Thursday, May 11, 2006
Research: The Art of FengShui
How should you name your new born child?
Where should we position the stove in the kitchen?
Which direction should the main door face for maximum prosperity?
These are some of the concerns faced by believers in the art of fengshui. Whereas you can’t easily change the direction of your door, unless you are picking an entire new house, you can at least learn to mitigate the forces that repel.
Today I would like to share some nuggets of wisdom on fengshui as I have researched. There is a vast array of mind-boggling facts – from books and from many websites. So I would limit myself to some basic concepts.
What is Fengshui?
First an overview. Fengshui is an ancient Chinese practice of manipulating and arranging your surrounding to achieve harmony with the environment.
In Chinese, "Fengshui" literally means "wind and water". Qi, which is the “life force" of everything in universe, is said to disperse with the Wind but is retained when encountering Water. Hence air and water, being basic essentials for survival, is often sought out for best fengshui.
Fengshui has over three thousand years of history. It was originally used by emperors and nobles to perpetuate their reign by employing fengshui experts to select the best burial sites for their ancestors and for themselves. Vindictively, they often tasked these experts to destroy the fengshui of their enemies’ burial sites at the same time.
Traditional fengshui uses a specialized compass called a Luopan and involves comprehensive and complex calculations. It has an impressive past based on archaeological discoveries and the work of astronomers. In short its basis stems from a combination of statistics and scientific theories – not just groundless conjectures!
Many different schools have evolved which can be broadly classified into two groups: San He (Three Harmonies) and San Yuan (Three Cycles). San He emphasizes the effect of surrounding landforms like mountains, rivers, roads, buildings, while San Yuan stresses the time factor eg the construction date of one’s house.
Modern versions have now moved beyond external influences to internal factors of arranging objects within a house for optimum results. This is probably what we are more familiar with and includes the arranging of doors and furniture mentioned earlier.
Fengshui in modern day
That was some background and history on fengshui. Today fengshui continues to be popular. Architects and landscape designers around the world have often been asked to include fengshui principles in their designs. Hong Kong Disneyland allegedly applied fengshui to the layout of the park. Singapore’s Hyatt hotel re-positioned its front doors slanting at an angle instead of flushed with the façade in order to retain its otherwise out-flowing profits.
For our personal home, the main door is also the key to well being. There is a Chinese saying, “Sickness enters via the mouth while misfortune exits via it”. The main door, like our mouth, thus represents both fortune and misfortune, determining the luck and well being of the family.
In one school of thought, the main door should not face north-east which is the “Devil’s gate’ position, as this will entice evil spirits to enter. Other violations include having a mirror, window or storage door directly opposite the main door as these will suck out the positive energy flowing into the house instead of retaining it.
The kitchen is the next important area. Remember: Sickness enters via the mouth. Since the kitchen is where meals are being prepared, good fengshui will help ensure a healthy and wealthy family.
Kitchen fengshui places a lot of weight on the stove. The direction of the stove ought to consider the main user’s traits. The stove should not be visible from the sitting room as this is tantamount to exposing your wealth. Of paramount importance is also its relative position with other gadgets like refrigerators, sinks and washing machines. Throwing in modern day appliances like microwave ovens, toasters and slow cookers, this becomes a bewildering complex exercise! No wonder that expert advice doesn’t come cheap!
Fengshui – fortune at birth
Now besides fengshui of the house, people often overlook the fengshui applied to oneself. But a person with good physical fengshui has strong human energy. So a holistic approach incorporating the two would be ideal.
There is a belief that your fortune is destined from birth – depending on your season and hour of birth, life can be full of abundance or burden. Hence one practice by parents is to seek fengshui advice on names to counter any negative influence on a newborn child. I admit I was one such parent – though strictly I did so more for inspiration of names! But I didn’t ask if I should change my own name – maybe I should!
Conclusion
I hope I have given you an insight of fengshui and a sampling of its age-old practices.
Fengshui is a living art and continues to attract a sizeable following. Its widening scope extends to the home and to business, your career and your family, your health and your wealth.
My personal view is that though the roots of fengshui may have some sound basis, the application to modern day ought to be pragmatic and not blindly adhered. I would recommend: Adopt what is feasible, adapt what is practical!
