FENGSHUI from an expat perspective

Tongji University_WS 2011 Chinese history & culture_Prof. ZHANG Mingwei Marco Capitanio (), Italian Student number: 1135072 Contact: marco.capitanio@gmail.com

TABLE OF CONTENTS Abstract What it is A brief history Principles for the built environment and the Chinese city Comparison with Europe Conclusions References & list of illustrations p. 2 p. 3 p. 3 p. 4 p. 4 p. 7 p. 8 p. 8

ABSTRACT Fengshui (I will use the Chinese characters from now on) tends to be, at least for a non-Asian Countries, a rather exotic concept. For Europeans it reminds of some sort of superstitious thinking loosely connected with ecological principles, its aim being a harmonious reconnection between humans and nature. Moreover, is thought to be a general set of principles unanimously accepted throughout China. One of the main surprises when starting investigating about this topic is that soon one realizes how recently the practice of was publicly rehabilitated. Despite the controversial official position on the subject by Chinese politics and bureaucracy, plays a prominent, sometimes undercover role in the shaping of cities and buildings in China, even though it has more popularity in certain regions and less in others. After a brief historical introduction I will focus on the relationship between and built environment, drawing some examples from Shanghai and commenting them from a western perspective. At the end of the paper I will draw some conclusions based on my expat position.
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WHAT IT IS could be defined as a practice of placement which has manifold manifestations, e.g. building guidelines in terms of orientation, relationship to landscape and natural elements; positioning of objects and furniture in interiors; strategies to improve business, health, happiness etc. This practice, far from being a collection of defined rules to-be-followed, is deeply rooted in ancient Chinese tradition, cosmology and popular religion, with habits and history. Moreover, it is not a monolithic body, it is rather subject to regional and personal changes, reflected in many schools, each one promoting its own particular method. Also, the attitude towards it might be very contradictory. Academics and literati since Confucius have always been generally critical or skeptical about this practice, just like many Chinese dynasties, and Mao Zedong included practitioners in the black list during the Cultural Revolution (1966-76). In the West started being known since the second half of the 19th Century, when Great Britain, France and America engaged in trading with China, a relationship eventually leading to the two Opium Wars (1839-42; 1856-60). A BRIEF HISTORY Found records of Chinese divination (e.g. the Shang dynasty oracle bones found in Anyang) date back 3500 years, but as we know it nowadays evolved mainly during the Song Dynasty (960-1279 a.D.) - for dates and facts in this section I rely on (Bruun 2008:11-48). During the Zhou dynasty (1046-256 b.C.) the principles of yin-yang, the Five Elements, the symbols of tiger and dragon and the relationship between Heaven and Earth are established. The Book of Rites, presumably compiled after 500 b.C., already prescribes the south orientation for buildings and many of the principles contained in this book were later on implemented in practice. We shall now briefly examine the relationship between and two of the main Chinese cultural and religious traditions, namely Confucianism and Daoism. Confucius followers kept at safe distance from popular believes in spirits, ghosts and supernatural creatures, as well as from divinatory practices. They regarded thus with skepticism, even though they were careful in not opposing it openly, given its growing popularity especially among peasants and lower social strata. Daosim, on the other hand, born a few hundred years after Confucius doctrine - i.e. ca. 4th Century b.C. - and based on the texts of Daodejing and Zhuangzi, shared more common ground with . In fact, we can say that the establishment of borrowed many notions from Daosim, like the belief in a multitude of beings and the need of maintaining a good relationship with them. Shortly after the Han dynasty (206 b.C.-220 a.D.) The Yellow Emperors Book on Dwellings made an attempt to combine Daoist thinking and geomancy. Here we find the first recorded example of a distinction between yin (female) and yang (male) dwellings, the former being oriented west to the southeast, the latter east to the northwest. The scholar Guo Pu (276-324 a.D.) is conventionally credited as the founder of and to him is attributed the Book of Burial, dealing with divination and attention towards natural topography and astrology. In reality, it is not possible to determine when the book was exactly written, and whether Guo Pu is its real author. Nevertheless the very term derives from a passage contained in the book: The Classic says: Qi rides the wind and scatters, but is retained when encountering water. The ancients collected it to prevent its dissipation, and guided it to assure its retention. Thus it was called fengshui. (Field 2003)
