TL;DR: The Táng thư, in its main text, names five mountain forms in which one should not bury: bare mountains with no trees or grass, mountains that are cut off, mountains of dry, hard rock, mountains that run across without stopping, and mountains standing alone with no supporting branches. The general reason the book gives is that khí must gather, must be continuous, must have sinh khí, and all five of these forms cause khí to scatter or to be cut off. These are the conventions of an old school of địa lý, not a scientific conclusion about land or human health.
What are the five kinds of mountain unfit for burial according to the Táng thư?
The Táng thư lists exactly five kinds of mountain where a burial cannot be made. The main text opens with the line "山之不可葬者五" (there are five kinds of mountain that cannot be used for burial) and then names đồng sơn, đoạn sơn, thạch sơn, quá sơn and độc sơn; the commentary printed with it calls the five together ngũ hung (五凶, the five harms)[1]. In brief: đồng sơn is a bare mountain without vegetation, đoạn sơn is a mountain that has been cut through, thạch sơn is a mountain of dry, hard rock, quá sơn is a mountain that runs across without stopping, and độc sơn is a mountain standing alone[1]. What the five share is that khí does not gather, does not connect, or has no life in it, which is why the book treats them as unfit for burial.
It should be said at once: this is the convention of one old school of geomancy, recorded in a text handed down over many generations, not a scientific finding about land or human health. This article sets out the main text and the commentary of the Táng thư as they stand and does not claim that what the book says has been proven.
What is the Táng thư, and why do the five kinds of mountain matter?
The Táng thư (葬書, Book of Burial) is a treatise on burial that tradition attributes to Quách Phác of the Tấn (Jin) dynasty. The Tứ khố toàn thư abstract notes that the book first appears in a catalogue only under the Tống (Song), and that if one insists it came from Quách Phác's own hand there is nothing to substantiate it ("必以為出自璞手，則無可徵信")[1]. The same abstract says the current text is divided into inner, outer and miscellaneous chapters following the arrangement of Ngô Trừng (吳澄), and that whether the commentary printed with it really comes from the Lưu family (劉氏) can no longer be established[1]. The five kinds of mountain are in the inner chapters. A reader needs to tell the main text from the commentary, because most of the reasons and exceptions usually quoted belong to the commentary.
After naming the five, the main text closes with a line quoted from "the classic": "經曰：童斷石過獨，生新凶而消已福", meaning that đồng, đoạn, thạch, quá and độc bring new harm and wear away good fortune already held[1]. The commentary under that line adds that burial in such places only leaves "rotted bones and a decayed coffin" (腐骨爛棺), and that it governs decline, early death and consumption, ending in extinction over time[1]. Elsewhere in the inner chapters the main text returns to the five under the name ngũ hại (五害) in the line "四勢朝明，五害不親", and the commentary lists them as đồng, đoạn, thạch, độc, quá[1].
Why does the Táng thư judge mountains by khí?
The Táng thư opens with the line "葬者乘生氣也", burial rides on sinh khí (living khí), and the commentary calls this line the key to the whole book[1]. The main text says that the khí of âm and dương, breathed out, becomes wind, rising becomes cloud, falling becomes rain, and moving within the earth is sinh khí ("行乎地中而爲生氣"); it also quotes the classic as saying that khí scatters when it meets wind and stops when bounded by water ("氣乘風則散，界水則止")[1]. This is how the book pictures khí, not a statement of physics.
That is also why the five kinds of mountain are ruled out: each breaks a different condition of khí. Đồng breaks the condition that sinh khí must be alive and growing; đoạn breaks the condition that khí must be continuous; thạch breaks the condition that khí must pass through earth; quá breaks the condition that khí must come to rest; độc breaks the condition that khí must gather. Hold on to those five words, alive, continuous, passing through, resting and gathering, and the reasoning of the whole passage is in hand.
Đồng sơn: why can a bare mountain not be used for burial?
Đồng sơn is a bare mountain without vegetation. The main text reads: "氣以生和，而童山不可葬也", that is, khí exists through life and harmony, so a bare mountain cannot be used for burial[1]. The commentary explains: good ground has bright, moist soil and thriving vegetation; a bare mountain is coarse and dull, its soil veins dried out, without the mild, growing khí, and so it cannot be used[1].
