A powerpoint I did on the art of Feng Shui

1. FENG SHUI The ancient Chinese Art By: Fantasia Robertson

2. What is Feng Shui? This is a simple question that can be difficult to answer. Feng Shui is an ancient art and science developed over 3,000 years ago in China. It is a complex body of knowledge that reveals how to balance the energies of any given space to assure the health and good fortune for people inhabiting it. Feng means wind and Shui means water. In Chinese culture wind and water are associated with good health, thus good fengshui came to mean good fortune, while bad fengshui means bad luck, or misfortune Feng Shui is based on the Taoist vision and understanding of nature, particularly on the idea that the land is alive and filled with Chi or energy. The ancient Chinese believed that the land’s energy could either make or break the kingdom, so to speak. The theories of yin and yang, as well as the five fengshui elements, are some of the basic aspects of a fengshui analysis that come from Taoism.

3. Origins of Feng Shui Currently Yangshao and Hongshan cultures provide the earliest evidence for the origin of fengshui. Until the invention of the magnetic compass, fengshui apparently relied on astronomy to find correlations between humans and the universe. In 4000 BC, the doors of Banpo dwellings were aligned to the asterism Yingshi just after the wintersolstice—this sited the homes for solar gain. During the Zhou era, Yingshi was known as Ding and used to indicate the appropriate time to build a capital city, according to the Shijing. The late Yangshao site at Dadiwan (c. 3500-3000 BC) includes a palace-like building (F901) at the center. The building faces south and borders a large plaza. It is on a north-south axis with another building that apparently housed communal activities. The complex may have been used by regional communities. A grave at Puyang (c. 4000 BC) that contains mosaics—actually a Chinese star map of the Dragon and Tiger asterisms and Beidou (the Big Dipper, Ladle or Bushel) – is oriented along a north-south axis. The presence of both round and square shapes in the Puyang tomb, at Hongshan ceremonial centers and the late Longshan settlement at Lutaigang, suggests that gaitian cosmography (heaven-round, earth-square) was present in Chinese society long before it appeared in the Zhou Bi Suan Jing. Cosmography that bears a striking resemblance to modern fengshui devices and formulas was found on a jade unearthed at Hanshan and dated around 3000 BC. The design is linked by archaeologist Li Xueqin to the liuren astrolabe, zhinanzhen, and Luopan. Beginning with palatial structures at Erlitou, all capital cities of China followed rules of fengshui for their design and layout. Graves and tombs also followed rules of fengshui, from Puyang to Mawangdui and beyond. From the earliest records, it seems that the rules for the structures of the graves and dwellings were the same.

4. Who practices it? Today, fengshui is practiced not only by the Chinese, but also by Westerners. However, with the passage of time and fengshui's popularization in the West, much of the knowledge behind it has been lost in translation, not paid proper attention to, frowned upon, or scorned. Robert T. Carroll sums up what fengshui has become in some cases: "fengshui has become an aspect of interior decorating in the Western world and alleged masters of fengshui now hire themselves out for hefty sums to tell people such as Donald Trump which way his doors and other things should hang. Fengshui has also become another New Age "energy" scam with arrays of metaphysical products ... offered for sale to help you improve your health, maximize your potential, and guarantee fulfillment of some fortune cookie philosophy." Others have noted how, when fengshui is not applied properly, or rather, without common sense, it can even harm the environment, such as was the case of people planting "lucky bamboo" in ecosystems that could not handle them. Still others are simply skeptical.

5. Who practices it (cont’d) Nevertheless, even modern fengshui is not always looked at as a superstitious scam. Many people believe it is important and very helpful in living a prosperous and healthy life either avoiding or blocking negative energies that might otherwise have bad effects. Many of the higher-level forms of fengshui are not so easily practiced without either connections, or a certain amount of wealth because the hiring of an expert, the great altering of architecture or design, and the moving from place to place that is sometimes necessary requires a lot of money. Because of this, some people of the lower classes lose faith in fengshui, saying that it is only a game for the wealthy.Others, however, practice less expensive forms of Feng Shui, including hanging special (but cheap) mirrors, forks, or woks in doorways to deflect negative energy.

6. Who practices it (cont’d) Even today fengshui is so important to some peoplethat they use it for healing purposes, separate from western medical practice, in addition to using it to guide their businesses and create a peaceful atmosphere in their homes. In 2005, even Disney acknowledged fengshui as an important part of Chinese culture by shifting the main gate to Hong Kong Disneyland by twelve degrees in their building plans, among many other actions suggested by the master planner of architecture and design at Walt Disney Imagineering, Wing Chao, in an effort to incorporate local culture into the theme park. The practice of Feng Shui is diverse and multi-faceted. There are many different schools and perspectives. The International Feng Shui Guild (IFSG) is a non-profit professional organization that presents the full diversity of Feng Shui. One of the best known Feng Shui users is real estate mogul Donald Trump. After losing Asian clients a few years ago due to his properties' apparently bad Feng Shui, he hired a Feng Shui master to analyze the auspiciousness of Trump Towers. At Singapore Polytechnic and other institutions like the New York College of Health Professions, many students (including engineers and interior designers) take courses on fengshui every year and go on to become fengshui (or geomancy) consultants.

7. How is it performed?

8. What supplies are needed? The main tools used in a fengshui analysis are the Compass and the Ba-Gua. The Ba-Gua is an octagonal grid containing the symbols of the I Ching, the ancient oracle on which FengShui is based. Knowing the Bagua of your home will help you understand the connection of specific fengshui areas of your home to specific areas of your life.