The History of Feng Shui

 

Feng Shui is an element of the Mysteries of China, but ultimately, it?s transcendent; its inspirational sources are the archetypes of the noumenal realm and its medium is the Tao ? the Way of Heaven: the principle of wholeness, and rhythmic balance through cyclic change. Feng Shui acts as the interface between the invisible noumenal realm ? ?Kan? (Heaven),, and the phenomenal realm ? ?Yu? (Earth). Previously, Feng Shui was called 'KanYu' ? ?between Heaven and Earth?.

In pre-dynastic times, the antecedent of Feng Shui was Xiangdi. This practice helped the Chinese determine the most appropriate site for settlement and the location of shrines, temples, and fertile lands.

The two most seminal elements of Feng Shui, however, are the ?River Chart?, and the ?Lo Writing?. The ?River Chart? (Ho T'u) was a diagram borne from the Yellow River on the back of a dragon-horse during the reign of the legendary Fu Hsi. Of whom it is said:
"He looked up and contemplated the forms exhibited in the sky (the constellations), and he looked down contemplating the processes taking place on the earth. He contemplated the patterns of the various habitats and places."

The ?Lo Writing? (Lo Shu) also emerging from a river - the Lo River, inscribed on the shell of a tortoise. Referred to as the ?Ba Gua? or ?magic square?, it?s an arrangement of numbers reflecting the cosmological order of the seasons, directions, and 8 trigrams.

Integral to this was the Five Element Theory, having its origins in the dynamics of yin, and yang, it depicts their evolution into five fundamental powers, agents, and phases of change: wood, fire, earth, metal, and water. The exposition of which was outlined in the Nei Ching, a medical compilation c. 400BC.

From the 11th century BC to 246 BC, divination, and astrology were practiced using oracle bones, and also for determining solar and lunar eclipses. Zhan Bu elucidated the mechanics of water movement, and that of underground streams.

From 475 to 221 BC, the I Ching began to exert a significant influence on Feng Shui. The Form (regulating the Qi), or Mountain Top School focused on landscapes, studying topographical features, soil quality, and watercourses. It located the the Feng Shui or power spots, and mapped the dragon pathways or energy lines of the Earth. Contemporaneously, Taoism and Confucianism, especially the concept of the ?superior man? (ch?n-tzu), began to profoundly influence Feng Shui, introducing the concept of decisive intervention in terrestrial events inspired by the archetypes of heaven.

The next phase of Feng Shui evolution was inspired by Guo Pu's the 'Book of Burial (276 -324), and Form School principles of siting became well established in Chinese literature.

Between 960 ? 1279 AD, Feng Shui bifurcated into two major schools -the Form and Compass Schools. The Compass School (Regulating the form of energy), used a form of Ba Gua compass to dowse the Feng Shui of the environment. During the Song Dynasty, the Book of Yin Yang Celestial Poles was written by a Feng Shui master, Wu Jin?Luan, who persuaded Yang Yun-Sung to establish one of the first formal schools of Feng Shui in Take Jingo Province.

These are the major elements in Feng Shui?s development.

Feng Shui tips

 

The first step in applying Feng Shui to your home is orientation, using the Ba-Gua scheme as a template. To make the Ba-Gua template, cut a piece of cardboard 3x3 inches square, divide it into 9 equal parts, and label it thus: 4 Prosperity 9 Fame 2 Relationships 3 Family 5 health 7 Children 8 Knowledge 1 Career 6 Patrons Note 1 Career, should point north. These 9 areas relate to specific aspects of your life. By applying the diagram to your home or workplace, you can establish which rooms correspond to which areas of your life. Make changes in the designated area and it will change the corresponding area of your life. Number 1, Career, tells you about yourself, your life path and how you value yourself. Number 2, Relationships, includes those you have with your partner, business partner, and neighbours. If there is clutter here, or if plants placed there refuse to thrive, you must work on your relationships to effect corresponding changes. Number 3, Family, relates to your roots, ancestors, family, and the relationship you have with your parents. Number 4, Prosperity, indicates how easy or otherwise it is for you to create, and retain wealth, both tangible, and intangible or spiritual. Number 5, T?ai Ji, is the centre of health, and well-being. Essentially, this is the most crucial area in which to control the flow, and circulation of Qi. Number 6, Patrons, designated as the domain of spirits, and gods, this area represents all those who offer protection, support, and help in needful times. Number 7, Children, denotes creativity, and activity. If you?re feeling stagnant in this zone, change something to encourage the flow. Number 8, Knowledge, refers to education, and intuition, and shows how readily you cope with change. Number 9, Fame, represents your public standing, the way others perceive you. This depends on inner maturity, and strength of character. Place appropriate mementos in each designated area. Remember, the overriding principle is to encourage the flow, and circulation of Qi. Avoid clutter, and mess, which prevents the flow. More importantly, it will encourage the opposite of Qi, Sha Qi, or negative energy to accumulate, bringing depression, and tiredness. Qi flows out of windows, long straight passages, and especially through doors opposite windows, so site plants, lamps, and other items of furniture to encourage Qi to circulate in your home, and delay its swift passage. Place plants in front of all sharp edges to block them, and use mirrors to strengthen Qi or diminish Sha Qi energy. Use crack-free mirrors to maximise the flow, and reflection. Watch the flow of smoking joss or incense sticks to determine what you need to change to channel, meander or circularise the flow. Water must be flowing, not stagnant. Place natural objects such as pieces of wood, crystals or quartz stones in openly visible parts of the room, at different levels. Plants also represent a natural source of the peaceful, relaxing effect produced by the colour green.