Notably, the commentary gives an exception straight away. There are rocky hills whose grain is moist and which shine like an eggshell, where plants cannot root and nothing grows of itself, yet when the pit is opened a huyệt of five-coloured earth is found. In that case, the commentary says, the site cannot be dismissed merely for being bare[1]. The standard here is therefore not "plants or no plants" in a formal sense, but whether there is sinh khí, which may show in the earth inside the huyệt.
Đoạn sơn: why can a severed mountain not be used for burial?
Đoạn sơn is a mountain that has been cut through. The main text reads: "氣因形來，而斷山不可葬也", that is, khí arrives by way of form, so a mountain that has been severed cannot be used for burial[1]. The commentary explains: earth is the body of khí, and where there is earth there is khí; once a mountain has been dug through, sinh khí is cut off and cannot carry on, and so it cannot be used[1].
The commentary quotes a work called Thanh Hoa bí tủy (青華秘髓) for a comparison: "一息不來身是殼", when a single breath fails to come the body is only a shell[1]. It also sets one case apart: a place where the mountain has dropped and broken naturally ("自然跌斷") is not the same as one that has been dug through[1]. The distinction shows that what the commentary looks at is whether khí can carry on, not the mere sight of a break.
Thạch sơn: why can a mountain of dry, hard rock not be used for burial?
Thạch sơn is a rock mountain. The main text reads: "氣因土行，而石山不可葬也", that is, khí travels by way of earth, so a rock mountain cannot be used for burial[1]. The commentary reasons: on high ridges, where is there no rock, since the bones of a mountain are rock; there is nothing wrong with a rocky mountain along the course of the range, and only the spot where the huyệt forms should be free of rock[1].
The commentary describes the harmful kind of rock quite specifically: rock that is scorched, hard and dull, or dry, gritty and crumbling, that will not take the hoe or throws off sparks when struck, with a harsh, killing khí, smoky and black[1]. Apart from that kind, rock that is brittle and tender, with a moist grain and fresh colour, is all good according to the commentary[1].
The commentary also records two exceptions. The first is an unusual huyệt hidden among rock: rock on all four sides with a pocket of earth in the middle, which holds a coffin only once all the earth has been taken out. The second is dull rock that is cut open to reveal a huyệt of earth beneath. Both, the commentary says, may be chosen, and rock alone is no ground for rejecting them[1]. The word thạch among the ngũ hung therefore does not mean rock in general but dry, hard rock at the very spot where the huyệt forms.
Quá sơn: why can a mountain that runs across without stopping not be used for burial?
Quá sơn is a long mạch (dragon vein) that runs across and keeps going without stopping. The main text reads: "氣以勢止，而過山不可葬也", that is, khí comes to rest where the thế (the sweep of the range) stops, so a mountain that passes by cannot be used for burial[1]. The commentary explains: the crosswise long rolls straight on and cannot be held back, and the slight spurs hanging down on either side are no more than oars; khí stops with the thế and the huyệt forms with the hình (the local shape), but a passing mountain shows no attachment, its thế has not stopped and its hình has not arrived, and so it cannot be used[1].
The commentary gives exceptions here too: a crosswise long that drips down ("橫龍滴落"), a main long that drops at the waist ("正龍腰落"), and a huyệt made by cutting the pass ("斬關為穴") are not the same as quá sơn[1]. The standard, then, is whether the thế stops, not the direction in which the mạch runs.
Độc sơn: why can a mountain standing alone not be used for burial?
Độc sơn is a mountain standing bare and alone, with no supporting branches. The main text reads: "氣以龍會，而獨山不可葬也", that is, khí gathers where long meet, so a solitary mountain cannot be used for burial[1]. The commentary explains: when a chi long (a branch dragon of the low ground) travels, its brothers are complete and male and female come out together, and where it stops the walls and ramparts are whole and the noble hills gather, and only then is there a good huyệt; a single, solitary mountain is exposed and shows no attachment, and so it cannot be used[1].
