Feng shui literally translates to “wind water.” The name stems from the Taoist belief that wind and water are the two most basic forces affecting the harmony of energy in nature.
“Feng shui is not a science, feng shui is feng shui,” Master Yu says. He explains that it’s more like interior design soaked in superstition. Feng shui seeks to maximize positive energy from arrangement within the home, as well as in architecture or even agriculture.
Following the rules, buildings should face water, with a mountain at the back. Mountains are stable forces good for relationships. Bodies of water bring wealth (open space, like a parking lot, can also symbolize water). If your home has a swimming pool in the backyard, the flow of energy is disrupted. Bad fortune will likely follow, according to principle. Master Yu suggests moving to a new home, or if that isn’t an option, place a very tall object in the back yard to offset the water. A tree might work.
Numbers 1 through 9 are important for determining feng shui.
8 = the best number
9,6,4 = also good numbers. 9 is good for romance. If you are lonely, Master Yu says, place your bed at #9. You will be very busy at night.
5 = the worst number
2,3 = also bad numbers
1 = change. Can be good or bad
7 = neutral
The following chart shows the positive and negative positioning for the year of the rat (2008). Note that each axis is flipped from the standard Western compass. The difference results from Chinese geography. Traditionally, the north represented mountains and the south (with the South China Sea) represented water. The chart changes every year with the farming calendar. Subtract one from each square to determine the number arrangement for 2009. Subtract one again for 2010, etc.
If you want good energy, follow the chart. Make a map of your home. Find the approximate center. Draw eight lines from the center, like spokes on a wheel, to divide your home (floor by floor) into nine segments. Make another map that includes your yard and consult both.
If your bedroom is on a bad number, Master Yu says, change your bedroom or move to a different house. It’s that simple. However, if you can’t change your sleeping area for some reason, there are ways of neutralizing the negative energy. For example, in our current classroom, at #5 in the south of the room, he has hung a circular wind chime with six metallic cylinders. For this location, he says, “Placing heavy and round-shaped metal objects can reduce inauspicious energy.”
From this number theory and calendar, last November, Master Yu used feng shui to predict that Barrack Obama would become the next president of the United States. Here’s his logic: The number 1 sits at the center of the chart for 2008. Number 1 is a number of change - the slogan of Obama’s campaign. Number 1 is also represented by the color black. Obama has dark skin. No wonder Hillary Clinton has had such a hard time this primary. Cosmic forces are conspiring against her.
After class, I take a ride on the Duk Ling, a traditional Chinese junk that the Hong Kong Tourism Board says was “originally owned and manned by Chinese fishermen, the Duk Ling is typical of the junks which used to crisscross Hong Kong’s waters for hundreds of years.”
Supposedly, it sailed for 25 years before restoration in the 1980s. The ride across Victoria Harbor is nice. It’s sorta fun to ride on a junk, but I’m not sure it’s worth the price - $50 HKD (about $6.4 US). The gray sky doesn’t make the price any more attractive.
From behind the fog, architectural use of feng shui appears on Hong Kong Island. My guidebook, Fodor’s, includes an article that cites two case studies – the Bank of China Tower and the HSBC Main Building. The Bank of China building, designed by famous architect I. M. Pei, is dominant over Victoria Harbor. According to Fodor’s, the giant triangles that form its outer-walls are bad feng shui (“3” was one of the bad numbers discussed in class), and some say that, “it resembles a screwdriver – one that’s drilling the wealth out of Hong Kong, others prefer the metaphor of a knife into the heart of the SAR.” On the other hand, the HSBC headquarters, designed by Sir Norman Foster, seems to have nothing but positive feng shui. Fodor’s reports that the escalators were supposedly redesigned at an angle because “evil spirits can only travel in a straight line,” thus preventing evil sprits from entering from the Victoria Harbor (while they also resemble the whiskers of a dragon, “sucking money into the bank”).
Politically-charged feng shui energy? Maybe.
“Atop the (HSBC) building and pointing towards the Bank of China Tower are two metal rods that look like window-washing apparatus. The rods are a classic feng shui technique designed to deflect negative energy – in this case, of the Bank of China’s dreaded triangles – away and back to its source,” according to Fodor’s.
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