The Feng Shui Ruler

February 11, 2014 Henry Leave a comment

The use of Feng Shui measurements was first recorded during the Sung dynasty (960 – 1128 AD). They were first applied to furniture, windows and doors for the imperial palace.

There are two sets of measurements on a Feng Shui ruler or measuring tape. The markings and dimensions on top are meant for Yang houses (homes for the living) while the ones on the bottom are meant for Yin houses (coffins and grave sites).

For Yang houses, the ruler is divided into eight sections, four of which are generally auspicious and the remaining four generally inauspicious. The ruler which is based on an ancient system of measure is equivalent to modern day 42.96 cm or 16 15/16 inches.

The auspicious sections are the first, fourth, fifth and eight and they are label ‘Cai’ (meaning wealth), ‘Yi’ (meaning noble or justice), ‘Kuan’ (meaning official) and ‘Ben’ (meaning basis or origin) respectively.

The inauspicious sections are the second called ‘Bing’ (meaning sickness), the third called ‘Li’ (meaning leave or separate), the sixth called ‘Jie’ (meaning robbery or disaster) and the seventh called ‘Hai’ (meaning harmful).

Each of the eight sections is further divided into four sub-sections of 0.525 inches or 1.34 cm. Each of the sections (1 of 8) and the four subsection within carry a meaning (either auspicious or inauspicious).

After the eighth section, the whole length (of the 8 sections) is repeated again. For shorter measurements, the standard Feng Shui ruler is adequate but for measuring longer lengths, the Feng Shui measuring tape is more convenient and gives more precise measurements.

The subsections within the first section ‘Cai’ (meaning wealth) are fortune, resource, six harmony and prosperity.

Within the second section ‘Bing’ (meaning illness) are losses, bad encounter, imprisonment and widow.

Within the third section ‘Li’ (meaning separation) are wealth denied, loss of wealth, cheated and total loss.

The subsections within the fourth section ‘Yi’ (meaning noble) are gain descendants, profits, talented offspring and great prosperity.

Within the fifth section ‘Kuan’ (meaning official) are abundance of food, indirect wealth, better income and riches.

Within the sixth section ‘Jie’ (meaning disaster) are death, loss of descendants, leave home and money loss. (In the old days having to leave home is most unfortunate.)

The subsections within the seventh ‘Hai’ (meaning harm) are calamities, possible death, sickness and quarrels.

Finally within the eighth section ‘Ben’ (meaning capital or source) are wealth, promotion opportunities, arrival of wealth and abundance.

You should be able to buy a Feng Shui ruler from your nearby Feng Shui store. Or you can make your own Feng Shui ruler. Simply cut a length of 42.96 cm and divide it into eight equal sections. Colour the first, fourth, fifth and eighth section red and the rest in black. That’s it. You have your own Feng Shui ruler!

Feng Shui

Feng Shui Pictures

February 11, 2014 Henry Leave a comment

Does a painting of horses in full flight placed in the living hall increase the vitality (and accomplishment and success) of the occupants? Maybe not but then again maybe yes. Let me explain my rational.

It is well acceptable that symbols, be it a picture or an ornament, has the power to influence the subconscious mind. In turn the subconscious can develop or change habits or feelings – for better or worse.

A picture of horses in full flight may indirectly increase the vitality of the occupants, just like how a picture of fruits – enhanced by a mirror- on the dining table can give the occupants a feeling of abundance.

However this is not classical Feng Shui.

But it should not stop you from using them especially if it fits the décor. The Chinese people have traditionally use pictures and ornaments to influence their fortune. This is reflected in traditional practice of auspicious writings and ornaments such as the Three Legged Frog, Victory Horse, Tortoise Carrying Treasure, Fu Lu Shou (God of Prosperity, Wealth and Longevity) etc.

Let me share a story with you. Years ago, I worked in a company that sells application software for the freight forwarding industry. The software which was developed in another country was not fully customized for the local market and it was a bit of a challenge to sell. The market was also not ready for computerization and decisions took a long time. In other words business could be better.

