The state-of-the-art of Feng Shui in our society

Today no city planner will seek a Feng Shui （風水）master to find the Dragon hole to house its administrative head-quarter, legislative council or supreme court.  With scarcity of space, finding a permanent grave for one's ancestor is a real luxury, not to mention finding one at a good Dragon hole, which is almost an impossibility nowadays.  Who then still demand the services of a Feng Shui master?

In Hong Kong, Feng Shui is a hot topic.  TV shows at noon time for the housewives often times will invite Feng Shui masters to give advice on this and that.  Many objectives, for health, for good fortune, for winning the lottery, for children studies, for job-promotion (or prevention of demotion), and for a more caring husband. And for some working man and woman, something to be done at the office to ensure better colleagues or boss relations and above all, promotion and salary raise.

Most Hong Kong people live in apartments, some people will seek advice of a Feng Shui master to choose the right one, having consideration to some modified (or brought up to date) principles from ancient Dragon hole practice that I mentioned in a previous post.  That is not where most questions lie.  The most important question for Feng Shui masters today is: Given the location and its defining elements (巒頭), how can a family plan the usage of the rooms and positioning of the furniture (in particular the bed of the bread-winner) to maximize Feng Shu for the family?  A secondary question is: What more can be done to enhance the Feng Shui?  The same can also apply to an office setting, assuming one is senior enough to do something about it.

In response to the need of the customers, the concept Chi-logic (理氣) has been elevated to be the most important one in contemporary Feng Shui practice.  There are many different schools of Chi-logic, ranging from the simple to the highly complex.  The gist is that a harmony or balance has to be achieved between the forces of Sky, Earth and Man (天地人), resulting in good chi being "absorbed" by the person or family.  And good-chi thus absorbed will have all the beneficial effects as stated above!

In order that we can have a better understanding of the concept of Chi-logic, let's look at how one major school, Flying-star school (飛星派), works (of course, there are lots of subdivisions in the school, some principles only will be explained below, rather than going into any internal intricacies or differences).  The Flying-star school makes use of the study of astrology in its practice.  In essence, the position of the stars during different time (year/month/day/hour) will influence good chi or bad chi positions within a dwelling unit (or working unit).  A dwelling unit will be further divided into 9 subunits receiving different influences (good or bad) from the positions of the stars from different directions.  The internal positions of furniture/usage of each subunit will need to be modified in order to maximize the in-flow of good-chi and to prevent (or neutralize) the in-flow of bad-chi.  And in case such internal changes are not possible (e.g. one can't sleep in the kitchen [Stove 灶]), Feng Shui gadgets, as advised by the Feng Shui master, can be used instead.  Since the stars are not stationary, periodic usage of the services of a Feng Shui master is recommended (I mean as recommended by the Feng Shui master).

Feng Shui has been and still is a psychological reality for many people.  In Hong Kong it is not something as serious as organized religion.  It is however an IN topic for people to discuss, and certainly some people will feel more protected (psychologically and/or metaphysically) by following some Feng Shui principles or advice.  I can see there are now an increasing number of Feng Shui books published in the English language, many by practicing Caucasian Feng Shui masters in the West.  I therefore believe it is fair to say that the practice of Feng Shui has successfully redefined itself, and has formed part of the repertoire of healing practices in our society.

Feng Shui compass （風水羅盤): essential tool in Chi-Logic determination

Feng Shui and Mandala

In the previous post, I discussed about the physical aspect of founding the Dragon hole in Feng Shui （風水） using the old city of Kyoto as an example. In this post I shall discuss some of its psychological significance. The primary objective of Feng Shui for city planning had been for the safety and good fortune of the city and in particular for the safety and good fortune of the ruler. You can imagine a ruler of the past, although having built a strong fort with a strong army, adequate food reserve to withstand a lengthy siege, and above all friendly with his neighbors, he would have bad dreams sometimes (if he was conquered, he would lose everything, and no amount of physical protect would be completely sure). Carl Jung would have to say: he might be frightened by frightening images from his personal unconscious arising from his occasional immoral acts (and he was powerful, so he could get away from being punished); and worse yet, from images from the collective unconscious, autonomous beings that threatened to split up his ego! The Feng Shu master came to his rescue.

