Feng Shui Philosophy ~ The Feng Shui Trader

Understanding The History Of Feng Shui

>> Sunday, November 29, 2009

Feng shui has been around for centuries. Those who believe in its power are usually more in balance with their surrounding and exhibit a positive energy. However, this chinese philosophy is not something that can be understood overnight.

This is a complicated and confusing philosophy. However, if one is truly devoted to its knowledge and historical meaning, then a person can truly achieve harmony within and with their surroundings.

This Chinese philosophy began in ancient China around the third century B.C. with the West Han dynasty. According to feng shui design, a belief exists that the earth is a being with life that has an energy surrounding it.

That energy in Chinese is called "chi". Chi is determined by the placement of an object and the actual physical surroundings placed around that object. The site around an object, usually a building, is believed to have either positive or negative energy.

In ancient China feng shui design was practiced by rich and poor alike. According to the website Indobase who gives a wonderful detailed explanation of the history of this chinese philosophy, "In ancient China a city was planned in concentric rectangles surrounded by walls surrounded by lakes, hills, valley, gardens, courtyards and parks."

The Chinese tried to ensure that both the manmade and the natural environment were planned to promote and enhance positive energy. Then they were landscaped using the Yin and Yang ideas.

Good feng shui was ensured by the ancients when they constructed the buildings to enhance harmonious relationships between members of a family and between the family and country.

According to feng shui design, "the left of the building represented Yang or male force and was connected to the forces of heaven and the right of the building represented Yin or the female force and was connected with the energies of the earth." The Yang forces were represented in sun lit roofs and elevation in the front.

Yin forces were represented in structures that had shadowed eaves and elevations in the back. If a structure was not balanced and leaned more toward either Yin or Yang forces then this would be considered improper and unbalanced.

Ancient emperors built their palaces based on this feng shui guide and this was thought to be very favorable to power.

Feng shui needs to be fully researched in order to be understood. The ancient Chinese were looking for a way to promote a more harmonious environment when they began to use this chinese philosophy. In today's society, lives are becoming more and more hectic.

If a person can find tranquility and peace by using feng shui, then more should try this unique and life altering philosophy.

Mike Selvon has some informative feng shui articles for the creative mind. Find out more about the history of feng shui at his resourceful site. We appreciate your feedback at our feng shui blog.

Article Source: eArticlesOnline.com

Feng Shui North versus South Hemisphere

The North South Hemisphere Question:

The question of whether or not the orientation of the Lo Pan, Lo Shu should be reversed when applied to the Southern Hemisphere has been thrown back an forth for years so lets consider the excellent arguments put forward in Qi Concepts at the http://www.dragonsbreath.co.uk/

Feng Shui originated in China between 3000 and 5000 years ago. China is a vast country however its placement is entirely in the Northern hemisphere no part is closer than 18 degrees North of the equator. There is neither authentic historical data, nor are there any records regarding the application of Feng Shui theory in the Southern Hemisphere. Evidence simply does not exist, so unfortunately we have to debate the question, postulate our theories and make our own decision on what we feel comfortable with. Certainly if you live close to the equator, you need to be aware of the difference between the geographical equator and the magnetic equator, as I have already pointed out in the previous section. The difference can be quite considerable as much as 12? of latitude that's 720 nautical miles or 828 statute if you like.

Click here to read the full article...

The 7 Schools Of Feng Shui

>> Tuesday, November 24, 2009

Source: Ron King

Everyone has heard of Feng Shui, but what exactly is it? Feng Shui is an ancient Chinese belief that involves the study of both the natural and the created environments. To achieve a balance between the 2 affects the energy of a room.

7 Schools Of Feng Shui

There are many different versions of Feng Shui, each influenced by culture, geography, and religion. There are 7 predominant types or schools of Feng Shui:

1. The Compass School uses the 8 trigrams of the I-Ching. They are known collectively as Pa Kua, which is based on the 8 main directions of a compass. Each direction is associated with a specific chi. For example, southern is vibrant energy.

2. The Form School, based on the landscape's shape, uses 4 symbolic animals to identify the landscape. Easy to use, the Form School (along with the Compass School) increases chi both in and out of the home.

3. The Black Hat Sect uses a fixed entry point to determine the area. Although similar to the Compass School philosophy, it has differences. The Black Hat Sect also consists of psychology, Buddhism and basic design principles.

4. 8 Mansion School, also known as the 8 House Feng Shui, is based on the individual number of the person living in the home. That number is used to bring harmony and balance to the home. People who use this system have both lucky and unlucky numbers, with the west numbers being 2, 6, 7, and 8 and the east numbers being 1, 3, 4, and 9.

5. The 9 Star Key School uses stars to help identify lucky and unlucky days. This school of thought uses complicated math formulas to pinpoint when a person will get married and the astrological sign of the future marriage partners. It will also tell the practitioner how to live based on his house.