Quick Authentic Feng Shui Advice For Your Home

 

During a site consultation for a department of the United Nations in Malaysia, one of its employees asked me a question that seems to be asked often: can you give me some quick guidelines for my home without having to go too much into it? And of course, still using classical Feng Shui. House consultations are usually very detailed affairs with many layers of disciplines used and time consuming as each home is unique BUT there still is general advice that can be used without accidentally creating negative effects.

It helps to know which directions should be enhanced and those that are not to be stimulated. If you are not sure of your Kua number, you can use our Kua Number Calculator to find out your Auspicious and Inauspicious directions. Inauspicious directions need remedies and more protection while Auspicious directions should be primarily enhanced. Remember, different people have different Kua numbers and directions, meaning a good direction for you to stimulate may be a bad direction for a loved one. In cases where there are multiple occupants whose good/bad directions overlap: use items that are primarily protective items with a secondary role of enhancing. That way, if an item for some reason is placed in the wrong direction, you're still protected.

The Entrance
Asides from the entrances being entry points for your home, it is also very important in Feng Shui as that's where a very large amount of chi comes in and sets the overall tone of your home. Wouldn't you rather allow good flowing chi into your home instead of negative chi entering and pulling everything down? Here, you would want to set up a filter point choosing for auspicious chi coming in or good chi. A protective item would make sure only good chi (sheng chi) comes in, whereas a wealth enhancer would transform the chi coming in to be auspicious chi. Recommendations: All Protectors (Protective), Authentic Wealth Bowl (Auspicious), Kuan Kung on Horse of Progress (Both).

The Backdoor
The backdoor or exit of your house is frequently overlooked because there is usually more importance stressed on the entrance. The importance of this part of the house increases when depending on how often you use it. For some, it is an entrance to their garden or a more convenient form of exit. If you do not use the backdoor often, focusing on protection takes priority. If it is used very often, then you can also treat it similar to an additional entrance. Recommendations: Kuan Kung God of War (Protective), Lucky Wealth Bars (Auspicious), Inscribed Dragon Tortoise (Both).

The Living/Dining Room
This is usually the place where members of the house would spend a large amount of time together. Be it entertaining guests, watching a favorite show together or just winding down after a tough day at work. This is also a place to maximise the usage of Feng Shui for you to reap the benefits it can bring. Recommendations: Fu Lu Shou Set (Protective), Prosperity Buddha (Auspicious), Lord Chung Kwei Guardian of Harmony (Both).

The Bedroom
This is a place where we rest and recuperate and thus open ourselves to negative or positive influences in our immediate surroundings. Most of the times, health related items are recommended in this section and refrain from putting enhancers that are constantly moving like windchimes. This is one of the best places to promote harmony and soak up auspicious chi. Recommendations: 8 Immortals Wu Lou (Protective), Health Wealth Pendant (Auspicious), Kuan Yin on Arowana(Both).

Well, hopefully this list has provided you with some basic knowledge of how you can use classical Feng Shui in your home properly. I'd also like to take the time to wish you and your an prosperous Lunar New Year! For more information on remedies, don't forget to visit our website at: www.smilingbamboo.com! :)

Ken Toh is the co-founder of Smiling Bamboo (www.smilingbamboo.com) and strives to preserve the true traditions of Feng Shui amidst all the marketing hype of today. Having spent his life surrounded by Feng Shui and living in both Eastern/Western cultures has given him a firm understanding of bridging the gap of this beautiful science. His clients include: government officials, United Nations (MY), corporations, business men

Feng Shui FAQ - Conceiving a Child Advice please....

 

Question: Hello John,

My name is Jacqui. I am inquiring as I once read an article and it told how to help in conceiving a child by placing something in the middle of one of the walls in your bedroom and it had to be a certain wall and specific things. It also gave hints as to what to place if you preferred a boy or girl.

I now cannot find the article and I am now interested. Can you provide me with this advice please.

Thank you from Jacqui.

Answer: Howdy Jacqui,

This is a little more complicated than the method you mentioned, which worked purely on your power of belief. You will need to do 3 things.

1. Take a compass reading from outside of your home, making sure to keep well away from anything that may influence your reading, such as power lines, cars, and chunky metal jewellery. What we need is to know what direction you home sits and faces (these are 180 degrees from each other). This is found by aligning with the side of your home looking from the front towards the back, and noting what angle you are getting. Make a note of this angle.

