Feng Shui Practice and Policies from Late Qing Dynasty to Modern Chinese Society

When talking about Feng Shui, usually people would pay attention to the technical practice. However, I am also interested in the social aspect of it, such as how people practice it and what the government’s policies are towards it. My discussion only covers the period from 1850 to the 21^st century. However before I start, let’s divide the development of Feng Shui into several time intervals. According to Henry Lin, the author of The Art and Science of Feng Shui, the development of Feng Shui in China can be parted into 5 periods:

1. Formative Period:

Dated from 4600 years ago, under the reign of the Yellow Emperor, to the Jin dynasty (256-420). Feng Shui was believed to be the derivate of the Taoist theory of Yin (negative) and Yang (positive). During this early period, Feng Shui practice was limited to the loyalties and wealth people.

2. Heyday Period:

From Tang dynasty (618-907) to Song dynasty (960-1179), this 600 years periods was prominent for the literature boost and academic freedom in the Chinese history. Feng Shui practice in this period became more mature. And the division of two schools occurred. One is the Direction School (Compass School) originated in Fujian province; the other is the Situation School (Form School) from Jiangxi province.

3. Follow-up Period:

From Yuan dynasty (1270-1368) to Qing dynasty (1644-1911), another 600-year period, in which instead of the original development was a widespread Feng Shui practice in previous methods.

4. Declining Period:

This period covered around 150 years, from late Qing dynasty t0 1970s. This is the most turbulent stage in the modern Chinese history with wars and disasters. Feng Shui was threated by the upheavals and government’s political policies. 

5. Resurgent Period:

This recent period started in 1980s. The revival of Feng Shui at this time was a response to the western interest towards everything traditionally Chinese: Kongfu, Taiji… And modern scientific explanation and tools were applied to the application of Feng Shui. 

As in these five periods, Feng Shui experienced the transformations of the society, which leads to the change of the civilian’s attitudes and government’ policies towards it. During the late Qing dynasty, because of the intensifying of the destitution of peasantry and the continuous rebellions, Feng Shui became a tool for people to impetrate for the good life. However, in order to solidify the political power of the Qing state, the ruler differentiated Feng Shui from the orthodoxy, Confucianism, Buddhism and Taoism. They claimed Feng Shui as a superstition that deluded the people.

Nevertheless, the complicated situation of this time period has changed the ruling class’ policies on Feng Shui practice. This time period was full of the clashes not only with in but also from the outside. Followed by the coming of western missionaries and sojourners, the western invasion has expanded in China. The culture conflict worsened the relationship between local people and foreigners, which leaded to several anti-religious movements that targeted the Christianity. As the foreign power grew under the eyes of Qing government, the rulers felt a huge threat to their authority. The western enterprise requested the building of railroad, industries, the permission of exploiting coal and mine. In order to refuse these proposals without displeasing the powerful invader, the weak Qing government used Feng Shui as an excuse. They claimed that the construction on the sites would ruin the Feng Shui of those places, thus destroy the positive Qi, bringing the bad luck to the country. Realizing Feng Shui could serve as a weapon that helped the government to struggle against the foreign invasion, the authoritative started to promote the practice of Feng Shui all over the country. They believed that the promotion of Feng Shui practice was a protection of the Chinese culture from the western religion. Moreover, the legitimation of the Feng Shui practice became an obstacle against the foreign penetration.

After Qing government collapsed, Nationalist government came into power. With the appearance of a large number of the western educated urban elite, Chinese society encountered a transformation from the religion-centered pattern into pursuing of science and democracy. Thus, a series of new culture and renaissance movements emerged. The Feng Shui practice shifted its center to rural areas. In 1949, when the Communist defeated the Nationalist and found the People’s Republic of China, they first showed their approval of religious freedom. In fact, Mao was brought up with strong Buddhist influence. And he has visited rural diviner in his early life. However, in the search for modernization, the modern science and international politics supersede religions. Later, the Communist referred religions as a symbol of feudalism, especially accused Feng Shui as superstition. There were attacks to Buddhism temples, removals of Buddha images, and destruction of ancestral halls. The Great Leap Forward started in 1958 put the burial ceremony to the end and required the public to adopt cemetery and cremation. Therefore, the application of Feng Shui in choosing the burial site and the ancestor worship ceremony declined. Throughout the Great Leap Forward, the following Cultural Revolution, the government banned Feng Shui practice. The Feng Shui masters were no longer able to work in public. And anyone who was caught practicing Feng Shui would be arrested. In some severe circumstances, they were beaten to death. During these years, Feng Shui, as well as other religions, literatures, and economic system, was undergoing a darkest phase in the Chinese modern history.

In 1979, Deng Xiaoping has made the Open Door Policy to optimize the economic reform. Thereafter, people’s living standard was improved. People studied modern science in colleges, and received medical treatment in hospitals. Thus, the practice of Feng Shui declined. And at this time, the publication of Feng Shui was still banned. In 1990, the first book of Feng Shui was published. Since then, more publication of Feng Shui could be found in the bookstores. However, in 1999, after the Fa Lun Gong incident at the Tian An Men Square, the Feng Shui was considered again as one of the superstition and magazines and journals of Feng Shui were cleared out at all the boostores. Nowadays, if people would like to find information about Feng Shui, they can still find it on the Internet.