In the ongoing arms wrestling between science and Chinese-themed "pseudo-science", Fang Zhouzi is a towering figure. He says traditional Chinese medicine uses "psychological suggestions" to cure patients. "We should not believe something is effective simply because it has been in use for thousands of years." In comparison, his attack on feng shui is mild: "It is ludicrous that feng shui is ancient China's equivalent of geography," he writes. "Even if feng shui implies some reasonable elements, they are very few."
Of these few elements, he cites the Chinese preference for a house to face south. "The practical purpose is to have as much sunlight as possible in winter and have shade in summer. But why use terms like 'a green dragon on the left and a white tiger on the right'? So, feng shui is not totally superstition, but essentially superstition."
Actually I agree with much of his reasoning. It is his arrogance that I find uncomfortable. Because feng shui is not a science in the modern sense of the word, people like Fang tend to see it as the nemesis of science.
Granted, feng shui can easily be taken to ridiculous extremes and ritualized into something skin to superstition. As long as feng shui or the assault on it is not whipped into a frenzy, a rational being can weigh the pros and cons. If feng shui dictates a building sit on a shaky foundation, most people would ignore the master and listen to the architect. If feng shui suggests you can achieve better prospects by shifting your main gate by 12 degrees, as happened with Hong Kong's Disneyland, why not? It's innocuous.
Much of feng shui as practiced by ordinary people involves small things like the placement of a mirror here and a basin of water there. I don't believe it can work miracles. But, done properly and without hysteria, it makes the inhabitants feel good, just like a piece of soothing music.
By Raymond Zhou
Editor: Feng Hui
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