What’s Feng Shui?
Beyond treating one’s body like a temple, some people treat their home like a temple too.
Treat yourself like all under heaven.
Laozi
Make yourself at home with all under heaven.
貴以身為天下。若可寄天下。
Wind & Water
The name Fēng Shuǐ 風水 literally means Wind & Water.
Some say this name came from the polarity of Water and its Wet Clouds (representing channelling, synchronising, pressurising, coiling-up springy energy — leading to the unified, smooth-flowing Heavens) vs Fire and its Dry Winds (representing splitting-open, scattering, falling-down autumnal energy — leading to the ground-down, settled Earth).
Because Water itself falls, but in doing so, hydrates, inflates, lifts things up and ultimately encourages brightness; while Fire itself rises, but in doing so, consumes, deflates, burns things down and ultimately encourages darkness.
This is also the basis of Dragon & Tiger theory.
Dragon & Tiger
In Dragon & Tiger theory, the Dragon of the East represents Sunrise and the Spring concept, while the Tiger of the West represents Sunset and the Autumn concept.
Water flows Wet.
Yi Jing
Fire blows Dry.
Clouds follow the Dragon.
Winds follow the Tiger.
水流濕。火就燥。雲從龍。風從虎。
Indeed, as the legend says, the Dragon intones — chanting like Water — and generates the rainclouds, while the Tiger outcries — roaring like Fire — and generates the dry winds.
Physically, the Dragon has internal flow while being externally scaled, like the ☵ Water Trigram, while the Tiger has external flow and an inner skeleton, like the ☲ Fire trigram.
The Dragon generates momentous impulse without sharp surface impact. In Tai Chi we call this Jǐ Jìn 擠勁. The Tiger generates sharp surface impact without momentous impulse. In Tai Chi we call this Àn Jìn 按勁.
By extension
For thousands of years, Fēng Shuǐ 風水, or Fēng 風 for short, has also referred to directional energy emanation in general, as in the Bā Fēng 八風 (the 8 Winds) — not dissimilar to the Greek concept behind the Tower of the Winds.
When combined with the channelling symbolism behind the character Shuǐ 水, which shares a common origin with the ☵ Water trigram, it’s easy to see how Feng Shui came to refer to the craft of geospatial engineering for energy management in general.
Manipulating the energies of your home to optimise outcomes from key activities happening there.
2 Approaches
Feng Shui is ultimately just cosmologically attuned architecture, and as with any architectural discipline, there are two approaches, as follows.
There’s the As-Is approach, aka Current State Optimisation, and there’s the To-Be approach, aka Target State Installation.
As-Is Feng Shu works from the outside inward, directly finessing LiangYi (II) toward TaiJi (I).
To-Be Feng Shui works from the inside outward, escaping LiangYi (II) by installing a foundation of WuJi (0) before TaiJi (I).
As-Is Feng Shui works Ad-Hoc by going straight to Nurture.
To-Be Feng Shui works Ad-Omnia by installing Nature before Nurture.
This pair can also be seen in the old gym adage: “hard work beats talent when talent doesn’t work hard”. Because To-Be is ideal, like natural talent, while As-Is makes the most of a bad hand without escaping it.
Both approaches have their merit and can be worked simultaneously.
As-Is Feng Shui
Current state optimisation
This approach is traditionally called the Circumstantial School (XíngShì Pài 形勢派) aka the Form School.
Working from the outside inwards, we work with what we’ve got and we look to make quick wins on a macro level.
Most people can benefit from a few pointers regarding space optimisation for less friction, more flow.
Small changes all add up, and any single one of them has the potential to make a big difference depending on the current state of the home.
This is a hacky approach, which if you’re not careful, can mask and enable the build-up of underlying issues. This is called Design Debt.
It’s like you’re firefighting the symptoms rather than tackling the arsonist. Still, it has its place as a contextually pragmatic intervention and can complement simultaneous rehabilitation work.
To-Be Feng Shui
Target state installation
This approach is traditionally called the Jadework Energy School (LǐQì Pài 理氣派) aka the Compass School.
Working from the inside outwards, we look to get a firm foothold, anywhere available, but the more spacious, neutral, central and in-keeping with our long term vision the better. From here, we create our ideal sacred space, with ambition to expand.
Even if we only have access to a random corner, we can still create a microcosm in that realm.