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 was further codified during the Song dynasty and it virtually stopped evolving until the Qing dynasty (1644-1911). Chinas last dynasty, in contrast to its imperial predecessors, tended to support , especially when foreign powers became more and more aggressive and started occupying Chinese cities. was a mean of reinforcing autochthonous traditions and antiforeign sentiments , while the practice was regarded as a form of superstition or even nonsense by Westerners. After the Communist People Republic of China was founded in 1949 and Maos Cultural Revolution was launched some 20 years later, all religious associations were banned, and was no exception. It was only after the 1979 reforms and openings that the practice slowly regained credit, and in the last 30 years we can say that the interest in it boomed among western Countries, while nowadays in China it is widely popular, even though not officially fully rehabilitated. PRINCIPLES FOR THE BUILT ENVIRONMENT I will concentrate now on the role of on the built environment, i.e. its impacts on buildings and the cityscape in general. The basic goal of is to assure that buildings and natural elements are interacting in such a way that the flow if qi is not obstructed or interrupted. For instance, an ideal situation for a settlement would be to have mountains on the north and water to the south. We need now to open a small digression on the concept of qi (QI): its translation would be similar to earths breath or energetic flow, and it is a central idea in Chinese philosophy, spanning from Daoism to Confucianism. Qi originated the world and keeps it alive; a lively body can grasp plenty of qi, while a dead one does not have qi flowing in it. This energy is everywhere and it is at everyones disposal to be caught. However, obstacles might reduce or redirect its flow and it is the masters job to detect qis flow and take measures in order to maximize its benefits. In rural villages in China, houses had generally a standardized plan - here I refer mainly to (Bruun 2008:59-67). The main facade had to face south or a southerly direction and the main entrance led to the living room, with the bedrooms on the right and left side (the latter usually for children or elderly) and kitchen on the north side or detached from the living room, since the stove and chimney were supposed to have bad influence on qi. All houses had to be built roughly the same size and plot, since building bigger or higher would imply a modification of qi for the surrounding buildings. This resulted in east-west streets, where on one side there were houses entrances and on the other the back-sides of houses in the previous row. Exceptions could be made, but only following the rule east overlooks west and north overlooks south, i.e. it was allowed to be slightly bigger or higher towards north or east. This set of principles, when followed, determined relatively short rows and a few number of them, since many exceptions would destroy the overall layout. Now, one might wonder how could be shaping metropolises like Hong Kong or Shanghai which seem to have nothing in common with a rural village. In the following section I will try to give some examples. AND THE CHINESE CITY Let us start with the 1:2000 model of Chuansha, a small town in the western outskirts of Shanghai (fig.1). One thing strikes us: virtually all the buildings have a south prospect, many of them being neatly ordered in rows and columns resembling soldiers on a parade. This is probably the most profound legacy and influence of in city-making. No matter whether we are considering lilong housing (a peculiar typology which stem in Shanghai in the 19th Century from western
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fig. 1: Model of Chuansha New Town, Shanghai, 1:2000