First and foremost, with a good Feng Shui site situated at a good Dragon hole, the ruler would have support and blessing from the Dragon, a legendary power that supported and blessed whoever that could maintain a good Dragon hole! One requirement is that the Dragon hole has to be protected from left and right (former being a protecting mount called left green dragon 左青龍, latter being also a protecting mount but called right white tiger 右白虎. The originating mount should be towering with the descending ridges showing strength, resulting is a secondary high mount (called Father and Mother mount 父母山) just at the back of the Dragon hole. This relates to the "health" of the Dragon, the ruler would be warned not to harm the Dragon's health through works on the mounts (a kind of environmental protection). And of course water must be provided for the Dragon around the Dragon hole, and the water must be clear and clean too. Moreover, in front of the Dragon hole that must be a small low mount (called Table mount 案山). It is interesting to note that this low mount has no practical value for defense. According to Feng Shui theory, it is for keeping the chi of the Dragon around the Dragon hole. And its psychological significance for protection is apparent - protecting the front, resulting in all round protection from all sides.

The following is a schematic representation of a Dragon hole. It is interesting to compare it with one of Carl Jung's mandalas (drawn by Jung himself, and was used in the Cover of Jung's "Psychology and the East", a collection of interesting essays). Nowadays, modern Feng Shui masters have modified the requirements of a Dragon hole for the benefits of his contemporary clients (for example a man-made pond of even a bowl of water can serve the water requirement, and buildings or other structures can replace mounts). A Feng Shui master will help his client find a right (meaning with safety and good fortune) stand-alone house or apartment-house in a high-rise. The services of psychological protection is everywhere (or wherever there is demand). If you're satisfied with the services of your Feng Shui master, you can always go to see a Jungian therapist instead, perhaps he will ask you to draw your own mandala!

Dragon hole (龍穴)

A mandala drawn by Carl Jung

Feng Shui and nuclear energy

The recent radiation leak in Japan raises the issue of the potential disaster of using nuclear energy. It casts doubt on man's wisdom in tampering too much into nature, in pursue of economic gains (and perhaps with accompanying psychological superiority).

It reminds me of a NHK program ran in the 1200th anniversary of creating the city of Kyoto (formerly known as 平安京 City of Safety). The program featured the popular Japanese writer Hiroshi Aramata (荒俣宏), together with a Feng Shui （風水） master Mr. Liu from Hong Kong, explaining the city planning of Kyoto based on Feng Shui principles. The gist of the planning is with a high mountain at the back with ridges descending to a basin there by the Dragon hole is protected left and right by two small mounts. The requirements are firstly, the ridges should not be disturbed (the ridge is the dragon), secondly, the most important human structure must be built on the dragon hole, and thirdly, water (e.g. a pond) must be created so that the dragon will stay and give good fortune to the people.

The practice of Feng Shui was an advanced development from the mentality of the primitive man. As Carl Jung pointed out, participation mystique was the hall-mark of the psychological make-up of primitive man who couldn't distinguish between real and fantasy resulting in viewing inanimate objects as possessed by demons and spirits. With the progress of civilization, organized religions with singular (or a manageable number of) god or higher being relieved man's burden from thousands of spirits. The practice of Feng Shui in the area of finding the Dragon hole released the then city planner (and its ruler) from possible (fear of) harmful spirits that might have been dwelling in the vicinities. Except in response to occasional local outcries (that actually still happens occasionally, albeit infrequently, nowadays in Hong Kong's rural area, the New Territories), Feng Shui for town planning is not being practiced in the East now.

The philosophy behind finding the Dragon hole and protecting the Dragon is a respect for the Earth. In ancient Chinese thinking (from which Taoism and Confucianism evolved), the Sky, the Earth, and Man were of equal standing, with the Emperor representing Man in this triadic structure. There will be prosperity if the balance between the three forces can be maintained.

The development in the West is quite different. with the triumph of Christianity, man becomes triumphant with God's supporting the faithful. All idol worships and their accompanying spirits should be banned, and with them the entire earth in which the spirits previously dwelt turned second-grade, much inferior to Man, to be conquered and to be worked upon at Man's wishes. Man becomes above Sky and Earth, their masters instead of their equals. Without any holding back, economies prospered together with rapid scientific progress. And with it, unfortunately, the development and rapid expansion of the usage of nuclear energy. A force unleashed that Man believes he can manage. But can't he?

The ancient wisdom of respecting the Sky and Earth sounds a clear alarm. Needless to say, following the route of the Dragon-hole practice would be anti-progress; modern man must find his own path, with his rational mind, his free-will, his (hopefully) enlightened spirituality, and above all his respect for the environment, a lesson we all can learn from a Feng Shui master.

Feng Shui diagram of City of Safety (平安京)