Classic Feng Shui lesson from a Beijing Professor

When Professor Zhao gave a lecture about Feng Shui at the Chinese Culture Club (CCC) in Beijing (see my post about Feng Shui in Beijing) he distinguished between the Feng Shui for exterior settings and for interiors.

This post is about Feng Shui for interiors and will be the third and last part about Prof. Zhao's lecture. Please remember that this lecture was about classic feng shui as it is still practiced in China.

He started by listing some general hints:

1) A good floor plan or layout has to have a square or rectangular shape to ensure the free flow of qi. (remark: if the layout of a floor or a room has a different shape, e.g. a L-shape, some area of the bagua map will miss.)

2) The amount and size of rooms should be in an adequate ratio to the the amount of people living in.

3) Try to get as much sunshine as possible into the rooms (best of course when facing south).

4) The rooms should be placed according importance (e.g. bathroom in the back)

5) Balance the influences of yin & yang (shadow and light, high and low, 'water and fire')

6) Avoid sharp corners (less 90 degree)

7) Avoid 'hasty wind' (draft) that could attack the good qi.


How to enhance feng shui in special areas / rooms :

Main Door / Gate
- the main door is equivalent to the face of a person
- free passage for wind and people
- door best in South-East corner
(for courtyards: then turn left and have 2nd door in the middle - or have a fish bowl or statue or screen between the 1st and the 2nd door to walk around - because evil ghosts (only) go straight)
- it is not good to see the kitchen right away (kitchen is related to fire)
- it is not good to face the toilet right away (no good smell)
- avoid to see a mirror (it can reflect both, good and bad qi which goes away, out of the house)
- avoid wooden beam above the entrance (could be 'bone-crushing')
- avoid arch shape of your door (in China it is associated with tombs)
- the door should not face a road or an elevator as bad qi can blow into your home

Living Room / Main Room
- emphasize elegance or your taste
- should reflect harmony and peace (of a family)
- should be easy to access (not to walk long ways), best in center
- should have lots of light or bright lamps
- try to avoid to see other doors, egg. to bedroom
- no wooden beam (symbolize that somebody is riding on you, also dangerous during earthquakes)
- appropriate number of furniture, not too less, not too much
- sofa should be place against wall or other furniture (console)
- but not a fish tank (water) should be behind or in front of the sofa
- no mirror behind the sofa (head is reflected and gives disturbance to the person like 'you lost your spirit, attention')
- no passage behind the sofa (no person or wind should be able to pass behind)

Corridor / Stairs
- a corridor should not run in the middle of a house and separate the rooms like a sword
- also not good if a stairways is in the living room, if stairs are necessary then better spiral stairs (in clockwise direction)

Bedroom
- should be peaceful and comfortable
- no mirror in front or beside the bed !
- 2 bedrooms should not face each other, doors should not be opposite to ensure privacy
- no glass window straight down to the floor (in case make bottom part not see-through)
- toilet should not face bedroom (in case keep door closed)
- bedroom door should not face kitchen door
- no sharp things (eg. sword, ventilator) --> no ventilator over bed !
- bed should not face the door

Kitchen
- clean
- tools should be placed for convenience
- not in the center of the house
- not facing south (kitchen = fire, South = fire, when kitchen on fire --> too much fire!)
- should not face the gate / main door, bedroom or toilet (smell)
- oven should not face the window or door (wind could extinguish fire, if cooking with gas)
- also separate water (sink, fridge) and fire (oven)

Toilet
- clean (of course... well, not always in China...)
- dry (dto.)
- privacy (dto.)
- worst location (egg. South-West part of courtyard, or any hidden corner, but not in center)
- not at the end of a corridor
- should have good ventilation (best is window)
- close toilet seat (yes!!) --> to prevent loss (of money)



Common Errors


1) a common error is to paint the walls in these colors (of the 5 elements), better to choose a color according to your feelings or your birth date (how to calculate your bagua number and finding the suitable colour go here)
2) the Western interpretation of the 8 patterns is different or often not correct (in which way I did not get it, too bad)
3) the number theory is also often miss used (egg. with floors)... did he mean the '4' phobia that includes '14', '24' etc. ?)
4) the exaggeration of inner and outer screen walls (this is more useful for courtyards)
5) some beasts (statues) or magic writing to fear off evil is exaggerated.


Well, I hope this was a bit different from the usual Feng Shui reads in the West. It has some amusing parts. It cannot always be applied to modern Western homes. But what I learned is that you have to follow your intuition and pick for yourself what feels best for you, also what symbols work best for you. I am not the crystal ball type. BUT I have heard a story about a quartz / rock crystal under a bed that must have fulfilled its purpose.

Any interesting Feng Shui experience to share?

link:
Feng Shui label on Beijing Notebook

101 Feng Shui for exterior settings - a must read for (Beijing) property buyers

'Traditionally, feng shui was important in choosing a place to live and finding a burial site, along with agricultural planning.'

After my recent introduction to Feng Shui in Beijing, I would like to continue to write about Prof. Zhao's lecture, held at the Chinese Culture Club in Beijing.

And so he started with the exterior settings of a house which are key for good feng shui:

1) The ideal location for a property was (and still is) to have a mountain in the back and water in front !

2) The property ideally should face South !

3) The number of inhabitants should be in balance with the size of the house ! Not too many people should live in a small house and few people should not live in a big house.

