2023

Flying Stars Feng Shui - Xuan Kong Fei Xing

A Feng Shui Master of the Research Center, explained and demonstrated through data, that when we enter a building, we are affected by it’s “feel”. We all have buildings we love - buildings where we immediately feel at home and comfortable. But other buildings make us feel very uncomfortable and we can’t get out of them fast enough.

This is an instinctive reaction that is felt by most people and cannot be explained by Western Science. Fortunately, for 4000 years the Chinese have been studying our instinctive reactions, which led to Feng Shui, the study of the effects our surroundings and buildings have on us.

Flying Star Feng Shui is the most powerful school of Feng Shui. It is based on the interaction between the Earth’s Magnetic field and “Heavenly Yang Qi”, a Metaphysical “energy” that descends from above, hits us on the top of our head and then goes on down toward the centre of the Earth. When it meets the Earth’s Magnetic Field, it breaks up into eight other “energies”, each one coming towards us from one of the eight different directions North, North East, East, South East, South, South West, West and North West.

This gives us 9 different “energies” altogether: one coming down from above and eight others coming towards us from the eight different directions. Each of these “energies” has its own “feel” and its own effect on us. We feel these “energies” and react to them, we just are not aware that we doing so.

We are pretty sure that birds and animals use these energies for navigation. Being able to find the way back to their lairs and nests is essential for species that breed and feed their young. If our ancestors hadn’t been able to find their way back to their caves, their children would have starved to death, and we wouldn’t be here now!

Every 20 years these energies rearrange themselves and a different one becomes the new “Heavenly Yang Qi”, the energy descending from above. Each energy takes a turn, so there is a grand cycle of 9 X 20 = 180 years. Our current cycle started in February 1864.

For simplicity, we call Feb 1864 to Feb 1884 “Period 1” and the energy descending from above, the “Number 1 Energy”.

In Feb 1884 all the energies rearranged themselves and a new one started descending from above, while the other eight started coming from different directions. We call Feb 1884 to Feb 1904 “Period 2”, and the energy descending from above, the “Number 2 Energy”. 1904 to 1924 was Period 3 with the 3 Energy descending from above etc.

The energy descending from above is called the “ruling energy”. It is the “timely” energy and its character affects what we feel is “right”, so when we get a new “ruling energy”, it changes what we feel is “right”, and this brings a universal change in ethos.

Feb 2004 saw the Period change from Period 7 to Period 8, and the number 8 Energy replaced the number 7 Energy as the new “ruling energy”.

The 7 Yang (“ruling energy” from 1984 to 2004) was an energy driving people to make as much money as possible, by whatever means, irrespective of the morality. Lying and cheating were all okay, making money was everything.

The 8 Yang Energy is a much gentler energy than the 7 and it relates to balance in life and balance in nature. We are now in a time when people are trying to find balance in their lives, and the trend towards nature conservation, organic foods, the Green movement, etc indicate we are now feeling that nature is very important to us.

8 Yang is relatively weak and the 7 Yang relatively strong, so it has taken some time for the 8 ethos to take over. This has caused many problems because the 7 "make money at any cost" ethos was no longer "timely" after 2004, and this led to the financial crisis of 2008.

Period 9 (starting 2024) will bring a completely different ethos, so we are now in a time of great change, very much the same as the 1950s. No one knows what the new ethos will be, but the events we see all indicate we are feeling that things are changing, and the old order is no longer working.

When you put the roof on a building, you trap the “ruling energy” of the Period inside the building. A building built between Feb 1984 and Feb 2004 is a Period 7 building, one built between Feb 2004 and 2024 will be a Period 8 building and so on.

2023

About Ming Gua

Different schools of Feng Shui use different methods to determine the Ming Gua. The widely adopted and best known is from Bazhai Pai also known as 8 House or 8 Mansions, so I will explain Ming Gua under this school.

The Ming Gua is assigned by the year of birth, it is guided by the "guardian" of that year, boys and girls guided by different "guardians". Ancient Masters have noticed that there is energy surrounding people, that is in contact with the energies of the space. If the space or environment is good for the Ming Gua then it supports the person it is protecting.