One day a relatively new staff commented that a picture of a winter scene that we hung in the general area could be the cause of the slow business. The picture showed a winter scene with plenty of snow, barren trees without any visible life form. Even though many of us do not think, it did not stop us from replacing it with an even larger picture of spring complete with lots of sunshine, a beautiful lake, people running round and plenty of vegetation.

Did business improve? No, not noticeably. However the staff was more optimistic and morale received a significant boost! Such is the power of suggestions.

Which brings me to the favourite question? Should the horses be running into the house or running out?

The general consensus is running in is better as running out imply the husband is always not at home! Frankly I do not understand why the husband and not the wife? From the Bagua the horse is associated with the Li Gua which in turn means the middle daughter or a woman. So it may well be the wife who is running out most of the time! Beware.

Feng Shui

Stove: Location and Facing

February 11, 2014 Henry Leave a comment

The location (and facing) of the main door, the location of the bedroom (and orientation of the bed), together with the location of the kitchen (and facing of the stove) are the three important factors in interior Feng Shui.

Every system has specific rules on the placement of the kitchen. Some like the Eight Mansions system even have rules on the orientation (of facing) of the stove.

Before we go into the specifics of the kitchen and stove, you should be clear on the difference between sector and orientation. Click here for more information.

Some households have two kitchens, one wet and the other dry. If you can both should be placed in the ‘right’ sectors. However if you cannot, priority should be given to the one that you use the most. This is usually but not necessary the wet kitchen.

Locating the right sector for the kitchen is quite straightforward. For example in the Eight Mansions system, you place the kitchen (and the stove) in a ‘bad’ sector. The ration is the fire of the stove will burn away all the inauspiciousness of the sector turning bad to good. Please note that it is not necessary the case with other systems where the stove can be placed in a ‘good’ sector to activate the area.

The Eight Mansions system in particular requires the stove to be orientated facing a good direction. The question that many people ask is how to determine the facing of a stove. In the olden days, it was easy to determine the facing of the stove. It is based on the fire mouth which is the place where you put in charcoal or wood for burning. Please look at the illustration to get a clearer explanation.

Most modern cookers however do not have fire mouths. And induction or electric cookers do not even have fire! So how do we determine the facing direction?

An experience practitioner would be able to tell after taking a good look at the cooker. But in the absence of clear cut determining factors, we normally take the facing direction of a stove as opposite to the facing direction of the person doing the cooking.

For example, if the person doing the cooking is facing north, then the facing direction of the stove is taken to be facing south!

So there you have it, stove facing direction.

Feng Shui

Which Sector is my Door Located?

February 11, 2014 Henry Leave a comment

Most Feng Shui text tells us that the location (and the orientation) of the main door, master bedroom (and orientation of the bed) and kitchen (plus the stove, of course) are very important. They must be located in the right sectors of the house and orientated correctly.

So what is the problem? The problem is a lot of people are confused about sector and orientation. And I hope to clear this up in this article.

There are two methods to demarcate sectors within a house depending on which school you come from. They are the eight pies method and the nine palaces method. In the article I will use the nine palaces methods to show the differences between sectors and orientation.

A house can have one of eight possible facing. They are north, south, east, west, north-east, south-east, south-west and northwest. Each facing occupies a span of 45 degrees.

For example, when the facing direction is anywhere between 337.5 and 22.5 degrees, the house is considered to be facing north. Similarly when the facing direction is between 157.5 and 202.5 degrees, the house is considered to be facing south. I believe that you can work out the span of the other facing directions.

Let’s look at the example of a house with a facing of say 183 degrees. It is clearly a south facing house. In figure 1 below, the main door of the house is located in the south east (SE) sector. In figure 2, the main door is located in the south (S) sector while in figure 3 it is in the south-west (SW) sector of the house.

