Introduction on Feng Shui

Schools of feng shui

The form school

    The so-called "form school" is a misnomer, as all forms of traditional feng shui use a compass.

The compass school

    The term is a misnomer, because the history of feng shui encompasses at least 3,500 years before the invention of the south-pointing spoon (zhinan zhen).

    The alleged 'compass school' and alleged 'form school' both are based on astronomy, cosmology, calendrical science, and political power. Cosmography that bears a striking resemblance to San Yuan and San He compasses (and computations) was found on a jade unearthed at Hanshan (c. 3000 BCE). The design is linked by Li Xueqin to the liuren astrolabe, zhinan zhen, and Luopan.

    Before the invention of the magnetic compass (which occurs comparatively late in the long history of feng shui), Chinese often used the celestial pole determined by the pole stars to determine the north-south axis of settlements. This technique largely explains why Shang palaces at Xiaotun lie ten degrees east of due north.

    In some cases, as Paul Wheatley observed, they bisected the angle between the directions of the rising and setting sun to find north. This technique provided the more precise alignments of the Shang walls at Yanshi and Zhengzhou.

    Both "compass school" and "form school" can be traced to Early Yangshao culture. Professor David Pankenier and his associates reviewed astronomical data for the time of the Banpo dwellings (4000 BCE) to show that the asterism Yingshi (Lay out the Hall, in the Warring States period and early Han era) corresponded to the sun's location at this time. Centuries before, the asterism Yingshi was known as Ding. It was used to indicate the appropriate time to build a capital city, according to the Shijing.

    The grave at Puyang (radiocarbon dated 5,000 BP) that contains mosaics of the Dragon and Tiger constellations and Beidou (Big Dipper) is similarly oriented with cosmological accuracy along a north-south axis.

    All capital cities of China followed rules of Feng Shui for their design and layout. These rules were codified during the Zhou era in the "Kaogong ji" (Manual of Crafts). Rules for builders were codified in the "Lu ban jing" (Carpenter's Manual). Graves and tombs also followed rules of Feng Shui. From the earliest records, it seems that the rules for these structures were developed from rules for dwellings.

    The oldest excavated examples of devices used for feng shui are liuren astrolabes. These consist of a lacquered, two-sided board with astronomical sightlines. Liuren astrolabes have been unearthed from tombs at Wangjiatai and Zhoujiatai. These devices date between 278 BC and 209 BC.

The Black Sect school

    Black Sect, a church incorporated in the state of California in 1984, is a recent invention. The church is led by Grandmaster Thomas Lin Yun Rinpoche, who developed a distinctive product called Black Sect or BTB Feng Shui. It is sometimes called Black Hat Sect Tantric Buddhist. Black Sect feng shui. The Lin Yun version relies on internal orientation and organization of space. For instance, the Black Sect always orients its bagua in line with a space's entrance.

Flying Stars

    Flying Stars is a traditional feng shui technique that uses calculations of time and space to optimize the potential of human construction, even in the planning stages of a structure, settlement, or city. This is an old technique, for Kan (the order of heaven) and yu (the order of earth) identify time and space calculations of feng shui in the Springs and Autumns period.

    The "stars" in this technique were originally based on astronomical observances and related calendrical computations. Flying Stars on paper looks quite similar to earlier systems using the liuren astrolabe (whether during the Shang or later), or the cord-hook device used by Taiyi diviners from the beginning of the Han. Similar techniques are also found in calculations of the jiugong (Nine Palaces diagram), the Rishu found in Shuihudi manuscripts, and the Xingde (Daiyin) calculations.

    The date calculations in Flying Stars use San Yuan or three cycles of the ganzhi (Stems and Branches) system. This is a sexagenary cycle which has been in continual use since at least the time of the Shang. In San Yuan, a ganzhi is divided into 20-year cycles that are each assigned a numeric value. The numeric value has qualitative aspects that correlate with types of Qi and other phenomena.

