In this picture the little knobs on the door are interesting because they are organized into 9 rows of 9 making 81 in all, the number of chapters in the Daodejing. The number nine itself is based upon the ancient pre-trigram arrangement of the Magic Square, which is comprised of three rows of nine. Dennis describes this symbolism in relation to acupuncture in his book on the Pointnames.

It is also described at great length in his forthcoming book on Yin-Yang, the Mysterious Gate.

In this picture the columns and rooms to the side extend as if to the infinite distance. Since one cannot see anything in the rooms from this perspective, it gives the impression that one might as well remain centered where they are instead of desiring anything else. Here in the Hall of Abstinence, this mental state is appropriate in preparing for the grand rituals that take place in the main temples where the emperor (symbolizing the Spirit of conscious awareness in the Heart of Everyman) will connect directly with Heaven in order to secure harmony, balance, and blessings for the Good of All. See the Spiritpoints book for the state of the art explanation of this topic.

In this picture we see the roof of a temple within the Hall of Abstinence with the Taiji Symbol surrounded by the Eight Trigrams on the central beam. In fact, this is the etymological meaning of "Taiji," the central roof beam that divides the roof into its two Yin-Yang sides. This graphic illustration helps depict what the Taiji Principle stands for-- that position in space between Non-Being and Being from which Yin and Yang and the manifest world emanate. See the Mysterious Gate for a full elaboration of this concept.