Feng Shui : art and science. Classical and New Age
What is Feng Shui?
The authentic Feng Shui, that I will refer as "Traditional Feng Shui" in the following, is an ancient practice which started about 6000 years ago, being created by Chinese people during the neolithic period. The first techniques became a well rooted tradition during the Tang dynasty.
Basically, the classical Feng Shui is a system based on the careful observation of the heavenly forces (time), earthly forces (outside and inside space) and the way the qi (energy) of the two plans interacts.
Feng Shui is a practice which brings balance between the two forces. It contains a series of techniques and a theoretical part which can be studied and then applied systematically in order to bring benefic changes in the space around us.
The term “Feng Shui” (literally translated “wind-water” – the two elements influencing the flow of energy in the space) represent in a figurative way the art and science to live in harmony with the environment. It is a science because it is based on clear formulas and on the calculation of magnetic directions for their application. Most of Feng Shui can be seen as an art because it needs a subjective analysis and interpretation of the collected data.
The term “Feng Shui” first appears in one of the workpapers of master Guo Pu, “Book about burial”: “Qi (energy) flows together with feng (wind) and is dissipated but it is retained when it meets shui (water)”
Feng Shui – art and science
The art and science of Feng Shui has become more and more popular; people’s desire to deeper unerstand this topic has increased simultaneously. Various books are published weekly in the whole world, which treat various forms of Feng Shui, more or less authentic. Presently it is estimated that there are more than 300 Feng Shui books!
Traditional Feng Shui – which we approach in the articles of this series – is a part of the daily life for people in China, Singapore, Taiwan and Hongkong, as well as in many other countries where tradition has been observed and the great masters’ knowledge has been correctly transmitted, in order to bring health and wealth on all plans, to those who apply them. While used in the ancient China to choose the favourable places for the emperor’s palaces, today Feng Shui has applications in people’s daily life.
Unfortunately, as many other popular industries, the Feng Shui knowledge has been commercialized, and during this process, distorted.
Many persons who are very enthusiastic when finding out about the benefits of applying the Feng Shui principles (most of the times, from books) are discouraged when they discover other Feng Shui principles which are in conflict with the previous one and the result is an even greater confusion.
The two main orientations (schools) of Feng Shui
The school of shapes (Xingfa) is the first and the oldest Feng Shui school. The experts have decided that it dates from the late Han dynasty. Mentions about this can be found in Qing Wuzi’s book “Classical text on burial”. Later on, Guo Pu has clarified and extended the explanations on this topic in his “Book about burial”.
Apart from choosing the burial place, the School of Shapes also deals with establishing the place and orientation for the living people’s houses. For this purpose the Feng Shui masters were analyzing the relief forms and the water streams in order to establish the best place for a house to be built.
The second main orientation within the schools is the School of Compass, this name actually being an invention of the occidental people. In Chinese, the school which uses a compass and analyzes the heavenly and earthy forces is called Liqi Pai – School of the Qi Patterns. It has been established that this school comes from the Spring and Fall time and that within this school there are several sophisticated techniques that we can meet also today (Flying Stars – Xuan Kong Fei Xing, The Three Harmonies – Sanhe, Mystical Gates – Qi Men, The Eight Houses – Yigua)
The school of compass is based on the concept based on which each of the eight cardinal points (directions) brings a different type of qi.
Presently, the School of Shapes and School of Compass are used together in order to lead to a correct analysis. Most of the Feng Shui practitioners have combined both schools in a system called “classical” or “traditional” Feng Shui.
What is actually Traditional Feng Shui?
Briefly, Traditional Feng Shui deals with the study of TIME and SPACE. Traditional Feng Shui analyzes the environment, buildings and people, as well as the way qi (energy) evolves in time. It is an extremely complex and fascinating field, which requires years of study.
Learning Traditional Feng Shui required patience, perseverence and wish to exceed all the wrong information which invaded the tradition. The results promised by the principle application, are worth our effort: increase of wealth and health level, improvement of human relationships. When properly applied, the principles can lead to the fulfilment of the aspirations for all people, increasing the chance to achieve success on all plans.
What Traditional Feng Shui is NOT
The years 1970 and 1980 favoured the development of a simplist school called “Life aspirations” or “Black Sect”. These commercial schools are called modern or occidental Feng Shui schools, briefly “New Age Feng Shui”. We will analyze these schools in a future article.
New Age Feng Shui has a great success in America and other cultures where people want simple things with immediate results. Most of this school is a mix of modern psychology, therapy by colours and sounds, aroma-therapy, use of jewelry, promotion of products and symbolism, spiced with a mix of cultural and spiritual beliefs – from China and other cultures as well.
Here there are also techniques called space clearing (cleaning of the space) as well as other similar rituals which do not belong to the traditional Feng Shui. The space clearing techniques use incantations, scented sticks, incense, Tibetan bells as well as other instruments, with the purpose to chase away the negative energies or evil spirits, from the house.
A few “remedies” used by the New Age Feng Shui
The New Age Feng Shui practitioners use, among many other remedies, mirrors, crystals, pipes, red ribbons and statues or sculptures representing dragons, frogs and cats, in order to “activate” the eight sections (aspirations) of life.
Statements such as “This mirror will chase away evil spirits”, “If you place a fish tank in the northern part you will get wealth” or “The bells hanging on the store door will bring many customers” are often used by the “experts” of these schools.
Writing the word Feng Shui
In the traditional Chinese writing the word Feng Shui is written as in the picture (“wind-water”).