6. The most common form of Feng Shui, based on astrology and numerology, is the Flying Star Philosophy. Difficult to understand and learn, it is also based on mathematical principals and is used to determine a person's fate.

7. Four Pillars, the final school of thought, is not very common. Based on astrology tied to the person's date of birth right down to the minutes, this form of Feng Shui is also used to determine a person's fate.

5 Elements Of Feng Shui
After determining which school of thought is best for an individual, it is important to understand the 5 elements of Feng Shui. They are: Earth, Fire, Water, Metal, and Wood. Balance and harmony can be created in a home through the use of these elements. If used incorrectly, however, the energy can be lessened or even destroyed.

Each of the 5 elements is also associated with a direction:
Earth -- Southwest
Fire -- South
Water -- North
Metal -- West
Wood -- East

Beauty And Balance
In a Feng Shui home, all rooms should achieve a balance of these elements, although some items may weigh heavier than others. A chair might score 3 times more than a throw pillow, for example, because of the size difference.

Properly applied, Feng Shui brings both beauty and balance to the home or office.
Published At: Isnare Free Articles Directory http://www.isnare.com/
Permanent Link: http://www.isnare.com/?aid=27961&ca=Arts+and+Crafts

About Ron King Visit http://www.fengshui4u.info/ to learn more. Ron King is a full-time researcher, writer, and web developer, visit his website at http://www.ronxking.com/

Copyright 2005 Ron King.

This article may be reprinted if the resource box is left intact and the links live.

The Five Feng Shui Elements and Their Characteristics

Feng shui handles five main elements in order to achieve harmony and balance in any space. These five feng shui elements are: wood, fire, earth, metal and water. Each one of them has its own characteristics and properties, and we will detail them in the following lines.

According to Chinese traditions, everything is constantly changing and interacting and that happens through these five main elements. Feng shui traditional knowledge and all its guidelines are based on these five feng shui elements. Therefore, when wishing to harmonize a place according to feng shui, these elements must be properly employed according to their characteristics and effects.

Click here to read full article...

Chinese Superstitions Versus the West

Author: Michael Song

Those who are familiar with Western cultures know how many things are treated as taboo. Superstitious people will go to any length to avoid certain things that their culture considers as harbingers of bad luck. It is the same all over the world. Go to any part of the world and you will find, irrespective of caste & creed, there are certain things that are considered unlucky and certain things that are considered as lucky. It is the same with the Chinese too, but the difference between the Chinese and Western culture, especially with regards to their culture and the superstitions based thereon, are revealed starkly when it comes to number 13.

You will be amazed, if you are a European, to know that the Chinese consider the number 13 as lucky. It is widely known that Europeans treat Fridays and the number 13 as accursed, and if these two happen to come together like `Friday the 13th' it is treated as a very bad omen. On this particular day, people tend not to start any new work or not to embark on any journey. It is just the opposite with the Chinese people and this is due to the difference of culture. It is not that the Chinese do not have preferences for certain numerals. They love the numerical 8 and it is rumored that a phone number 8888-8888 fetched $300,000. This occurred in Chengdu, a Chinese city.

Do you recall the date of opening of the Beijing Olympics? It was on the 8th of August 2008 (08-08-08). If you thing that this was just a fluke and has nothing to do with the Chinese culture and its affection for certain numbers, you should check out the inauguration time of the Beijing Olympics. It was inaugurated at 8:08pm. This obsession for numbers is not prevalent in China only and one can also observe it in Singapore and Hong Kong and both these countries have a majority of Chinese people. Those who know about Chinese culture will tell you that these numbers are linked according to their pronunciation. They observe how a number sounds and then try to associate it with words that have a similar pronunciation.

The number 8 is pronounced as `"fa", which is how words like fortune and prosperity sound in the Chinese language. But what about number 13 which is considered unlucky by Europeans and why do the Chinese consider it as lucky? The number "1" when put in the "tens" sounds like "shi" which means definite in Mandarin. The digit "3" sounds like living, life or birth. Hence the number "13", the pronunciation of which is "shisan" in Mandarin, might mean, according to Chinese culture and traditions as "assured growth" or "definitely vibrant". This is the reason why Chinese people consider the number 13 as lucky. There are some other numbers too which are considered lucky by the Chinese because of they way they are pronounced in the Mandarin language，such as six,sixty,ninety-nine,nine,eighteen.

If you want more about this topic, please let me know!

About the Author:
Michael Song is a professional chinese translator working for VERY TRANSLATION which provides chinese translation services . Here are some useful free chinese translation tools Free Chinese Name Translation,Free Chinese Translation

Article Source: ArticlesBase.com - Chinese Superstitions Versus the West