The 120 Gold Divisions (百二十分金, Bai Er Shi Fen Jin) represent the finest precision layer on the classical Feng Shui Luopan, subdividing each of the 24 Mountains (each spanning 15°) into five sub-divisions of 3° each, producing 120 named points across the full 360° compass. Each 3° Gold Division is named by a Heavenly Stem-Earthly Branch pair drawn from the sexagenary cycle, carrying a specific Na Yin (納音) Five Element quality.
The practical rule: the facing line of the Luopan must be pressed onto a Gold Division whose Na Yin element either generates, is generated by, or is in combination with the Na Yin element of the deceased's birth year (仙命納音). Two configurations are inauspicious and must be avoided: when the Gold Division Na Yin destroys the deceased's Na Yin, or when the deceased's Na Yin generates the Gold Division Na Yin (as it drains the ancestral Qi). Example: a deceased born in Yi Chou year (乙丑, Na Yin = Sea Gold 海中金) facing a Yin Mountain with sub-divisions Bing Yin (炉中火, Furnace Fire) and Geng Yin (松柏木, Pine Wood) — the facing line must press onto Geng Yin rather than Bing Yin, since Fire melts Metal.
Earth-Penetrating 60 Dragons (穿山六十龍)
The Earth-Penetrating 60 Dragons (穿山六十龍, Chuan Shan Liu Shi Long) is a Luopan ring that subdivides each of the 24 Mountains into 2.5 sub-positions, totaling 60 positions across the compass, mapped against the 60 Jia Zi cycle. It identifies the quality of the incoming Dragon vein (入首龍) as it penetrates through the mountain formation toward the burial site. Each of the 60 Dragon positions carries an elemental quality derived from its Na Yin. Matching the Dragon's 60-position entry with the burial's Gold Division orientation ensures harmonic resonance between incoming Qi and the site's orientation — a principle central to the San He school's Yang Gong transmission.
Vanishing Water Method (消水法)
The Vanishing Water Method (消水法, Xiao Shui Fa) determines the auspiciousness of a site by the direction in which water exits the property boundary. It operates on the Early Heaven (先天八卦) and Later Heaven (後天八卦) trigram arrangements: incoming water from an Early Heaven trigram position that exits via the same trigram's Later Heaven position creates Xiao Shui (消水, Vanishing Water); the reverse creates Wang Shui (亡水, Perishing Water). Both configurations cause loss of descendants and financial ruin over time. Identifying them is the first step in any water assessment before applying positive water methods. In combination, Xiao Shui and Wang Shui produce sixteen forbidden configurations tabulated in San He classics as the basis of all water Feng Shui avoidance.
Urban Water Method Applications
In modern urban environments where natural watercourses are absent, San He and San Yuan schools apply a virtual water (虛水) interpretation: major roads are treated as water, traffic flow as water direction, road junctions as water mouths (水口), and tall buildings as virtual mountains. The 120 Gold Divisions and the Vanishing Water Method remain applicable by substituting road junctions and highway exits for river confluences. The practitioner orients the Luopan from the property's facing direction, identifies the directional sector of the nearest significant road junction, and applies the same Early/Later Heaven analysis as for natural water.