Chinese Architecture and Feng Shui: The Siamese Twins Essay

Chinese architecture and Feng Shui are pronounced in the same breath as twain have come a long way together since the last 4000 years, and now Feng-Shui (Air-Water, liter tot eachyy) has caught the mind all around globe. Feng Shui is, in fact, an ethnic doctrine of China dealing with the staple fibre principles of living while extending its wings into astrology and other paranormal sources that muckle believe are associated with longevity and good luck. No wonder then, it move to govern the Chinese society since its advent and also became evolved with time to summatemate the stride of the civilization, thereby influencing the living of its believers in every strata. Off late, Feng Shui has been hard considered as an important tool in architecture around the globe. entrancewayQuin niao tse, an officer in the Yellow Emperors regime is believed to be the originator or the propagator of Feng Shui, and concordly once it was called as the Art of Qin niao tse, though any documenta tion of his give is considered to be doomed (Too, 1996). However, Feng Shui today is known as the art of placement. The Feng Shui literature in general describes the earth as a living being, having energy channels. They call them as the veins of the dragon and earmark the convergence points of those channels as auspicious state of affairss. It enter Taoism1on its journey, and as an effect, Chinese people accepted its explanation and concretized its pedestal by practicing it in the various spheres of their living, of which architecture had been heavily deviated.Incubating Period conform with Taoism, it soon established both schools, viz., the Direction inculcate and the Situation School, with one complementing the other. They still exists, where The Direction School deals with the accurate alignment of the site and the building with the stars. It is based on the theory of quint elements, eight characters of line of descent and eight triagrams of I Ching. The Situation Schoo l deals with the significance of shapes, height the mountains, invigorate and curves of the water bodies (Too, 1996).This twin aspects of Feng Shui became popular enough to be spread issue not only in the whole of China, but also in its neighboring countries. This generated an extended interest on further study and ontogeny of the champaign as a whole, and that resulted into the birth of another branch that started to work on the dimension of timing, based on the doctrine that every routine of land goes through a bout of good and bad luck. This persuasion influenced the monarchy to such an extent that they became choosy even about their burial sites as that, according to the new branch, had some bearing on the longevity of the view dynasty. Ming Tombs of Beijing still stands as a proof of such belief beheld by the rulers of the Ming dynasty. (1368-1644).Like every philosophy or idea, Feng Shui also had to suit a great deal of upheaval. In its traced track of existence, it faced throw out twice, once in the time of Yuan dynasty (Mongols invaders) and in 1949, when the communist regimen of China found it a superstitious practice (Traditional, 2006). But, as the fresh says, old habits die hard Feng Shui has gradually bounced back and at confront is doing a roaring business all around the globe where the Chinese themselves have become a minor entrepreneur. Taking clue from the emergence market, other ethnic ideas of China, similar astrology or acupressure, have also been embedded with Feng Shui to create a comprehensive living solution.How Feng Shui Influences Architecturefeasibleness of certain requirements of living always determines the viability of any architectural project. At the commencement level it deals with easy accessibility to the site, height and shape of the land, easy accessibility of water, circumstance for proper sewerage, free flow of clean air and so forth If the primary conditions prove conducive, then the architects emphasi ze on the second level, where they check and decide on the appropriateness of external and the internal structure of the proposed construction. afterward that come the factors related to aesthetics or special features, which could produce the scope to exploit the surrounding environment. All these levels of considerations are equally important for both the intended dwellers of the proposed constructions and its purlieu. Since Feng Shui claims to have better prescription medicines for all those three levels of consideration on with its huge list of advices on actual living principles, it has tremendous influence of architecture industry, as that is being proved even today.The Basics of Feng ShuiFeng Shui claims to tax and identify the positive and negative aspects of a place through its musical arrangement based on a theory of Yin(the feminine force) and Yang(the male force), the two opposite yet complementary forces which are believed to be the cause of deportment and death, where Yin is considered as earth and Yin as heaven.There is a symbolic bureau of the duo as well, where a line of two dashes represents Yin and a regular line denotes Yang, while each is being derived from a square and a circle, which represent the earth and heaven respectively. Yin and Yang take a set of five elements like humankind, can, Metal, woodland and Water to assess and decide on the preconditions of living. though it is difficult to summarize the huge connotation behind this dualistic philosophy of Yin and Yang, yet it can be said that it propagates to use the right quotient among different forces like Heaven, Human being, and Earthto achieve balance and harmony in life.Yin and Yang theory is then joined by Bagua theory, which consists of eight triagrams, known by the names like Qian, Kun, Zhen, Xun, Li, Kan, Dui and Gen. Combination of these are used to draw a hypothesis about possible future events to take place in the house. In the end Tao, Yin-Yang theory and Bag ua theory work together to enhance and maintain Chi, the vital life-force behind everything (Too, 1996).Thus, encompassing the environmental, philosophical and phantasmal factor, Feng Shui suggests about the best possible order and placement of the objects to attain ease or harmony or the other results as desired by the owner of a house. In the process it involves itself into further details like assessing the zodiacal placement of the prospective dwellers to present a tailor-made prescription for the design and lay-out for their house, covering both the interior and exterior of it.How It WorksFeng Shui has a set of grammar to follow. It starts with prescribing the possible right directions of a site according to its surroundings (Fong). It identifies one direction as the attributors of certain elements and earmarks certain functions of the house-to-be to that direction. A apace glance on such a list would explain the subject furtherNorth East The plain of Education represent b y Earth elementNorth The Area of Career mint equal by Water elementNorthwest Area of Mentor Luck represented by Metal elementWest Area of the descendants Luck represented by Metal elementSouthwest Area of Love Y Marriage Luck represented by Earth elementSouth Area of Fame and Luck represented by Fire elementSoutheast Area of Wealth Luck represented by Wood elementEast Area of Health and Family Luck represented by Wood element.Various shapes and colors are also believed to be associated with the above directions along with numbers they are calculated on the root of the of the owners gender and zodiacal data. According to Feng Shui, the productive cycle of the elements work out in the following directionsEarth Fire Wood Water MetalLucky TalismanThere are a few objects that are considered as the provider of luck and Chi according to the Feng Shui myths and legends (Tips, 2006). The most popular ones are the artifacts like Three-legged toad with a coin in its mouth, bunch of Chin ese coins tagged in a red ribbon, the wind-chimes, golden dragon fish, gem trees, crystal globe or other crystal artifacts, tortoises, fruit trees, ships, hens, Mandarin ducks, etc. They are rede to place in the strategic positions according to the need of the householders.CONCLUSIONApplying calculations involving all these factors mentioned, Feng Shui determines the best possible living solutions for people. Starting from prescribing for a township, it can go down to the minutest details to determine even the placement of small items in a house. In all, Feng Shuis utility value is great in the sense that creates awareness about healthy and prosperous living, which the modern universe embraced and working on for the sustainable development of the societies across the globe.ReferencesFeng Shui Tips 2006 retrieved exhibit 14, 2007, from http//www.lillian-too.com/fstips.phpFong, H.What You perfectly Must Know Before You Buy A House pdf, retrieved March 14, 2007, from http//www.hen ryfong.comToo, L. (1996). The Complete Illustrated Guide to Feng Shui How to Apply the Secrets of Chinese Wisdom for Health, Wealth and Happiness.chemical element BooksTraditional Feng Shui 2006, retrieved March 14, 2007, retrieved from http//www.traditionalfengshui.com/content/feng_shui_consultation.php1Tao (pathway to life), ancient Chinese philosophy on understanding of cosmology, astronomy, and the astrophysics.