At a glance
- Main focus
- Landforms and site relationships
Definition and scope
Form-school methods begin with visible landscape relationships. Form can refer to local outline, while configuration concerns larger movement and connection. The label does not identify one centralized institution. A burial site, village and dwelling involve different scales, and practitioners who use compasses can also examine landforms.
Structure and details
Dragon, site, surrounding hills and water provide a relational vocabulary. A dragon is generally a ridge or terrain sequence rather than a literal creature; the open area in front may be called a bright hall. Mapping what each term describes is more useful than treating these names as geological classifications.
Example and history
The Burial Book connects landscape form with its concept of vital influence. A slope behind a site, an open foreground and a curved stream can be described as support, bright hall and protective enclosure. This is an example of historical interpretation; flood, erosion and slope risks require separate evidence.
Contexts and limits
Landscape terminology helps explain gardens, local siting narratives and ancestral concerns. A preference can overlap with practical shelter or drainage without validating predictions about wealth or descendants. Comparisons should consider access, land cost, institutions and household resources, which influence both site selection and later outcomes.
References & further reading
Historical sources document ideas and rules of their time, not empirical proof of predictive accuracy. Source notes identify the nature and scope of each reference.