风水

Feng shui is certainly an ancient practice in Chinese culture; the earliest evidence of feng shui dates back to the Hongshan culture (ca. 3500 - ca. 2500 BCE) (indobase.com). Feng shui thrived for centuries in China. Geomancers were called in to asses the land before a house was ever constructed. People even used feng shui to decide the site of a family member’s wedding and funeral. Up until 1949, the rich and poor alike followed the principles of feng shui – to the extent their income would allow.
With the invasion of European countries and Cultural Revolution, the practice of feng shui was drastically undermined to the point where centuries of history were discredited practically over night. In 1949 Mao Zedong forbid feng shui from the People’s Republic of China, denouncing it as a “feudal superstition.” Although the Chinese government no longer forbids the practice of feng shui, the effect of Mao’s decree is still apparent today. I received a resounding “No!” from my classmates when I asked them if they or their parents believed in feng shui. My host family even laughed when I told them we were learning about it in English class. “But nobody believes that anymore,” Molly said, bewildered. “Why would you study feng shui?”
Interestingly, in areas where the Cultural Revolution didn’t reach, feng shui continues to thrive as it did in the third century BCE. In Hong Kong, no one would think to build a public or private housing development without first consulting a geomancer to discuss its location and architecture. Failure to consult a geomancer can cause uproar.
Oftentimes, following a geomancer’s advice proves to be extremely costly, yet, in areas where feng shui is still practiced, architects believe the cost is worth the benefit down the road. The Hopewell Centre in Hong Kong, for example, sports a round swimming pool on the roof. A “pool of water,” actually, would be a more accurate description. No one swims there. The pool was built because the geomancer believed this round, multi-storied building resembled a candle too much for its own good. The building was destined to catch fire, he said, unless a pool of water was placed on top to prevent “the wick” from burning it down. There are so many such cases of feng shui forcing architects to add interesting structures to a building that the Hong Kong Office of Tourism arranges a daily tour of downtown Hong Kong’s many feng shui examples.
Although feng shui is much less common in Beijing than in Hong Kong, it is not inexistent. Teacher Gao Ying just completed a wooden deck in the south of her apartment. As a finishing touch, Ying and her husband decided to add a fish pound, fitting with feng shui principles. They had some extra money, so why not? But that is about the power feng shui currently holds among citizens of Chinese mainland -- a mere luxury, not even really worth striving for.