In stubborn renovations, we can overcome resistance by employing a Ship of Theseus strategy — also called a Strangler Fig strategy. This involves conquering territory opportunistically, with bias inwards until the centre is eventually secured, all the while being careful not to pollute our new sacred grounds.
Cosmic coordination — for temple-grade inspiration
When Compass Work is fully applied as a complete package, we establish altars in all directions and track the sun’s movement — potentially the moon too. We turn our home, or at least some part of it, into a Mandala and a Sundial and a Medicine Wheel. Each room and/or wall becomes a reminder of the cosmic concept traditionally represented by that direction, based on real conditions when the sun is in that direction. This can get as granular as you like.
With a room well dressed in respect of each directional energy, we can then circumambulate — or simply look around — at our new 3D mindmap, to consciously study the various cosmic forces, and to use them as a scaffold from which to play with any other system. This also encourages revelation through intangible energetic synchronicity.
Both ends of the homeowner spectrum can do Compass Work. Whether building a palace or pitching a tent, or reworking a spare room in a family home, it’s just a matter of scale.
Compass Correspondences
4 Directions plus Centre
After the Centre Palace is established, add South, North, East and West.
People are often happy to leave it there. This level of cosmography makes very tidy systems. It’s comprehensive enough for most needs, while staying efficient and focused. But it’s easy to get carried away.
The people’s champ hangs in the thick of it, not the thin of it —
Laozi
and stays for the fruits, not the flowers.
大丈夫處其厚，不處其薄；
居其實，不居其華。
| South Summer 4 Winds Wēi Fēng 微風 Discrete-Stepped Wind 5 Chambers Míng Táng 明堂 Bright Hall 5 Families Ratna Kula 16 Figures Ogbè Jamāʿa جماعة Populus | ||
| East Spring 4 Winds Xié Fēng 協風 Crowd-Synchronising Wind 5 Chambers Qīng Yáng 青陽 5 Families Vajra Kula 16 Figures Ọ̀ṣẹ́ Qabḍ Dākhil قبض داخل Acquisitio | Centre 5 Chambers Tài Shì 太室 Great Chamber 5 Families Buddha Kula | West Autumn 4 Winds Yí Fēng 彝風 Two-Handled Tureen Wind 5 Chambers Zǒng Zhāng 總章 5 Families Padma Kula 16 Figures Òfún Qabḍ Khārij قبض خارج Amissio |
| North Winter 4 Winds Yì Fēng 役風 Border Guard Wind 5 Chambers Xuán Táng 玄堂 Dark Hall 5 Families Karma Kula 16 Figures Òyèkú Ṭarīq طريق Via |
8 Winds, 9 Palaces
To represent the relationships and transitional energies between cardinals, we can add corner altars, thus completing the 8 Winds and the 9 Palaces.
| SE Beltane 8 States Praśaṃsā प्रशंसा Chēng 稱 Praise 8 Winds Ruò Fēng 弱風 9 Palaces YīnLuò 陰洛 Southern Waters 9 Hands Cǎi 採 | South Mid-Summer 8 States Sukha सुख Lè 樂 Pleasure 8 Winds Dà Ruò Fēng 大弱風 9 Palaces TiānGōng 天宮 9 Hands Péng 掤 | SW Lunasa 8 States Yaśas यशस् Yù 譽 Fame 8 Winds Móu Fēng 謀風 9 Palaces XuánWěi 玄委 9 Hands Zhǒu 肘 |
| East Mid-Spring 8 States Lābha लाभ Lì 利 Gain 8 Winds Yīng Wù Fēng 嬰兀風 Coiled / Wrapped Wind 9 Palaces CāngMén 倉門 9 Hands Jǐ 擠 | Centre 9 Palaces ZhōngGōng 中宮 9 Hands Sōng 鬆 | West Mid-Autumn 8 States Alābha अलाभ Shuāi 衰 Loss 8 Winds Gāng Fēng 剛風 Cutting Wind 9 Palaces CāngGuǒ 倉果 9 Hands Àn 按 |
| NE Imbolc 8 States Ayaśas अयशस् Huǐ 毀 Defame 8 Winds Xiōng Fēng 凶風 Boring Wind 9 Palaces TiānLiú 天留 9 Hands Kào 靠 | North Mid-Winter 8 States Duḥkha दुःख Kǔ 苦 Pain 8 Winds Dà Gāng Fēng 大剛風 Great Cutting Wind 9 Palaces YèZhé 葉蟄 9 Hands Lǚ 捋 | NW Samhain 8 States Nindā निन्दा Jī 譏 Blame 8 Winds Zhé Fēng 折風 9 Palaces XīnLuò 新洛 Choppy Waters 9 Hands Liè 挒 |
8 Figures
This crosswalk table translates 4 distinct BaGua sequences: from the most mainstream-of-today on the left, to the most true-to-original on the right, in our view.