Please note that all the doors are facing south.

Let’s consider more examples.

In figure 4, the main door is located in the south east (SE) sector and facing east. In figure 5 the main door is located in south (S) sector but facing south (S). Finally in figure 6 the main door is now located in the south-west sector but facing west (W).

I hope this clears any confusion that you may have on sectors and facing!

Feng Shui

Five Arts of Chinese Metaphysics

February 11, 2014 Henry Leave a comment

The Chinese divide Chinese Metaphysics into five main subjects of study call Wu Shu (五术) or the Five Arts. They are Mountain 山, Medicine 医, Life 命, Divination 扑 and Appearance 相.

The first of the Five Arts are Mountain (Shan). It is also called the Philosophical art as it includes the thoughts and teachings of well known ancient Chinese philosophers on the study of man and nature. Other study that fall under this art includes diet, physical health, martial arts, meditation and self-healing. Examples include Qi Gong and Tai Chi Chuan.

The Second art is Medicine (Yi) which deals with healing. It includes all form of traditional Chinese medicine including acupuncture and medical prescriptions.

The third is Divination (Pu) or Prediction and the Yi Qing feature prominently in this study. Popular study in this art includes Tai Yi, Da Liu Re, Qi Men and Dua Yi. They rely on numerical analysis to reveal one’s part and future.

The fourth is Destiny Analysis (Ming) or fate. It includes horoscope studies, Ba Zi (Four Pillars or Eight Characters) and Zi Wei Dou Shu (Purple Star Astrology).

The fifth and last study is Appearance (Xiang) which refers to the study of forms. It includes between others, Yin (burial) and Yang Feng Shui (form of the living environment), Palmistry (form of the hand) and Face Reading (form of the face) and Naming.

The five arts are the fundamental guide to living for the Chinese people throughout the ages. The content of each of the five arts are complex and very difficult to master. As such, practitioners focus in one or two of the five arts and many only on one of two of the disciplines within the arts.

Feng Shui

House that Prosper Wealth and Descendents

February 11, 2014 Henry Leave a comment

Most Feng Shui system allows a practitioner to assess the quality of a house, usually from a wealth (include career) and relationship (include health) perspective.

For example, a Flying Star practitioner can grade a house by looking at the mountain and water star of the facing and sitting palaces of the house flying star chart.

For example, if the water star of the facing palace and the mountain star of the sitting palace contains the star of the current period, then the house is classified as a “prosperous mountain, prosperous water” house. Such a house supports the occupants in wealth creation and is good for descendants.

The positive energy of the house is further enhanced if it is surrounded by the right surrounding features – in this case with mountain at sitting and water e.g. lake at the facing.

At the opposite extreme is “prosperous mountain and prosperous water” is “reversed mountain, reversed water” that does not support wealth creation or descendants. You would not want to live in such as house.

In between are houses that are good for wealth, poor for descendants and poor for wealth and good for descendants!

Other systems of Feng Shui such as Zi Wei Dou Shu Feng Shui – a destiny based Feng Shui system – can be even more specific.

For example, a Zi Wei Feng Shui practitioner can predict if the house is going to be good or bad for the occupants not just for wealth or career but also relationships – with parents, spouse, sibling, spouse, children and friends – and health (physical and mental).

They can drill down deeper to predict if the house is good or bad for those born under the different animal signs. In addition they can also predict the changing ‘luck’ of the house and how it would affect the occupants during the course of their stay there!

While “wealth creation” is self explanatory, what really does “good for descendants” mean?

It means a few things. First the house supports the health of the occupants and caused them to live longer. Second young males tend to find spouses easily and have plenty of children of their own. The net effect is that household members grow over time.

This is as opposed to a “poor for descendants” house where household members shrink over time. Generally speaking a “poor for descendants” house imply that young males have greater difficulty finding a mate and when they do, they face difficulty having children or have very few.

So when is a “poor for descendants” house good?