Ming Gua is not you, it’s the "spirit or energy of your guardian", your commander. It is a "guardian" who is very intimate to you and if your "guardian" is hurt it can't give you guidance or offer you help. You have to distinguish between the Ming Gua and yourself.

For the true character of the person (his or her own energy) we use the 4 Pillars Astrology also known as Bazi. The Ming Gua tells us what influences us and some people become confused when for example they see the Ming Gua is 3 which is wood, my animal sign is Earth and my 4 Pillars is fire so what am I? The Ming Gua is Wood means that you are being guided and protected by a "guardian" whose element is Wood. It is not your own energy element.

Using this school, for the houses we have the location of the 8 Wandering Stars. For people we have the personal Trigram which we call the Ming Gua. Some 8 House Schools divide the house and assign the stars according to the Ming Gua and not the house Trigram, so East Group people should sleep in the bad sectors of a West Group house and visa versa.

Ming Gua is direction, and according to the energy coming from the eight directions it is different for each person so it is good if the front of our body is in a good direction, for example facing Sheng Qi, or facing Tian Yi or facing Yan Nian (for romance) or your head points in the right direction when sleeping.

Things start to become a bit more complicated when trying to address the multiple scenarios people are in, particularly for a husband and wife who have different Ming Gua's.

In the old days it was easy, just give the beneficial energy to the husband and as long as he’s supported the family will be fine and so today's Feng Shui practitioners recommend using the best bed direction for the breadwinner, but what if there is a couple with equally good careers? Then this school says advise people to sleep in different rooms, however sometimes there are no other rooms and there isn't a good wall for the bed.

I studied Feng Shui in Feng Shui Research School and aside from the research, I've done my own tests and with my clients permission I document historical data. It all shows that sleeping direction does not interfere with poeple's lives.

This is one of the reasons why Xuan Kong (Flying stars) School is the strongest and more complete of all schools for interior Feng Shui. You just need to find a good star that supports your Ming Gua.

2023

A brief history of Feng Shui

For thousands of years, the Chinese have been observing and documenting the dynamics of life and nature. In the process they discovered a certain rhythm of universal force that is unfailing and consistent, and applicable to every aspect of life. The philosophers captured this rhythm and later taught princes and scholars how to incorporate these principles into the administration of state affairs. The ultimate goal was to achieve absolute rule over China and its subjects.

Asians believe that mastering tactics and strategies is essential for success in the marketplace. Asian rulers, from ancient to modern, have always placed great importance on the study of classical Chinese treatises of subtle wisdom and strategy. These scholarly works brought great power to those who were able to apply their principles to the affairs of daily life. One of the most important principles of Asian thought is that all elements of life are interconnected, so there are no real divisions between philosophy, spirituality, the art of war, the art of acquisition, the exercise of power, and political and business affairs. The wisdom that guides the general in battle is the same wisdom by which the politician exercises power and the business person maneuvers financial advantage. Asians don't tend to find anything strange in searching a text devoted to military strategy for principles that apply to situations in the family, the workplace, or the world at large.

This was particularly true from 700 through 221 B.C.E., when China was going through a period of weak central government and total division among all the feudal lords. Conquering was the aim, and survival was the game. Because of this chaotic environment, China became a natural incubator for some of the greatest philosophical doctrines and art-of-war treatises. Great thinkers and strategists such as Confucius, Lao-tzu, Chuang-tzu, and Sun-tzu all lived and left their marks during this period. 

The term Feng Shui

In the old classical texts “Kanyu” was the term used together with other words such as: Dili, Xingfa, Qingwu, Qinglang, Puzhai, Xiangzhai, Tuzhai, Yin-yang, terms used to address the broad issues of the links between Chinese cosmology (heaven) and Chinese social reality (earth).

Kanyu was a second century general who lived during the Three Kingdoms period from 220 to 280 CE. Kanyu developed a number of axioms that were used to build many of the Chinese traditional cities.

To find the best place to build a city, Xue, Long and Sha would need to be found. To find Xue (good Qi energy) one must follow Long (the dragon) and Sha (ridges and water courses).