| HòuTiān BāGuà 後天八卦 | Shùn XiānTiān BāGuà 順先天八卦 | Direction Time | Nì XiānTiān BāGuà 逆先天八卦 | ChángDào BāGuà 常道八卦 |
| Water | Earth | North 0000 | Earth | Earth |
| Mountain | Lightning | NE 0300 | Mountain | Mountain |
| Lightning | Fire | East 0600 | Water | Water |
| Wind | Marsh | SE 0900 | Wind | Marsh |
| Fire | Heaven | South 1200 | Heaven | Heaven |
| Earth | Wind | SW 1500 | Marsh | Lightning |
| Marsh | Water | West 1800 | Fire | Fire |
| Heaven | Mountain | NW 2100 | Lightning | Wind |
Note: Ni XianTian was used by the TàiJíQuán Jīng 太極拳經 which was written when TaiJiQuan was still called ChángQuán 長拳 (LongFist) — its older Shaolin name.
12 Directions
The 12 Outer Faces of the 9 Palaces can map to the 12 Branches and the 12 Months of the Eastern and Western Zodiacs. This enables us to distinguish between the left, right and centre of any wall.
| 150° 1000 巳 Sì ♊︎ Gemini | 180° 1200 午 Wǔ ♋︎ Cancer | 210° 1400 未 Wèi ♌︎ Leo | ||
| 120° 0800 辰 Chén ♉︎ Taurus | Wet | Heaven | Hot | 240° 1600 申 Shēn ♍︎ Virgo |
| 090° 0600 卯 Mǎo ♈︎ Aries | Water | Space | Fire | 270° 1800 酉 Yǒu ♎︎ Libra |
| 060° 0400 寅 Yín ♓︎ Pisces | Cold | Earth | Dry | 300° 2000 戌 Xū ♏︎ Scorpio |
| 030° 0200 丑 Chǒu ♒︎ Aquarius | 000° 0000 子 Zǐ ♑︎ Capricorn | 330° 2200 亥 Hài ♐︎ Sagittarius |
24 Directions
Notice how the 24 Directions framework simultaneously accommodates 8-point and 12-point cycles.
| SE 135° 0900 立夏 LìXià Start of Summer [Quadrant] | ESSE 150° 1000 小满 XiǎoMǎn Lesser Fullness | SSSE 165° 1100 芒种 MángZhòng Grain in Ear | South 180° 1200 夏至 XiàZhì Summer Solstice | SSSW 195° 1300 小暑 XiǎoShǔ Lesser Heat | WSSW 210° 1400 大暑 DàShǔ Greater Heat | SW 225° 1500 立秋 LìQiū Start of Autumn [Quadrant] |
| SESE 120° 0800 谷雨 GǔYǔ Grain Rain | SWSW 240° 1600 处暑 ChùShǔ End of Heat [Dodecant] | |||||
| EESE 105° 0700 清明 QīngMíng Clear & Bright | WWSW 255° 1700 白露 BáiLù White Dew | |||||
| East 090° 0600 春分 ChūnFēn Spring Equinox | West 270° 1800 秋分 QiūFēn Autumn Equinox | |||||
| EENE 075° 0500 惊蛰 JīngZhé Wake Insects | WWNW 285° 1900 寒露 HánLù Cold Dew | |||||
| NENE 060° 0400 雨水 YǔShuǐ Rain Water | NWNW 300° 2000 霜降 SuāngJiàng Frost Falls | |||||
| NE 045° 0300 立春 LìChūn Start of Spring [Quadrant] | ENNE 030° 0200 大寒 DàHán Greater Cold | NNNE 015° 0100 小寒 XiǎoHán Lesser Cold | North 000° 0000 冬至 DōngZhì Winter Solstice | NNNW 345° 2300 大雪 DàXuě Greater Snow | WNNW 330° 2200 小雪 XiǎoXuě Lesser Snow | NW 315° 2100 立冬 LìDōng Start of Winter [Quadrant] |
16 Figures
WuJi-TaiJi Tetragrams — Arabic style
Transposition to 81 Palaces
| ━━ ━━ ━━ ━━ | ||||||||
| ━━ ● ━━ ━━ | ● ━━ ━━ ━━ | |||||||
| ● ● ━━ ━━ | ||||||||
| ━━ ━━ ━━ ● | ━━ ━━ ● ━━ | |||||||
| ━━ ● ━━ ● | ● ━━ ━━ ● | ━━ ● ● ━━ | ● ━━ ● ━━ | |||||
| ● ● ━━ ● | ● ● ● ━━ | |||||||
