Part 1: What Is Feng Shui?  

This is the first of a series of basic Feng Shui articles. There will not be profound theories. It is meant for everyone. You need only use some logical thinking.

    The purpose of these articles is to introduce the fundamentals of Feng Shui, and also some of the different schools of Feng Shui. The intent of these articles is that authentic Feng Shui is not difficult to learn, although over-night practitioners cannot be created.

    Details of the more complex technical aspects are available in the Feng Shui Correspondence Courses, available through the links at the end of each article in this series.

    First of all, what is Feng Shui?

    You may have heard that Feng Shui consists of two Chinese characters, "Wind" and "Water". What does it mean then?

    Our planet is only a tiny speck of dust in the Universe. Energies from the Universe affect us every moment. They affect our health, they affect our emotions, they affect our thinking, they affect our decisions, they affect our actions. Our health, emotion, thinking, decisions and actions will be the cause for some effect that affect our lives. These collectively will be called Earth Luck.

What has it to do with wind and water then?

    Well, in studying Earth Luck, we do not use the term "energy". There is something called Qi (or Chi) that is fundamental in this study. We know the existence of Qi, we know what it is but we cannot give it a definition. We do not need a definition because this is something fundamental. That is how we build up a scientific system. Although Feng Shui is not a science by itself, we still like to employ as much rigor as we possibly can.

    The fundamental properties of Qi are:

[1] Qi can be carried by the movement of air.
[2] Strong winds will disperse Qi.
[3] Qi can be retained by water.

    Since it is carried by the movement of air, it will also be stopped by a material barrier like a mountain, a wall or trees.

    A barrier then can prevent Qi from being dispersed.

    Feng Shui is then the study of how to prevent Qi from being dispersed by Wind and how to use Water to retain it for our good use.


Go to Part 2 and Part 3

Joseph Yu, © 1999, All Rights Reserved

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Master Yu studied Mathematics and Physics in the University of Hong Kong in the early 1960's. He later proceeded to study Feng Shui and Astrology. Finding a lack of clear and effective information on Feng Shui, Master Yu decided to provide useful services and correspondence courses at an affordable price. Towards this end, he founded the Feng Shui Research Center. Today his courses are one of the worlds most sought after study in Feng Shui.