Discussion How does a formation with flags and plates looks like?

Several (all?) Chinese novels have this "formation" thing, you use it to protect your sect, to hide something, to trap your enemy, to defend or to attack, and when putting the formation on place, you use flags and plates but how exactly is a formation?

Looking for more information I opened WuxiaWorld and gone to the Glossary (https://www.wuxiaworld.com/page/general-glossary-of-terms). There you have it:

Formations (阵 zhèn) (阵法 zhènfǎ) – divided into battle formations and spell formations, although they are often just called “formations”. Battle formations are “fantasy-fied” tactical formations used by several cultivators or martial artists attacking in concert. Spell formations are also called Arrays. They’re essentially magic circles which cast a continuous area-of-effect spell on the location the formation encompasses.

• Formation Flags (阵旗 zhènqí) – magical flags set up at key points in order to activate a spell formation (usually around the perimeter).
• Restrictions (禁制 jìnzhì) (禁法 jìnfǎ) – also translated as Seals / Restrictive Spells / Spell Restrictions. Somewhat similar to formations. They are spells which form a barrier around a location or act to seal/suppress a person or object.

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Looking for formations (阵法 zhènfǎ) I got some images:


https://wapbaike.baidu.com/theme/中国古代十大阵法 看着简单却威力巨大/50082607566?bk_fr=lemma

But the page is about military formations, not magic formations. About flags (阵旗 zhènqí) apparently they aren't that different from the flags we are used to see:

https://blog.xuite.net/jouda/twblog/159563857-督陣旗製作-臺南聖母會-旗山久大設計

But I'm still looking for better images, maybe from some comic. Do you have one you can share?

 

Hmm I have the impression there's a couple of scenes of that in the MDZS comic and animation.

 

Wasn't there a real life boulder formation supposedly used by Zhuge Liang?

 

Here's an example of a spell array formation used to protect a sect. You can see for yourself how it looks like.

 

Well I always imaged as the flags or plates merging with the ambient to stay hidden and take nature energy as extra fuel for the formation. and Formation takes power from the form that they assemble and probably the meaning into it. A formation making the five elements would take the form of a pentagram using only 5 flags, or seal, depends on the author and how he builded the world.

 

MDZS?

 

I think it shows the spell array working, but not how it is done (flags, drawings, tablets, etc.).

 

The Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation

 

I remember seeing them in Condor Heroes comics version (not the new web comics), in all 3 parts. They're used primarily by Huang Rong, the heroine of part 1.
Military formation using flags is seen in part 3, Heavenly Sword and Dragon Sabre.

 

Plates? 0.o

 

I remember that in the early chapters of The Great Ruler comics version, there are plates used by array master. The MC, Mu Chen was studying the array technique with a plate.

I can't remember seeing them being used actively elsewhere though. In most cases it's more like plates (usually in the form of Chinese Eight Trigrams) and symbols just keep popping out of nowhere when some arrays are activated.

 

Sort of complicated to explain...

The important thing about these formations, is the positions of things, not the actual flags or plates. Those are just popular tropes/items. It could be rocks, or carvings, even people (human formations are very popular too)

There are many military related images, because that is where this started from. Ancient Chinese infantry formations that got fantasy-fied.

I think you could compare it to the alchemy circles in Full Metal Alchemist (similar concept)

This is a manga example, this chapter starts out talking about formations, but in this one, it is drawn on talismans and not using flags. There was another chapter that's showed a human formed one, but i couldn't find the chapter

https://m.manhuagui.com/comic/18151/252199.html

Found another chapter, the formation markings are drawn on these pillars
https://m.manhuagui.com/comic/18151/298571.html#p=4

 

I've always been under the impression that the "flag" objects are linked and used to define the perimeter of the formation affected area. Whereas "plate" objects were stand alone devices to supplement the formation somehow, maybe at nodes to provide or relay power? Although some stories have specialized flags for that.