I can think of one example. When you have too many unmarried daughters, such a house can be a blessing. While such a house has a negative effect on young males, it has the opposite effect on females. Remember that such house reduces family size. Females will find little difficulty finding mates, get married and move out – thus fulfilling the “reducing” effect of the house!

This reminds me of the song, “It Cuts Both Ways”. 😉

Feng Shui

What Colour Should I Paint My Bedroom?

February 11, 2014 Henry Leave a comment

This is a very common question and my clients ask me all the time.

So what is the right colour? What if I tell you there is no such thing as an absolutely correct answer?

The truth is that there isn’t a one correct answer. There are in fact many and all of them are correct – as least from the viewpoint of the practitioner who prescribe it.

Let me explain.

There are many ways or ‘system’ to select the right colour for the bedroom. Some practitioners based their choice of colours on the personal gua.

For example if your gua number is 2 or 5 – earth element – the best colour for the bedroom is yellow. If you gua is 6 or 7 – metal element – then white is preferred (if you wish you can use gold or silver). If it is 3 or 4 – wood element – then green is good. Finally you can use red colour (pink is more practical) if your gua number is 9 – fire element – or blue if your gua number is 1 – water element.

Some other based their choice of colour for the bedroom on the ‘qi’ that affects the area. For example a Flying Star practitioner might suggest blue, white or even yellow of a room with mountain star 1 (timely) and water star 6. You see the number one (1) star is of the water element. Blue colour is water and is the same element as the mountain star. This is good. White is metal which produce water. This is good too. Finally yellow colour (which symbolizes earth) produces the metal water star of 6 which in turn produces the water mountain star of 1. So yellow is good too.

Practitioners of the Eight Mansions House Gua system might suggest a colour (or scheme) that considers the interplay between the elements of the wandering star that occupies the bedroom and the element of the sector. You get another colour option here.

Practitioners that incorporate Ba Zi into their Feng Shui recommendations may base their choice of colours on the ‘yong shen’ or ‘useful god’ of the chart of the occupants. This is usually – but not necessarily – the most lacking element in the chart.

Then there are practitioners who do not believe that colours matters. You get no help from them in this aspect.

Finally there are those, who prefer not to use colours at all. Instead they prefer to use physical items that represent the elements e.g. wind chime when a metal element is required or a jar of water when the water element is required.

In my practice I do not suggest colours unless my clients ask me for my advice. When they do, I normally use a couple of methods – Ba Zi and Flying Star – to select a set of optimal colours for them. You see sometimes there are conflicts. A good colour choice based on the Flying Star may be bad from a Ba Zi perspective and vice versa. The trick is to find a colour that is good – or at least acceptable – from both the systems.

You may have noticed that I use the phrase ‘select a set of optimal colour’. Why a set instead of just one? In many cases, I have to work with interior designers and the last thing that I want is to suggest one out of whack color and having the interior designer label me ‘color challenged’. Just kidding!

Actually the main reason is that I like to give the interior designer more room to exercise their creativity. I fully subscribe to the belief that Feng Shui Consultants should not try to play the role of interior designer unless they have this gift of design.

The other reason is my suspicion that colours play a very small role in the overall Feng Shui of the house. As long as you do not use a wrong colour e.g. red in a 2-5 room, it is okay.

I would suggest instead, to pay more attention to the surrounding forms, the location of the main door, kitchen and bedrooms, the orientation of the main door, stove and beds as well as observing Feng Shui best practices thorough the dwelling.

Feng Shui

Chinese History and Feng Shui

February 11, 2014 Henry Leave a comment

Please read the following two statements extracted from a couple of articles on Feng Shui.

“Guo Po, wrote the Book of Burial. He lived during the Jin Dynasty” and “Jiang Da Hong, of Xuan Kong fame, lived during the end of the Ming Dynasty”.

In both the statements above, I believe the writers mentioned the dynastic title to give readers an indication of the time period that the persons lived. Here lies a problem.