The exception the commentary gives here is fairly long: there is a kind of chi long that grows no arms or legs, rises and dips as it goes, in the manner of kim and thủy, and drops out onto the plain, borrowing outer guards on both sides for shelter; where it stops, male and female cross, a great river pays court or lies across in front, the outer ground receives it from afar, and any sheltering bank is only a step high. Such a place, the commentary says, cannot be dismissed for being exposed, and it recalls a line of the main text: "得水為上，藏風次之", gaining water comes first and storing wind second, which is why the site is valued[1].
Summary table: the five kinds of mountain and their exceptions
| Kind | Meaning | Reason (main text and commentary) | Exception given in the commentary |
|---|---|---|---|
| Đồng sơn | Bare mountain, no vegetation | No mild, growing sinh khí; soil dried out | Rocky hill with a moist grain where digging finds a huyệt of five-coloured earth |
| Đoạn sơn | Mountain cut through | Sinh khí cut off, unable to carry on | A natural break differs from one dug through |
| Thạch sơn | Dry, hard rock at the spot where the huyệt forms | Khí travels by way of earth; dry, hard rock does not let it through | Unusual huyệt hidden among rock; dull rock cut open with a huyệt of earth beneath |
| Quá sơn | Long mạch running across without stopping | Thế has not stopped, hình has not arrived, no attachment | Crosswise long dripping down, main long dropping at the waist, huyệt made by cutting the pass |
| Độc sơn | Mountain standing alone, no supporting branches | No meeting of long; exposed, no attachment | Chi long dropping onto the plain, borrowing outer guards, with water paying court |
Why are all five counted among the ngũ hung?
What the five share is that khí is not held. With đồng, khí is not alive; with đoạn, khí is not continuous; with thạch, khí does not pass through; with quá, khí does not rest; with độc, khí does not gather. This is a consistent line of reasoning centred on khí, not a loose list of taboos. Read this way, the five kinds of mountain are not five separate prohibitions but five ways of breaking one principle: sinh khí must be gathered and held.
It is also worth noting that the Táng thư does not call these five kinds of mountain bad in outward appearance. The main text says they cannot be used for burial, while the commentary under each one names cases that should not be ruled out too quickly, depending on whether sinh khí is present there. This shows that the standard is khí, and that shape is only a sign by which khí is read.
Beyond these five, the miscellaneous chapters of the Táng thư go on to list a series of thế and hình regarded as harmful, for example "势如惊蛇，屈曲徐斜，灭亡家国" (a thế like a startled snake, winding and slanting, ruins family and state)[1].
Form or direction: which does the Táng thư commentary put first?
The Tứ khố toàn thư abstract quotes a work titled Thanh nham tùng lục (青岩叢錄) as saying that later practitioners split into two lineages, one resting on stars and trigrams and one on hình thế (form and configuration)[1]. The commentary of the Táng thư takes a position of its own on this. In the miscellaneous chapters, after the passage setting out what thế and hình each of the eight directions requires, the commentary asks how there could be one fixed rule when the mountains and rivers of the world change in a thousand ways, and concludes "是以形势为上，而方位次之", hình thế comes first and direction second[1]. The five kinds of mountain unfit for burial belong to this reading by form.
What should not be inferred from the Táng thư
The Táng thư is the text of one old school of geomancy. It speaks of khí, of long mạch, of the huyệt, and of consequences such as decline, early death and consumption. Those consequences are the book's words, not research findings. There is no basis for treating them as advice about anyone's health, finances or marriage. Equally, a few lines of the book are no reason to dismiss the whole old geomantic tradition, whose value lies first in the way people of the past observed and classified the landscape.
Conclusion
The five kinds of mountain unfit for burial in the Táng thư are đồng, đoạn, thạch, quá and độc. The common reason the book gives is that sinh khí must be alive, continuous, passing through earth, at rest and gathered; each kind of mountain breaks one of those conditions. Notably, for all five the commentary printed with the text names cases that should not be ruled out too quickly, which shows that the standard is khí rather than outward shape. This is the convention of one old school of geomancy, to be read for an understanding of how people once looked at land, not as a statement about fate or health.