| ━━ ━━ ● ● | ||||||||
| ━━ ● ● ● | ● ━━ ● ● | |||||||
| ● ● ● ● |
TaiJi-LiangYi Tetragrams — Yoruba style
Transposition to 81 Palaces
| । । । । | ||||||||
| । ॥ । । | ॥ । । । | |||||||
| ॥ ॥ । । | ||||||||
| । । । ॥ | । । ॥ । | |||||||
| । ॥ । ॥ | ॥ । । ॥ | । ॥ ॥ । | ॥ । ॥ । | |||||
| ॥ ॥ । ॥ | ॥ ॥ ॥ । | |||||||
| । । ॥ ॥ | ||||||||
| । ॥ ॥ ॥ | ॥ । ॥ ॥ | |||||||
| ॥ ॥ ॥ ॥ |
TaiJi-LiangYi Hexagrams — Chinese style
Transposition to 81 Palaces
| ䷀ | ||||||||
| ䷅ | ䷌ | |||||||
| ䷋ | ||||||||
| ䷄ | ䷍ | |||||||
| ䷜ | ䷾ | ䷿ | ䷝ | |||||
| ䷇ | ䷢ | |||||||
| ䷊ | ||||||||
| ䷆ | ䷣ | |||||||
| ䷁ |
64 Hexagrams
| ䷹ | ䷪ | ䷐ | ䷉ | ䷀ | ䷘ | ䷵ | ䷡ | ䷲ |
| ䷮ | ䷰ | ䷅ | ䷌ | ䷧ | ䷶ | |||
| ䷞ | ䷬ | ䷛ | ䷠ | ䷋ | ䷫ | ䷽ | ䷏ | ䷟ |
| ䷻ | ䷄ | ䷂ | ䷥ | ䷍ | ䷔ | |||
| ䷜ | ䷾ | ䷿ | ䷝ | |||||
| ䷦ | ䷇ | ䷯ | ䷷ | ䷢ | ䷱ | |||
| ䷨ | ䷙ | ䷚ | ䷒ | ䷊ | ䷗ | ䷼ | ䷈ | ䷩ |
| ䷃ | ䷕ | ䷆ | ䷣ | ䷺ | ䷤ | |||
| ䷳ | ䷖ | ䷑ | ䷎ | ䷁ | ䷭ | ䷴ | ䷓ | ䷸ |
The Evolution of Feng Shui
Feng Shui’s origins — especially its Dragon & Tiger theory — can be officially dated back to at least ~4500 bce at Xishuipo.
Original cosmology
Common sense dictates that for as long as humans have existed, they will have observed the forces of nature and attempted to live their lives in harmony with these forces. Especially sunlight and darkness, and by extension, hot and cold conditions.
Being busy in the day, and sleeping at night. Getting up at sunrise, and settling down at sunset. Warming up in Spring, and wrapping up in Autumn. Considering the graduation of intention throughout day and throughout the year. This is where cosmology came from.
Original air conditioning
Feng Shui itself, being the application of cosmology in the creation of dwelling spaces, became increasingly popular with the necessity to manipulate the flow and quality of air. Especially for ☰ Oxygen levels, ☷ Dust levels, ⤡ Humidity and ⤢ Temperature. Both ☵ Indoors and ☲ Outdoors. Especially in places of weak or harsh airflow.
Such things are still of utmost importance today — the only difference being we now have modern solutions — but in the interest of energy efficiency and resilience, we shouldn’t need to depend on modern technology completely.
Environmental psychology
Eventually, Feng Shui developed into a fine craft and a social science as it came to also consider the flow of people and the finer manipulation of mood through seemingly trivial furniture arrangement.
The present day
Modern Feng Shui is variable.
Here at Cosmic Tai Chi, we’re all about knowing our culture, mastering our craft and making it practical for today.
Good Feng Shui can brighten our lives. Bad Feng Shui can have undesirable consequences.
If you want nothing but the best for your own sacred space, get in touch — we’re here to help.