It is fine if the reader is well verse with Chinese history and the chronology of the Chinese Dynasties. However if he is not, it is no help.

In this article I will list some of the key events in Feng Shui (including some not), in a chronological order from ancient dynasties to the current Chinese government. I hope it will give you an appreciation of the time period of the many Chinese Dynasties and when some of the significant events in Feng Shui happened in relation to these dynasties.

Let start with Fu Xi. He is a legendary first emperor of China who was credited with the invention of the Trigram and the Early Heaven Ba Gua (in addition to farming and the institution of marriage). He supposedly lived about 2950 year before the Common Era (or Before Christ). Then the Yellow Emperor Huang Ti in 2650 BC discovered the compass. This was even before the Xia Dynasty (2100 – 1600 BE) where the Chinese Solar or Xia Calendar (also known as the Farmer’s Calendar) was devised.

The Xia Dynasty is followed by the Shang Dynasty. After the Shang Dynasty comes the Zhou Dynasty – more specifically the Western Zhou Dynasty between 1100 and 771 BE. It was here that Ji Chang (later known as Emperor Wen) developed the 64 Hexagrams while under house arrest by the Emperor.

The next has nothing to do with Feng Shui but it is such a significant event that is worth mentioning. I am talking about the Qin Dynasty that existed between 221 and 206 BE. Here Emperor Qin Shi Huang was famous for unifying China and extending the Great Wall of China. However he was also responsible for burning books and burying Confucius scholars alive!

This followed by the Han Dynasty (both Eastern and Western) that lasted approx 400 years and followed by the Three Kingdoms (220 – 280 CE) the Jin Dynasty between (265 – 420 CE). Guo Po who wrote the Zhang Shu or Book of Burial lived during the Jin Dynasty between 276 and 324 CE.

Feng Shui flourished during the Tang Dynasty (618 – 906 CE). Yang Yun Sang perhaps the most famous Feng Shui Master lived during that time (840 – 888 CE). Master Yang wrote many books including the famous “Han Lung Qing”.

After the Tang Dynasty, comes the Five Dynasties (907 – 960 CE). This is followed by the Song Dynasty (960 – 1279 CE). The famous Ba Zi master Xu Zi Ping who reformed the traditional Ba Zi system was said to live between the Five Dynasties and Song Dynasty period. This would mean on or around 960 CE. Zi Ping abandoned some of the old techniques and introduced some new ones most notably placing emphasis on the birth day instead of the birth year.

Zi Wei Dou Shu or the Purple Star Astrology was also reputedly devised by Chen Xi Yi who also lived during the Song Dynasty. Shao Yang, who invented Plum Blossom Numerology, also lived during the Song Dynasty.

Jiang Da Hong of Xuan Kong fame lived during the late Ming Dynasty (1368 – 1644 AD) and early Qing Dynasty (1644 – 1911 CE) period. Jiang was famous for writing many classical Feng Shui treatises including the Di Li Bian Zheng (Earth Discern Truth Study). However most of his treatises were written in a poetic style that was difficult to understand.

The authoritative Xie Ji Bian Fang Shu (Treatise on Harmonizing Times and Distinguishing Directions) was commissioned by Emperor Qian Long (1736 – 1796 CE) of the Qing Dynasty.

During the later Qing Dynasty, Imperial Scholar, Zhang Zhong Shan added commentaries to Jiang’s work, making the information on Xuan Kong more accessible. Zhang founded his own school call Wu Chang Pai and the most notable practitioner of the school was Tang Yang Wu. The Qing Dynasty officially ended in 1911. Tan published a few books himself on Xuan Kong that supported many of the theories using his own case studies in the 1920’s.

Worthwhile mentioning is another scholar Shen Zhu Ren who lived in about the same period as Tan. Shen was credited with simplifying Xuan Kong text and making it easy to understand. He also took the unprecedented step of teaching it to anyone who wants to learn it, an unusual practice during his time.