A well-known example of traditional architecture using Kanyu principles is Wudang City. During Tang Dynasty (627-649 CE) Tang Taizong demanded the construction of Wulong Ancestral Temple. The location and construction was done based on three premises (Yi Hongji, 2000:30):

• certain structure locations are more favourable than others for a family;

• these locations can be found with the way of Kanyu;

• these locations must therefore be determined in order for benefits to redound both to those discerning them and to their descendants.

Two interpreters of Kanyu teachings were assigned to the task. It took more than a year to find the right place using Xue, Long, Sha axioms.

It was only towards the end of the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911) that the term “Fengshui” replaced Kanyu. Ci-hai, one of the most important Chinese lexicons edited by a group of authoritative intellectual in China, defined the phrase Fengshui as “a superstition in ancient China, according to which the surrounding situation of residences and graves can decide the fortune of the residents and the offspring of the dead”.

In the west Fengshui has many substitutes. The word “geomancy” is the most popular translation of Kanyu, which was used in Joseph Needham’s “Science and Civilization in China” (Vol 2, 359). However, many found this inadequate, suggesting instead “topomancy” (Stephen Feuchtwang,1974:2); or “astro-ecology”, “topographical siting”, and “siting” (Steven J. Bennett,1978:2); or “mystical ecology” (Ronald Knapp, 1986:108); or “natural science of the landscape” (Lars Berglund, 1990:240).

The Oxford Dictionary of World Religions says*: Feng-shui is a Chinese art or skill of geomancy. Taking account of the five elements and the two forces of yin and yang. The practitioners use a circular wooden plate on which the outline neo-Confucian cosmography is inscribed. They then determine the best site for buildings, graves, temples, etc.”*

As we can see there are many terms and descriptions used. The more recent and generic description of Fengshui used in the West (books, schools, etc), refers to it as the traditional Chinese art and science of living in harmony with the environment. Feng means wind and Shui means water. It is the way of seeing and interacting with the energy of the universe, rooted in Chinese culture and Taoist philosophy.

Having becoming popular in the late 90s and early 2000s, there are today thousands of books on the topic of Fengshui in different languages, so it is likely that definitions and descriptions will vary from what used to be a simple word.

I find the generic descriptions only helpful as they flag that Fengshui is a traditional Chinese art, meaning it comes from a culture different from any other in the West. A history and culture that has to be comprehended for a proper contextualisation and application of the art of Feng Shui.

Architecture

Wuchang is a good example of a traditional city in China developed using Fengshui principles. It was originally developed from the idea of Fengshui, but when a new cultural and political power became official, Fengshui became the symbol of old identity and it was set to change as well Wuchang. During the transformation process, a new metropolis called Wuhan, was developed and Wuchang became one of the three parts of this new metropolis in 1927. Following 80 years of construction, Wuchang, a city that enjoyed more than 1000 years of history, was modernised and transformed.

After the First Opium War 1839-1842 during Qing China with the British, with the signing of treaty of extraterritoriality, the Chinese began to observe the outside world with new eyes and learn from the western countries. The government initiated a movement nationwide founding factories, reforming the education system and releasing newspapers. Such a movement to learn from the western countries is titled in Chinese history as Westernization Movement. The carrying out of westernized policies aroused nonetheless heated responses in China. Traditionalists argued that the essential means to govern a country does not base on skill but on morality, not on science but on spirit. But the reformists stood their ground in “beating the westerners with their own good methods” and called for “studies of the many western sciences in order to safeguard the traditional Chinese culture identity”.

Zhang Zhidong, a famous minister at that time, released his discourse in May 1898, concluding the previous debates on Chinese and western cultures as well as proposing the theory of “Chinese Identity Western Technology” (Feng Tianyu, 1994:161-168).