4) The complex or house should be build in harmony and in right proportions ! Example for harmony: the traditional Beijing courtyard house that has a garden in the middle and all buildings face the courtyard. Ideal shapes are square or rectangular.

5) The wind around the house should not be too strong to protect the smooth flow of qi. In Beijing there are some streets and corners that are much more effected by wind then others.

6) Before you buy a property you should check the earth and the water where you want to live. In Beijing's West and Northwest the water quality is good and the property prices are higher then e.g. in the South of the city.

7) The house should have some free space in front and should not be blocked by a high raised building.

8) Modifications of a location to achieve better feng shui are possible.


To achieve a good feng shui, good qi (energy) = good luck, consider the following for your property choice:

- not too close to a temple (or church), this might overwhelm you with too strong energy (even though it is positive energy)

- not too close to a prison

- not too close to a waste dump

- not too close to a slaughter house

- don't choose a single lonely high raised building among low raised houses and vice verse don't choose a small house beside sky scrapers (not balanced!)

- if your neighbour has no 'grass' in the front yard, it symbolizes that he is poor which is not so good for a balanced neighbourhood

- your house should not stand at the end of a road and face a T-crossing

- a building with a sharp corner that faces your house implies bad feng shui.

According Prof. Zhao, the Sunflower building near Liangma Flower market in Beijing has the shape of an ax - which is considered as bad feng shui for the Sunflower building and the neighbourhood with the result that the prices for property goes down.

To be continued... the next 101 will be about interiors

Feng Shui in Beijing

While in China you would think that learning about Feng Shui (translation: 风 fēng = wind, 水 shuǐ = water) is a must. But what I learned is that since the founding of the People's Republic of China in 1949, feng shui has been officially deemed as a "feudalistic superstitious practice" and a "social evil" and that it was banned at times. However, at the end of the Cultural Revolution, the official attitude became more tolerant. But restrictions on feng shui practice are still in place in today's China.

In May 2006, I had the opportunity to attend a lesson about Feng Shui by Professor Zhao at the Chinese Culture Club (CCC) in Beijing. As I understood Prof. Zhao is teaching architecture at the China University, but he does not officially lectures about Feng Shui at university. The slides he used for the lecture were in English, however his speech was in Chinese and simultaneously translated into English.

At the end he stated that - other than the people in Hong Kong, which are very superstitious and use feng shui all the time - the Beijingers are less interested in feng shui. It is mainly used by real estate agents and construction companies to sell. There is no official discipline in any Chinese university. "Feng Shui is more considered as a secret and the Chinese government does not support it" he said.

Well, since a long time I wanted to blog about that lecture and I will finally start today. I know, I am not going to reveal anything new. If you are interested in Feng Shui you will find many books on the market that explain much better and much more. I will only provide a summary of Prof. Zhao's introduction to Feng Shui and how to use it for your home.

For those who have never heard about Feng Shui before:
Nowadays it is used to make you feel better - more energetic or more relaxed - in a room, may it be in your office or at home. It has a lot to do with common sense, but this old wisdom also has some 'tricks' you would not have thought about.

The professor's lecture at that evening was about the feng shui of yang buildings, buildings for the living. (Ying buildings are for the dead --> tombs).

He started with a building's exterior and how it can ensure a good feng shui.

... to be continued ....

links:
wikipedia on Fengshui
Feng Shui 101 at about.com

About Feng Shui

With this article I applied at About.com to become a guide about Feng Shui. As I never got a reply and I am not going to be a Feng Shui guide soon, I am sharing here my research:


About Feng Shui

Feng Shui is the ancient Chinese art of arranging elements in your environment to improve your health, happiness and prosperity.

The roots of Feng Shui (literally 'wind' and 'water') dates back about five thousand years when the first nomads settled down in the south of today’s People's Republic of China (PRC). These farmers learned that the location and timing of sowings is essential to yield a large crop. They developed this knowledge about nature and applied it on other things in life such as the layout of dwellings and graves. Later, all capital cities of China including the imperial palaces followed rules of Feng Shui for their design and layout.

Feng Shui became a science used by the rich and powerful. During the communist revolution the practice of it was officially forbidden in the PRC. Although it is no longer forbidden today, Feng Shui is less common in the PRC as it is often thought of as "feudalistic superstitious practice". However, in other Asian countries, especially Hong Kong, Taiwan and Malaysia it has been widely spread.

Over many centuries different schools of Feng Shui have developed. Each school has a slightly different approach to the subject, although the basic principles are the same.

The classical Chinese Feng Shui focuses on the landscape contours and the auspicious positioning of buildings. This Feng Shui school is also called the Form School and is mainly used in Asia in architecture to construct buildings with good Feng Shui to ensure success and prosperity to its residents - including companies and hotels.

The two most popular forms of Feng Shui in the West are the Compass School and the Black Hat Sect, founded in California 1986 - or a combination of both. This western Feng Shui is more adapted to modern daily life. It helps decorating private homes or office space in a way to improve health and happiness. To achieve these targets different methods and tools are in use by different schools.

Many books on Feng Shui are published. Much information is provided on the internet. Anyone can start to make changes in their home or office. But most important is to follow your own intuition to improve your life.

**************************************************************
Update: About.com wrote me later that they already have found a guide to Feng Shui. Her name is Rodika Tchi and she is a real expert.