    A San Yuan or Zong He compass is used to determine the horizontal component of the local magnetic field. The basic reading determines the structural (or city) axis according to the jie qi (24 even and odd solar terms), more commonly known as the 24 Mountains.

    Information obtained from the compass is correlated to the anticipated time of construction (for undeveloped or reclaimed land) or the known date of construction or remodeling. All of these attributes are expressed as numeric values. The calendrical values determine how the structure values "fly" (that is, how they shift in the type of diagram that is used). The diagram is correlated with compass readings and aligned with the structure or land. Qualitative assessments of living and working areas are determined according to the context of numeric values.

Traditional or Classical feng shui

    Classical feng shui, also known as traditional or authentic feng shui, is what is practiced and taught in Asia. It is the type of feng shui that is found in the archaeological record, and in Chinese history and literature. Traditional feng shui requires the use of a compass, whether San Yuan, San He, or Zong He.

    Classical feng shui is typically associated with the following techniques. However, this does not exhaust the list.

Bagua (relationship of the five phases or wuxing)

Five phases (wuxing relationships)

Qimen dunjia (Eight doors, Nine stars relationships)

San He (24 mountains with mountain-water relationships) --- this is what is erroneously labeled "form school" although it uses a compass

Xuan kong da gua (Secret Decree, 64 gua relationships)

Flying Stars (Time and directions)

Ba zhai (Eight Houses or Eight Mansions)

Ziwei Dou Shu (Purple King, 24-star astrology)

Use in burials

    The effect of proper feng shui on the living is thought to carry over to the afterlife. In traditional feng shui belief, the feng shui of cemeteries affects the state of the dead spirits and, indirectly, their living descendants. Spirits of the buried were believed to remain at their gravesites or by the homes of their kin, and just as bad feng shui harms relaxation and ease of mind among the living, the spirits of people buried with bad feng shui will be anxious and restless, and therefore more likely to trouble the living. This reasoning led to careful feng shui planning of cemeteries. Conversely, desecrating the feng shui of the grave of an enemy's ancestor was thought to be a powerful weapon.

    The straight lines and sharp corners should not point at a gravesite or at the cemetery generally, a smooth or gradual landscape is preferable to rocky or otherwise sharp terrain. Waterways should be visible from the gravesite, but not loose rocks or boulders, which can be hidden by trees or bamboo.

    The use of early forms of feng shui or geomancy in picking burial sites can be traced back at least to The Book of Burial (c. 300 CE), written by Guo Pu of the Jin Dynasty.

Criticism

    Many critics regard Feng Shui as a form of superstition. Eitel calls it "a conglomeration of rough guesses at nature, sublimated by fanciful play with puerile diagrams."

    High fees charged by independent feng shui consultants and a lack of consistency in their advice have raised eyebrows among skeptics. This has led to accusations of fraud, and practitioners being called cult members or snake oil salesmen, by said skeptics. Penn & Teller did a special on their show Bullshit! that was highly critical of the independent consultants featured.

Use in the West

    In recent decades many feng shui books have been published in English, often focusing on interior design, architecture, interior decorating, and landscape design. Audiences have reacted skeptically towards the purported benefits of crystals, wind chimes, table fountains, and mirrored balls, etc., on one's life, finances, and relationships. Often, these claims are dismissed as New Age, pseudoscience, relying on the placebo effect, or even outright fraud.

    Others reject feng shui's justifications for its rules (movement of various energies, etc.), but believe that some of its more practical rules (such as not working with one's back to a door) are very useful.

    It is unclear what relationship these Western interpretations of feng shui have to the Eastern tradition. Many traditional feng shui practitioners in Asia regard Western adaptations as inauthentic.

    Donald Trump and Britain's Prince Charles are held to have used feng shui.

    News Corporation reportedly consulted feng shui experts regarding the headquarters offices of DirecTV after News Corp. acquired that company in 2003.