2. Go to my free online course at http://www.purefengshui.com and work out your Flying Star chart. You need your buildings facing direction and when the home was built to complete this, step-by-step examples on how to draw it up are given there! If you don't know when the home was built, try your local council, they will probably charge a small fee for this information. We need to know which of the following time periods (or earlier) that it was built between. Period 4 - 1924 to ' 43; Period 5 - ' 44 to ' 63; Period 6 - ' 64 to ' 83; Period 7 - ' 84 to 2003. From these 2 bits of information you will get a Flying Star Chart, which has 9 squares, with 3 numbers in each box. What we need is to know is where the 8 appears on the top left of a square, is it in the North, SW, NE, where is it?

3. Now that you know where the 8 Mountain is, we can advise you where to try and procreate within your home. Place a protractor on the floor in the centre of your home, with the same angles you got for your sitting and facing pointing towards the front and back of the home. If the 8 mountain (the number 8 in the top left position of a square) is in the North, use the room that is as close as possible to 0 or 360 degrees; for the NE - use the room that is closest to 45 degrees; and so on.... East - 90; SE - 135; South - 180; SW - 225; West - 270; NW - 315.

Jacqui's sister told me via e-mail that Jacqui gave birth to a beautiful, healthy baby girl - John (4 May 2004)
My name is Jacqui. I am inquiring as I once read an article and it told how to help in conceiving a child by placing something in the middle of one of the walls in your bedroom and it had to be a certain wall and specific things. It also gave hints as to what to place if you preferred a boy or girl.

I now cannot find the article and I am now interested. Can you provide me with this advice please.

Thank you from Jacqui.

Answer: Howdy Jacqui,

This is a little more complicated than the method you mentioned, which worked purely on your power of belief. You will need to do 3 things.

1. Take a compass reading from outside of your home, making sure to keep well away from anything that may influence your reading, such as power lines, cars, and chunky metal jewellery. What we need is to know what direction you home sits and faces (these are 180 degrees from each other). This is found by aligning with the side of your home looking from the front towards the back, and noting what angle you are getting. Make a note of this angle.

2. Go to my free online course at http://www.purefengshui.com and work out your Flying Star chart. You need your buildings facing direction and when the home was built to complete this, step-by-step examples on how to draw it up are given there! If you don't know when the home was built, try your local council, they will probably charge a small fee for this information. We need to know which of the following time periods (or earlier) that it was built between. Period 4 - 1924 to ' 43; Period 5 - ' 44 to ' 63; Period 6 - ' 64 to ' 83; Period 7 - ' 84 to 2003. From these 2 bits of information you will get a Flying Star Chart, which has 9 squares, with 3 numbers in each box. What we need is to know is where the 8 appears on the top left of a square, is it in the North, SW, NE, where is it?

3. Now that you know where the 8 Mountain is, we can advise you where to try and procreate within your home. Place a protractor on the floor in the centre of your home, with the same angles you got for your sitting and facing pointing towards the front and back of the home. If the 8 mountain (the number 8 in the top left position of a square) is in the North, use the room that is as close as possible to 0 or 360 degrees; for the NE - use the room that is closest to 45 degrees; and so on.... East - 90; SE - 135; South - 180; SW - 225; West - 270; NW - 315.

Jacqui's sister told me via e-mail that Jacqui gave birth to a beautiful, healthy baby girl - John (4 May 2004)

John studied with numerous Masters of Feng Shui since 1997, and now chooses to give away his knowledge for free through his multitude of articles and free online courses at his site. http://www.purefengshui.com

Finding True Love With Feng Shui

 

 If true love has been eluding you, you could increase the chances of meeting someone you fancy by activating the Romance sector in your home.

Where can you find your Romance sector?

One way is by using your Chinese horoscope. We all belong to one of twelve Chinese horoscopes - Rat, Ox, Tiger, Rabbit, Dragon, Snake, Horse, Goat, Monkey, Rooster, Dog, and Pig.

For those of you born in the year of the Rat, Dragon, or Monkey, your Romance sector is in the West.

For those of you born in the year of the Horse, Dog, or Tiger, your Romance sector is in the East.

For those of you born in the year of the Rooster, Ox, or Snake, your Romance sector is in the South.

For those of us born in the year of the Rabbit, Goat, or Pig, our Romance sector is in the North.

After you've located your Romance sector in your house, it's time to activate the sector.

Flowers are often used to activate the Romance sector. There are a number of things you need to pay attention:

1. The vase must be filled with fresh flowers and clear water. You should not have an empty vase.

2. Only fresh flowers should be used. No synthetic flowers. (That would have made things so much easier, wouldn't it?)

3. Ideally, display 4 stalks of flowers.

3. Choose flowers with vibrant colors and without thorns. Never use black or white flowers.

4. Pay attention to the color of the vase.

If your Romance sector is in the East or Southeast sector (belonging to Wood element), you can use a green vase.

If your Romance sector is in the South (belonging to Fire element), you can use a purple or red vase.

If your Romance sector is in the North (belonging to Water element), you can use a black or blue vase.

If your Romance sector is in the West or Northwest (belonging to Metal element), you can use a white or gold vase.

If your Romance sector is in the Southwest or Northeast (belonging to Earth element), you can use a yellow vase.

Wishing you all the best in finding the love of your life!
Logan Wong is a writer with Feng Shui
Metaluck, a website offering free Feng Shui tips and resources.