{"id":4070,"date":"2012-01-13T11:00:21","date_gmt":"2012-01-13T16:00:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/chinese\/?p=4070"},"modified":"2012-01-13T10:33:58","modified_gmt":"2012-01-13T15:33:58","slug":"feng-shui","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/chinese\/feng-shui\/","title":{"rendered":"Feng Shui (\u98ce\u6c34)"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>Feng Shui or \u98ce\u6c34 (f\u0113ng<\/a> shu\u01d0<\/a>)\u00a0is an ancient\u00a0Chinese system of\u00a0aesthetics believed to use the laws of both Heaven (astronomy) and Earth (geography) to help improve one’s life by receiving positive \u201cqi\u201d (\u6c14). Also known as geomancy, this style of Feng Shui is done by reordering and moving furniture, room orientation and even wall\/window\/door locations to better coincide and synergize with the inhabitants own “life energy”. The original designation for the discipline of Feng Shui is\u00a0Kan Yu<\/em> (which translates\u00a0literally as:\u00a0Tao of heaven and earth<\/em>).<\/p>\n

Feng shui improves positive qi simply by rearranging one’s living space to better foster happiness and harmony. While Feng shui doesn’t directly deal with immediate health problems or concerns, much like QiGong (click to \u00a0here read post on QiGong or \u6c14\u529f<\/a>), it focuses on long term health and balance of body, mind and spirit.
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History (\u5386\u53f2\uff09<\/strong><\/p>\n

The history of feng shui dates back 3,500 plus years–even\u00a0before the invention of the magnetic compass. Feng shui originated from\u00a0Chinese astronomy and still blends a good deal of astronomical theory with the placement and orientation of one’s living quarters.\u00a0Some current techniques can be traced to\u00a0Neolithic China,\u00a0while others were added later (most notably the\u00a0Han dynasty, the\u00a0Tang, the\u00a0Song, and the\u00a0Ming).<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>The astronomical history of feng shui is evident in the development of instruments and techniques.\u00a0Rituals for using a feng shui instrument required a diviner to examine current sky phenomena to set and adjust their position in relation to the device.\u00a0The oldest examples of instruments used for feng shui are\u00a0liuren<\/em> astrolabes<\/a>, also known as\u00a0shi<\/em>. These consist of a\u00a0lacquered, two-sided board with astronomical sightlines (see image to right). The earliest examples of liuren astrolabes have been unearthed from tombs that date between 278 BC and 209 BC.<\/p>\n

Theory:<\/strong><\/p>\n

The goal of feng shui is to situate the human built environment on spots with good qi. The goal is to find a “perfect spot” in both location\u00a0and in time. This perfect spot is the intersection of qi (\u6c14), polarity (\u9634\u9633\uff09and bagua (\u516b\u5366) or the eight diagrams of cosmology. Since we’ve already covered “qi” and “polarity” (think yin and yang) in previous posts, lets move on directly to the heart of Feng shui–Bagua.<\/p>\n