Chinese Architecture and Feng Shui: The Siamese Twins Essay

khinese architecture and Feng Shui are pronounced in the same breath as both have come a long way together since the last 4000 years, and now Feng-Shui (Air-Water, literally) has caught the psyche all approximately globe. Feng Shui is, in fact, an ethnic philosophy of China locoweeding with the basic principles of living epoch extending its wings into astrology and different paranormal sources that people believe are associated with longevity and good luck. No wonder then, it continued to govern the Chinese society since its advent and similarly became evolved with time to match the step of the civilization, thereby influencing the living of its believers in every strata. Off late, Feng Shui has been seriously considered as an important tool in architecture around the globe.INTRODUCTIONQuin niao tse, an officer in the Yellow Emperors regime is believed to be the originator or the propagator of Feng Shui, and accordingly once it was called as the Art of Qin niao tse, though e very documentation of his work is considered to be lost (Too, 1996). However, Feng Shui today is known as the art of pop outment. The Feng Shui literary productions primarily describes the earth as a living being, having energy channels. They call them as the veins of the dragon and let the convergence points of those channels as auspicious sites. It embedded Taoism1on its journey, and as an effect, Chinese people authorized its explanation and concretized its foundation by practicing it in the various spheres of their living, of which architecture had been heavily influenced.Incubating PeriodConforming with Taoism, it short established two schools, viz., the Direction nurture and the Situation School, with one complementing the other. They still exists, where The Direction School deals with the accurate alignment of the site and the building with the stars. It is based on the theory of five grammatical constituents, eight characters of put up and eight triagrams of I Ching. The Situation School deals with the significance of shapes, height the mountains, speed and curves of the water bo break outs (Too, 1996).This twin aspects of Feng Shui became customary enough to be spread out not only in the whole of China, but a uniform in its neighboring countries. This generated an extended interest on further study and development of the subject as a whole, and that resulted into the birth of another branch that started to work on the dimension of timing, based on the look that every piece of land goes through a cycle of good and bad luck. This idea influenced the monarchy to such an extent that they became choosy even about their burial sites as that, according to the new branch, had some coach on the longevity of the ruling dynasty. Ming Tombs of Beijing still stands as a proof of such impression beheld by the rulers of the Ming dynasty. (1368-1644).Like every philosophy or idea, Feng Shui also had to face a great deal of upheaval. In its traced track o f existence, it faced ban twice, once in the time of Yuan dynasty (Mongols invaders) and in 1949, when the communistic government of China found it a superstitious practice (Traditional, 2006). But, as the wise says, old habits die hard Feng Shui has gradually bounced back and at depict is doing a roaring business all around the globe where the Chinese themselves have become a minor entrepreneur. Taking clue from the growing market, other ethnic ideas of China, like astrology or acupressure, have also been embedded with Feng Shui to create a universal living solution.How Feng Shui Influences ArchitectureFeasibility of certain requirements of living always determines the viability of any architectural project. At the firstly level it deals with easy accessibility to the site, height and shape of the land, easy availability of water, scope for proper sewerage, sluttish flow of clean air etc. If the primary conditions prove conducive, then the architects emphasize on the punt lev el, where they check and decide on the appropriateness of external and the internal structure of the proposed construction.After that come the factors related to to aesthetics or special features, which could enhance the scope to exploit the surrounding environment. All these levels of considerations are evenly important for both the intended dwellers of the proposed constructions and its surroundings. Since Feng Shui claims to have better prescriptions for all those three levels of consideration along with its large list of advices on actual living principles, it has tremendous influence of architecture industry, as that is being proved even today.The Basics of Feng ShuiFeng Shui claims to assess and identify the positive and negative aspects of a place through its arrangement based on a theory of Yin(the feminine force) and Yang(the male force), the two opposite yet complementary forces which are believed to be the cause of life and death, where Yin is considered as earth and Yin as heaven.There is a symbolic representation of the duo as well, where a line of two dashes represents Yin and a continuous line denotes Yang, speckle each is being derived from a square and a circle, which represent the earth and heaven respectively. Yin and Yang take a set of five elements like nation, chivvy, Metal, Wood and Water to assess and decide on the preconditions of living. Though it is difficult to summarize the huge connotation behind this dualistic philosophy of Yin and Yang, yet it can be verbalise that it propagates to use the right quotient among divergent forces like Heaven, Human being, and Earthto achieve balance and harmony in life.Yin and Yang theory is then joined by Bagua theory, which consists of eight triagrams, known by the names like Qian, Kun, Zhen, Xun, Li, Kan, Dui and Gen. confederacy of these are used to draw a hypothesis about possible future events to take place in the house. In the end Tao, Yin-Yang theory and Bagua theory work togeth er to enhance and maintain Chi, the vital life-force behind everything (Too, 1996).Thus, encompassing the environmental, philosophical and spiritual factor, Feng Shui suggests about the best possible order and transcription of the objects to attain peace or harmony or the other results as desired by the owner of a house. In the process it involves itself into further inside information like assessing the zodiacal placement of the prospective dwellers to present a tailor-made prescription for the design and lay-out for their house, covering both the interior and exterior of it.How It WorksFeng Shui has a set of grammar to follow. It starts with prescribing the possible right directions of a site according to its surroundings (Fong). It identifies one direction as the attributors of certain elements and earmarks certain functions of the house-to-be to that direction. A quick glance on such a list would formulate the subject furtherNorth eastern United States The sphere of Educatio n represented by Earth elementNorth The Area of Career probability represented by Water elementNorthwest Area of Mentor bunch represented by Metal elementWest Area of the Descendants Luck represented by Metal elementSouthwest Area of Love Y Marriage Luck represented by Earth elementSouth Area of Fame and Luck represented by Fire elementSoutheast Area of Wealth Luck represented by Wood elementEast Area of Health and Family Luck represented by Wood element.Various shapes and colors are also believed to be associated with the above directions along with numbers they are calculated on the basis of the of the owners gender and zodiacal data. According to Feng Shui, the productive cycle of the elements work out in the following directionsEarth Fire Wood Water MetalLucky TalismanThere are a a few(prenominal) objects that are considered as the provider of luck and Chi according to the Feng Shui myths and legends (Tips, 2006). The most popular ones are the artifacts like Three-legged toad with a coin in its mouth, bunch of Chinese coins tagged in a red ribbon, the wind-chimes, golden dragon fish, gem trees, crystal globe or other crystal artifacts, tortoises, harvest-festival trees, ships, hens, Mandarin ducks, etc. They are advised to place in the strategic positions according to the need of the householders. culminationApplying calculations involving all these factors mentioned, Feng Shui determines the best possible living solutions for people. Starting from prescribing for a township, it can go down to the minutest details to determine even the placement of small items in a house. In all, Feng Shuis utility rank is great in the sense that creates awareness about healthy and prosperous living, which the modern world embraced and workings on for the sustainable development of the societies across the globe.ReferencesFeng Shui Tips 2006 retrieved March 14, 2007, from http//www.lillian-too.com/fstips.phpFong, H.What You Absolutely Must Know Before You secure A House pdf, retrieved March 14, 2007, from http//www.henryfong.comToo, L. (1996). The Complete Illustrated Guide to Feng Shui How to Apply the Secrets of Chinese Wisdom for Health, Wealth and Happiness. gene BooksTraditional Feng Shui 2006, retrieved March 14, 2007, retrieved from http//www.traditionalfengshui.com/content/feng_shui_consultation.php1Tao (pathway to life), ancient Chinese philosophy on understanding of cosmology, astronomy, and the astrophysics.