11April 2006
Where should we position the stove in the kitchen?
Which direction should the main door face for maximum prosperity?
These are some of the concerns faced by believers in the art of fengshui. Whereas you can’t easily change the direction of your door, unless you are picking an entire new house, you can at least learn to mitigate the forces that repel.
Today I would like to share some nuggets of wisdom on fengshui as I have researched. There is a vast array of mind-boggling facts – from books and from many websites. So I would limit myself to some basic concepts.
What is Fengshui?
First an overview. Fengshui is an ancient Chinese practice of manipulating and arranging your surrounding to achieve harmony with the environment.
In Chinese, "Fengshui" literally means "wind and water". Qi, which is the “life force" of everything in universe, is said to disperse with the Wind but is retained when encountering Water. Hence air and water, being basic essentials for survival, is often sought out for best fengshui.
Fengshui has over three thousand years of history. It was originally used by emperors and nobles to perpetuate their reign by employing fengshui experts to select the best burial sites for their ancestors and for themselves. Vindictively, they often tasked these experts to destroy the fengshui of their enemies’ burial sites at the same time.
Traditional fengshui uses a specialized compass called a Luopan and involves comprehensive and complex calculations. It has an impressive past based on archaeological discoveries and the work of astronomers. In short its basis stems from a combination of statistics and scientific theories – not just groundless conjectures!
Many different schools have evolved which can be broadly classified into two groups: San He (Three Harmonies) and San Yuan (Three Cycles). San He emphasizes the effect of surrounding landforms like mountains, rivers, roads, buildings, while San Yuan stresses the time factor eg the construction date of one’s house.
Modern versions have now moved beyond external influences to internal factors of arranging objects within a house for optimum results. This is probably what we are more familiar with and includes the arranging of doors and furniture mentioned earlier.
Fengshui in modern day
That was some background and history on fengshui. Today fengshui continues to be popular. Architects and landscape designers around the world have often been asked to include fengshui principles in their designs. Hong Kong Disneyland allegedly applied fengshui to the layout of the park. Singapore’s Hyatt hotel re-positioned its front doors slanting at an angle instead of flushed with the façade in order to retain its otherwise out-flowing profits.
For our personal home, the main door is also the key to well being. There is a Chinese saying, “Sickness enters via the mouth while misfortune exits via it”. The main door, like our mouth, thus represents both fortune and misfortune, determining the luck and well being of the family.
In one school of thought, the main door should not face north-east which is the “Devil’s gate’ position, as this will entice evil spirits to enter. Other violations include having a mirror, window or storage door directly opposite the main door as these will suck out the positive energy flowing into the house instead of retaining it.
The kitchen is the next important area. Remember: Sickness enters via the mouth. Since the kitchen is where meals are being prepared, good fengshui will help ensure a healthy and wealthy family.
Kitchen fengshui places a lot of weight on the stove. The direction of the stove ought to consider the main user’s traits. The stove should not be visible from the sitting room as this is tantamount to exposing your wealth. Of paramount importance is also its relative position with other gadgets like refrigerators, sinks and washing machines. Throwing in modern day appliances like microwave ovens, toasters and slow cookers, this becomes a bewildering complex exercise! No wonder that expert advice doesn’t come cheap!
Fengshui – fortune at birth
Now besides fengshui of the house, people often overlook the fengshui applied to oneself. But a person with good physical fengshui has strong human energy. So a holistic approach incorporating the two would be ideal.
There is a belief that your fortune is destined from birth – depending on your season and hour of birth, life can be full of abundance or burden. Hence one practice by parents is to seek fengshui advice on names to counter any negative influence on a newborn child. I admit I was one such parent – though strictly I did so more for inspiration of names! But I didn’t ask if I should change my own name – maybe I should!
Conclusion
I hope I have given you an insight of fengshui and a sampling of its age-old practices.
Fengshui is a living art and continues to attract a sizeable following. Its widening scope extends to the home and to business, your career and your family, your health and your wealth.
My personal view is that though the roots of fengshui may have some sound basis, the application to modern day ought to be pragmatic and not blindly adhered. I would recommend: Adopt what is feasible, adapt what is practical!
11April 2006
# posted by CME @ 9:59 PM 