“Chinese Identity, Western Technology” finally created a feasibly official mode. Under the banner of this mode, Western cultures set foot in the demesne of “Ying-yang” and “Wu-xing”, bringing impacts on “Chinese Identity” as well as “Chinese traditional sciences” and catalyzing their changes in its own course. However, Kanyu was still in its prevailing stage from 1840 onward to 1900. Common Chinese never changed their attitude towards Kanyu due to some theoretical debates. Not without hostility to western cultures, the majority believed such alien buildings compromised the local Feng-shui (De Groot, 1892-1910: 1029).

The city of Wuchang was still the classical example on Kanyu principles in this period, it was built along the Yangzi river, but closed by the city-wall. The Great change, however, was coming close it: the south center of Westernization Movement was kindled the city of Hanyang, which is on the other side of Yangzi river. Moreover, the Hankou, which has became the western concessions since 1861, has became a more and more important city in China.

New Culture Campaign

Chinese society changed rapidly from 1900 to 1950. During this period, China experienced the abolition of monarchism (1911), the Civil War (1937-1945) and the rise of Chinese Communist Party (CCP). It is also during these 50 years that the “New Culture Movement” came into being and had a wide spread. Because many intellectuals negated the value of traditional culture radically, many social customs began to transform. Kanyu was one of them. Liang Qichao, one of the most famous intellectuals at that time, once concluded the procedure of learning from western cultures with three stages: stage 1, the insufficiency in technology was recognized; stage 2, the insufficiency in laws and systems was recognized; stage 3, the insufficiency in culture was recognized. (Feng Tianyu, 1994:169)

Following the light of this theory, some Chinese intellectuals rapidly began to recognize the “insufficiency in culture” and initiated the movement of “New Culture Movement” to spread western cultures to deeper and wider aspects. It is the “New Culture Movement” that devaluated Kanyu rapidly in Chinese society. Firstly, Chinese intellectuals ascribed the poverty of the country to superstition and lack of western science, and Kanyu was a representative of those superstitious practices. Secondly, as one of the key achievements of the “New Culture Movement”, the discarding of the old Chinese written style (Wen-yanwen) made a great obstacle to passing down Kanyu as well as other intangible heritage. Thirdly, because the “New Culture Movement” negated generally the traditional culture, the following generations showed a common doubt about traditional Chinese cultural values. It shook the basis of Kanyu radically.

During the 50 years from 1900 to 1949, the Wuhan City was born and Wuchang city became one of the three towns of this new large city. Wuchang began to change following the style of Hankou. In fact, Wuhan has twice became the capital of China. In the plan of the new leader, Mr. Zhongshan Sun, the City of Wuhan will be the most international city in the world.

Communism in China

On October 1, 1949, CCP declared the naissance of the People’s Republic of China. The new regime didn’t allow the existence of old ideas and tried hard to crush all the carriers of non-communist thoughts. It is during the period from 1950 to 1979, namely the first 30 years of its reign, that the government demolished traditional culture violently. Fengshui was labeled “Trash of traditional culture” rightly after the founding of new regime. Even during the loosest period of CCP’s reign (1956, the Hundred Flowers Campaign), Kanyu was among the forbidden. During 1960s, “the Socialist Education Movement” (1963-1965) and “the Cultural Revolution” (1967-1976) led to the chaotic and extreme opinions among the new generations. The utmost denigration of traditional culture became a fashion. The bearers’ disappearance, such as the loss of architecture, books and experts, is an invaluable loss to Chinese new generations. Fengshui, naturally, the bearers of Fengshui became the taboo. In the 1950s, the Wuchang City-wall began to be destroyed, and not only the whole city plan of Wuchang changed, but also the symbols of the Olds have to be disappeared.

Feng Shui in the West

While many classical books of Feng Shui and Philosophy are available to the public in general, in original language or translated, the individual interpretation and attempts to adapt it to the way westerners culturally live and think, has created many misconceptions and confusion.

References:

Needham, Joseph 1956: Science and Civilization in China, Vol 2

Feuchtwang, Stephen 1974: An Anthropological Analysis of Chinese Geomancy

Knapp, Ronald G, China’s Living House (1999)

Berglund, Lars, 1990: The Secrets of the Luo Shu

Thunder in the sky : secrets on the acquisition and exercise of power by Cleary, Thomas F. 1949