fig. 2: Building in the periphery of Shanghai

fig. 3: Swinging roof-tops in Shanghais apartment buildings

fig. 4: Shanghais Nine Dragons Pillar

fig. 5: Mao Zedongs statue at Tongji University

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and local interaction) or high-rise buildings, residential housing will invariably have a southerly orientation. Moreover, buildings like the one in fig.2 are by no means uncommon. Here we can see a triple influence. First, the hole in the middle has nothing to do with functionality or aesthetic values. Rather, it is designed to satisfy the good flow of qi, both for the building itself and for its surroundings. Second, the golden domes on the top serve two functions. On the one hand they resonate with the Chinese tradition of the roof being an expression of wealth and power, i.e. the more expansive and elaborate the roof, the richer and more influential the family which lives under it. On the other hand, these domes are supposed to guard and protect the building from evil spirits and unhappiness under guidelines. Fig.3 shows this point even clearer. Third, round corners are thought to be favorable towards qis flow rather than sharp angles. masters are often called in order to resolve delicate situations. In Shanghai there is a famous case, which is actually on the borderline between urban legend and historical fact. When working on the foundations for the crossing point between Yanan and Chengdu elevated roads, one particular spot resisted all drilling efforts without any reasonable explanation, so that the work had to come to a halt. On that spot a hole was needed in order to insert a pillar. A master was then invited and was asked to understand the cause of the problem. He reached the conclusion that a dragon was sleeping underneath, before being awakened by the construction site. Some tribute should be made in order to please him and proceed with the excavation. Thus the Nine Dragons Pillar came into being (fig.4)! Another example comes from Tongji University, in Shanghai as well. As soon as one enters the main gate, an imposing statue of Mao greets the visitor (fig.5). Its raised massive left arm not only is supposed to show the technical ability of the university staff, but also to prevent bad luck entering the campus. In fact, a major street points directly towards the university gate, i.e. perpendicular to it, and this is considered a bad situation. Therefore the statue symbolically stopping evils from coming in. Finally, is also connected with symbolism and astrology. Relatively often we find buildings which miss floor numbers containing the digit 4, since its pronunciation is close to the one of death and thus considered an unlucky number. Moreover, good and successful business is associated with a good building in terms. This is why so many businessmen are willing to consult masters (if they do not have their own) when building their headquarters or offices. According to the official news agency Xinhua, in 2005 at least 70 percent of [Nanjings] real estate projects are appraised by feng shui masters before the construction starts (Bruun 2008:123). This means that in Hong Kong and Taiwan (where is even more popular) probably all projects (should) receive a blessing. COMPARISON WITH EUROPE Even tough is a specific Chinese concept, it is possible to trace some correspondences with European history. The favorable location where to found a new city in ancient Rome for instance was always selected considering the natural landscape and confirmed by divination, and the basic city layout was drawn according to two main axes, the cardo (north-south) and decumanus (eastwest), revealing the crucial importance of orientation. The concept of qi, in contrast, does not find any western counterpart when applied to the built environment. Moreover, these ancient Roman practices were to be definitively abandoned during the middle-age, when commerce and practical reasons became the leading forces of cities development. It is important noting that, during the
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Modern Movement in architecture (ca. 1920s-1960s), the principle of south orientation regained popularity, this time as a result of scientific and hygienic attempts. While Modernist prescriptions were followed rather loosely in the West, they seem to have found a fertile ground in Asian cities from the 1980s onwards, and in China they formed a sort of joined venture with , which is intuitive and non-scientific. What a coincidence! CONCLUSIONS is a controversial topic, not only in the western world but also in China. While it is clear that many of its principles lay in arbitrary traditional textual sources and superstitions with no proof or scientific value, its relevance must be stated, given the fact that Chinese cities and buildings are largely influenced by it. It is also true that some ideas seem derived from common sense and seem reasonable to follow. This is demonstrated by the convergence between the Modern Movement in architecture and in respect to the south orientation. What could be useful, in view of Chinas and the worlds environmental crises, is to support and strengthen these useful sides and to direct thinking towards environmental preservation and more humane and fair cities.

REFERENCES Bruun, O. (2008) An Introduction to Feng Shui, 1st ed. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press Field, S.L. (2003) The Zangshu, or Book of Burial [online] 2003, available: http://www.trinity.edu/ sfield/Fengshui/Zangshu.html [accessed 23 Dec 2011] Hassenpflug, D. (2010) The Urban Code of China, 1st ed. Basel: Birkhuser Architecture LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS fig. 1, 3, 5: by Marco Capitanio fig. 2: by dotspec via Flickr fig. 4: by fangweisoton via Flickr
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