Feng Shui

FengShui (literally, "wind and water") is an Oriental art of architecture that originated in China, and which is now most broadly practiced in Japan. The art has roots in the principles of the I'Ching, a Chinese classic that is often viewed as a fortune-telling book.

FengShui principles help architects guide the flow of chi (energy) through a house, so it doesn't disturb the occupants as they sit or repose.

What sort of energy would that be then?

The kind that is invisible to individuals who are foo, which is the Chinese term for "more skeptical than thou".

FengShui is simply practical interior design, described using a SystemMetaphor.

Ignore the mysticism. Examine the rules.

House opposite a T intersection is bad. Because cars runs into house. ...and headlights at night wake people up.

Toilet audible from bed is bad. Because people wake up.

Weapons in bedroom is bad. Because you might have an accident in the dark.

Window behind stove is bad. Because window gets dirty.

And so on.

ChiEnergy? is an ill-formed concept (both in FengShui and ChineseMartialArts?). But there is much practical information in these areas.

EricUlevik

A while ago The Independent (a UK newspaper) ran a series of articles about "alternative therapies", including the results of any clinical trial that had been run on them. One of these was particularly interesting, it discussed reflexology. Reading it caused a kind of epiphany for me. The results showed that reflexology is not an effective remedy for asthma, or for pain; but is effective at relieving stress and some symptoms of pre-menstrual syndrome. Wow! maybe there's something in this after all. The article explained that reflexologists study these "flows" through the body and that these "nodes" (I may not have the nomenclature quite right) in the feet could influence the energy flow in the rest of the body. Cool. But then my higher centers stepped in.

"Reflexology" is a MysteryNoun. What is means is: "having your feet rubbed". Lets re-write the article: clinical trials show that "having your feet rubbed" is not an effective remedy for asthma, or for pain; but is effective at relieving stress and some symptoms of pre-menstrual syndrome. Well, I've got asthma, and I've rubbed a few feet in my time, and I can confirm all four of those statements. So the lesson is that reflexology works, for small values of "works". And why this should be so is immediately obvious after unpacking the MysteryNoun.

So to FengShui. As presented to the UK public by the media FengShui is a MysteryNoun. Again, as presented, it seems to mean: spend a load of money on nice new things for your house, redecorate, and spend some time talking to a nice, sympathetic person about how to do this. I'm sure I'd feel a lot better when in my house if I did that, too, if I were a home-owner (which I'm not). -- KeithBraithwaite

For some reason I can't read Feng Shui without thinking "fling sh*t". Sort of fits into conversation too: "Oh, I practice FengShui." "Why, yes, I can see that."

For native English speakers maximum entertainment value is obtained by discussing FengShui in the presence of both native Cantonese and Mandarin speakers. The only thing they'll agree on is that you are prounouncing it wrong.

FengShui is a pattern language of sorts - don't you think? Most non-programming pattern systems (read religious mostly) attempt to establish order out of the seemingly chaotic interplay of cause and effect. Effective patterns only occur where there is a definable problem space, and thus the causes can for the most part be enumerated and their effect predicted. Human, and natural behaviour encompass innumerable causes and effects thus pattern languages that try to describe them are not effective. -- MichaelChean

When I'm feeling cynical, I tend to think of Chi as arising from an encoding of architectural rules. We could probably write coding standards in such a way that the lines of code do not intersect with Chi / Energy / Whatever, so long as that Chi / Energy / Whatever behaves in a predictable way.

-- DavidMcNicol (who has never liked sitting with his back to the door, regardless of the reason)

I always understood that traditional FongShwei? (FengShui, whatever), mostly had to do with where to put graveyards in harmony with The Life Force, chi, whatever. The idea that you should use it for interior design is probably a mixture of Chinese folk-belief and a Western tendency to bolt higher meaning onto a mundane thing like interior decoration. -- HanWenNienhuys

If one can get past ignorant sneering there is wisdom in it. The major rules relate to the positioning of a house with respect to the surroundings. The criteria which are considered act as constraints on a space. They also relate to correction of houses which are balanced, or have become unbalanced. A lot of the geometric rules would be familiar to builders of castles, they relate to defensive postures and tactics. Space rules relate to comfort and efficiency. Ch'i comes in many varieties, but is considered to spontaneously arise with harmonic functioning of the body, and can be broadly considered to be life-energy, though essentialist interpretations of ch'i as some Star Wars style 'force' are misguided. Designing your house to provide an environment for harmony seems like a good idea to me. There is a direct correspondence to Alexander's work, if you look beyond the paraphernalia.

A visiting friend who'd been reading about Feng Shui told me "I think that you have a toilet in your relationship area." That explained much...

Hmmm...lighting off fireworks is a good way of clearing negative chi but perhaps not advisable in such an enclosed location.

...maybe fresh flowers would work.

FengShui is defintely more than just practical interior layout. The reason why FengShui is often tied to graveyards has to do with ancient Chinese. Ancient Chinese, mostly Emperors or wealthy families, often hire a FengShui master to search for a resting place for their ancestors. A well positioned grave can ensures that the family's next 3 generations are blessed.

The Chi is the mobile element in FengShui. It is not fixed and hence needs adjustment annually. FengShui is also based on the 5 elements: Metal, Wood, Water, Fire, Earth. These are the elements or parameters that one can use to influence the outcomes.

The study of FengShui is also rarely done standalone. It is often tied to the "Ba Zhi" or 8 Characters. BaZhi? represents the exact time-year that one is born. This is the constant that can't be changed. The BaZhi? have been a very accurate way of reading one's life.

As to FengShui being some forms of Patterns... bear in mind that Fengshui is linked to I'Ching. And I'Ching is somehow derived or tie to calculations of sorts. It is this form of systematic approach to analyse that gives consistent results.

-- YekSoon?

The first season of Penn & Teller's Bullsh!t included part of an episode about FengShui. They hired three FengShui "artists" to rearrange the same residence, returning the arrangement to its original form before each "artist" visited. Each of the three made drastically different changes to the layout. If FengShui were really based on the flow of "chi" (whatever that is), one would expect the three layouts at least be 'somewhat similar.

If FengShui is really just good design/arrangement of rooms/furniture, why do they keep the woo-woo "qi" concept? Few Western schools of design carry on about mystical energies when they talk about the "flow" of a room, or the "balance" of elements on a wall - they are discussing visual stimuli and ergonomic factors.

While I don't subscribe to it either, this question just wreaks of ignorance and disrespect for the Asian cultures. I could just as easily ask, if hospitals exist to heal the sick and mend the wounded, why keep the woo-woo "God" concept? Despite having allegedly read the entirety of this page, are you still so ignorant not to recognize that FengShui originates in Asian culture, and is tied intimately thereto? Western schools of design are irrelevant; FengShui is not western. Your fundamental precepts are wrong.

If different FengShui practitioners get different layouts for a {room|building}, doesn't that tend to invalidate the concept? And the analogy between hospitals and religion is flawed - Western medicine does not reply on religious practices to heal - a vaccination works with or without prayer. The cultural retention of religion is separate from the practice of medicine.

Again, this is irrelevant. You're asked why they keep with the concept of chi. That is a cultural thing. It has nothing to do with objectivity in any way. You are attempting to apply western thought and values to eastern philosophy. This is a sure recipe for failure.

So you're saying that they keep the concept of chi because they cannot conceive of another worldview? Or that "eastern philosophy" is excused from reality? Now, FengShui as style is perfectly fine - it's the claim that it somehow "controls chi" that is suspect.

See FengShuiAndTheArtOfSoftwareDesign, ChiEnergy?

CategoryOffTopic