What is Feng Shui?

Feng Shui (风水) means "wind and water" - the two forces that shape land and carry energy. The system reads how energy (qi) moves across a landscape, into a building, and through the rooms inside. Where energy gathers becomes a place of opportunity; where it scatters or stagnates, life becomes harder.

Form School (形势派) reads the shape of the surroundings - mountains as the "dragon vein", water as the carrier of wealth, the Four Celestial Animals (Black Tortoise behind, Vermilion Bird in front, Azure Dragon left, White Tiger right) as the protective configuration. Even before any compass measurement, form tells you whether a site supports or fights its inhabitants.

Compass School (理气派) layers on top. The Luo Pan compass measures the precise facing and sitting direction of the building, time periods determine which stars are active, and the chart that emerges - Flying Stars or San He - tells you which areas of the home carry which energies for the current period.

Eight Mansions (八宅) is the simplest and most personal Feng Shui method. Based on your birth year and gender, you are East Group or West Group - and each group has four favourable directions (for sleep, study, work) and four unfavourable. Aligning your bedroom and desk to your favourable directions is the easiest first step.

Flying Star (玄空飞星) is the most sophisticated compass school. Each home has its own chart based on construction period and facing direction. Nine stars distribute across the nine palaces of the home - five Mountain Stars (governing health and relationships) and five Water Stars (governing wealth and career). We are currently in Period 9 (2024-2043), which changed which stars are auspicious.

Feng Shui tunes environment. It does not override destiny. In the classical framework, your fate has five factors - heaven (your chart), earth (your environment, where Feng Shui acts), human (your character and action), reading (knowing yourself), and virtue (accumulated good). A great chart in a hostile environment underperforms. A modest chart in a supportive environment outperforms expectations.