The Two Schools of Feng Shui

What is Feng Shui

Giving Feng Shui a definition is the least thing people want to do. Someone calls it a superstition. The others consider it as a religion. And to us, the people in modern society, Feng Shui may be an interpretation of one kind of ancient science. Because of its ambiguity, the practice and the policies towards Feng Shui varies due to different social phrases and classes. The practice of Feng Shui, originated in China 4600 years, is concerned with people’s relationship with the nature. What the practice of Feng Shui tries to achieve is to balance the Yang (positive) and Yin (negative) in order to generate the good Qi (energy) that brings harmony and wealth to people’s lives. The first Feng Shui classic is called the Book of Burial, which talked about auspicious sites choosing and construction for ancestor’s tombs. However, as Feng Shui developed, the application of it expanded into a larger range. One of the applications most well-known to the world is the Feng Shui practice in urban planning and architectures.

The Two Schools

There are two schools of Feng Shui. One is the Compass School (Orientation School) originated in Fujian province; another is the Form School (Situation School) originated in Jiangxi province. Practices from two schools is exclusive. Masters from the Form School consider the Compass School lack of observation of the site and Specialists from Compass School deem the Form School as not sophisticated. However, the truth is, when practicing Feng Shui in reality, both schools borrow the knowledge from each other.

The Compass School

The Compass School adopts a Chinese System of cosmology. People who participate in the practice of Compass School need a special Feng Shui compass to guide their inspection of the choosing site. They deal with various terminologies and complex metaphysics system. According to them, everything under the sky can be classified in to five categories, or the “five elements”: Gold, Wood, Water, Fire, and Earth. And these five elements associate with different colors, directions and plants.

The Chart of the Five Elements

The combination of different elements generates either auspicious or inauspicious outcomes. Thus, the choosing of materials according to their natures that determine them as one of the five elements in architecture is essential. The harmony within the architecture is achieved only when the choosing elements compromise each other, and create a balance of Yin and Yang.

The Diagram of the Five Elements

Yang Elements: Fire, Gold, and Earth

Yin Elements: Wood and Water

Moreover, numbers are vital in the Feng Shui. They has also been categorized into Yin and Yang. For example: 1, 3, 5, 7, 9 are Yang; 2, 4, 6, 8 are Ying. The Yang numbers were preferred in the design of loyal palace since Yang numbers emblematize the power. Hence, 9, being the largest Yang number was the preferable number for the emperor.

Besides, the timing is significant concern in the structural design as well. Every 20 years become a Yun. And for every Yun, there is a diagram showing the auspicious placement of the door.

The Form School

The Form School is considered to be more scientific than the Compass School. Nowadays, It helps to exam the built environment and the architecture not only in Asian countries, but also in the western world. Many scholars who did researches of the Form School has come out with the scientific explanation of the rules of it.

The Form School has four emblems that come from the Chinese astronomy. They are Azure Dragon, Red Bird, White Tiger and Black Tortoise, which are the four emblems of the divisions of the 28 constellations. Each one of them represents the four different directions: East, South, West and North. Despite of the cosmology use of them, the four emblems in Form School only represent the direction. For example, instead of calling a hill on the east the East Hill, Feng Shui specialists call it Azare Dragon.

An ideal Feng Shui site must contains mountains and water. Certain Names were given to describe the topography of the surroundings. Mountain ridges are called Dragon. The first peak of the ridge is the Peak of Ancestor.  And the following three mountains are named as the Mountain of Forefather, the Mountain of Grandfather, and the Mountain of Parents. The ridge leads to a “cave” eventually. The “cave”, if surrounded with hills that serve as the protection and having water passing through from the south, becomes the ideal Feng Shui site for the construction of village or buildings.

Researchers have found that most major cities in China fulfilled these criteria of the ideal Feng Shui model. Moreover, this theory is not only efficient of examining Chinese cities. When applied to study other places in the world, scholars discovered that some western cities, such as Moscow, Washington DC, and Seattle have met the criteria.