FENG SHUI

What is Feng Shui?

Feng shui is a Chinese environmental divination practice that reads the flow of "qi" in a home’s orientation and layout through the frameworks of yin-yang, the five elements, and the eight trigrams, offering practical guidance for improving daily comfort, wealth, and relationships.

Overview

System

Form Reading (reads from a home’s shape and orientation)

Origin

China (from Neolithic dwelling sites to Han-dynasty capital planning)

What You Need

Information on the home’s orientation and floor plan type

Best For

Money, environment, life

Time Frame

Near term, 1 year

Origins & History

Feng shui’s roots are said to be extremely old: settlement remains from the Neolithic Yangshao and Hongshan cultures are said to show dwelling layouts oriented toward the winter solstice sunrise. From the Han dynasty onward, principles of siting were formally incorporated into the design of capitals and palaces, and by the Ming and Qing dynasties the system had developed to the point that the imperial court’s own astronomical bureau retained specialists in it.

Feng shui analyzes environments by combining the eight trigrams (closely tied to the I Ching), the symbolism of the four directional guardians—the Azure Dragon, Vermilion Bird, White Tiger, and Black Tortoise—and the theory of yin-yang and the five elements (wood, fire, earth, metal, water). A magnetic compass (luopan), used since ancient times to measure direction precisely, allows a home or plot of land to be judged auspicious or inauspicious based on both the visible "form" of mountains and rivers and the invisible flow of energy known as "qi."

How It Works

1. 01Confirm the orientation of the home to be assessed (such as the direction the entrance faces).
2. 02Organize the floor plan type (the arrangement and use of each room).
3. 03Read the qi-related qualities of each direction and room according to the correspondence tables of the eight trigrams and five elements.
4. 04Compile practical advice, such as rearranging furniture, for areas where the flow of qi appears blocked or imbalanced.

What It Reveals

Feng shui is well suited to reading how a home’s orientation and layout tend to affect wealth, relationships, and daily comfort, and to drawing practical advice for improving one’s environment. At the same time, the elements emphasized and the criteria used vary between schools of feng shui, and it is not a one-size-fits-all remedy for every issue in a living environment.

Related Methods

Nine Star KiI Ching (Zhou Yi)Four Pillars of Destiny (Bazi)Physiognomy (East Asian Face Reading)Grave Physiognomy (Boso)

References

• Wikipedia: Feng shui (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Feng_shui)