For a more detailed timeline on Chinese Dynasties please visit Chinese History Timeline.

Feng Shui

Feng Shui Personal Gua and Sleeping Directions

February 11, 2014 Henry Leave a comment

Do you know that your sleeping direction can affect your fortune? Most fans and practitioners of Feng Shui do and believe in it strongly. Of course sceptics differ but that is another story.

What do you mean by sleeping direction? It is the direction that the crown of your head points when you sleep. For example if the crown of your head points north (and your feet points south), then you are sleeping facing north. Or if the crown of your head points east (and your feet west), then you are sleeping facing east.

So, from where did this idea of sleeping direction come about?

I believe that the strongest proponent of sleeping directions is the Eight Mansions Feng Shui system. Here, people are classified into two groups namely the East Life and West life group – which are obtained from their year of birth.

The good directions for East Life Group people are north, south, east and southeast. The remaining directions such as northwest, southwest, west and northeast are bad for them – or do not benefit them.

For the West Life Group the sectors and direction are the opposite.

The people within each groups, are further classified by their Gua numbers. For example, East Life group would include those with Gua numbers 1, 3, 4 and 9 while West life group include those with Gua number 2, 6, 7 and 8.

Find out your Gua number (also sometimes spelt Kua) by visiting the link below.
http://www.henryfong.com/kua.htm

The biggest (modern day) problem with this system is accommodating husbands and wives from different groups. Their good sleeping directions are completely the opposite. For example if the husband is an East Group person with Gua number 3 and the wife is a West Group person with Gua number 6.

For the Gua 3 husband, his good directions – in order – are south (best), north, southeast and east. His bad directions – again in order – are southwest, northwest, northeast and west (worst).

Compare this to his wife of Gua 6. Her good directions are west (best), northeast, southwest and northwest. Her bad directions are southeast, east, north and south (worst).

His best direction is her worst and vice versa. All his good directions are her bad directions and vice versa. This makes sleeping on the same bed impossible – or is there a way out?

It is not uncommon to read Feng Shui books advising couples to sleep on separate beds each orientated to their individual’s best directions. In my opinion and those of most practitioners, it is not necessary.

Bed direction is not a problem in the old days where the husband is always the bread winner. The bed direction is always optimized for the husband and the ration is that if the husband does well, everyone in the family including the wife, benefits.

However these days, where the wife is frequently an equal earner, she often demands her equal share of Feng Shui!

There are a few methods to resolve this including one that makes use of the early and late heaven Bagua and another use that uses the Na Jia (or Received Jia). These methods are complicated and not easy to use. Instead I suggest that you try a simpler method.

You simply place the bed in one of the wife’s least harmful direction. In the above example, the wife’s least harmful direction is southeast (which happens to be her husband’s favourable direction by virtue of their opposing group). If it is not practical to place the bed to face south-east, then use her next less harmful direction i.e. east.

I know that optimizing the bed direction this way may not put the husband in his best direction. In practice this is acceptable as there are other things such as the main door, stove and study that can be orientated to face his best (or better) directions – to maximize his Feng Shui.

Do remember that the Feng Shui quality of a home is not solely dependent on the bed alone!

Feng Shui

Feng Shui: The Eight Mansions and Flying Star

February 11, 2014 Henry 2 Comments

The Eight Mansions and Xuan Kong Flying Star Feng Shui system are two popular classical Feng Shui systems. Both have a long history stretching at least 1000 years.

The Eight Mansions system was reputedly formulated during the Tang Dynasty (618-906 AD) while the Xuan Kong Flying Star (of Fei Xing) about 1000 years ago.

What is the main difference between them? The answer is time.

The fundamental core of the Xuan Kong Flying Star system is that the Feng Shui quality of a dwelling can change over time. Every house inherits a set of ‘qi’ upon completion – which can be changed by further renovations. This ‘qi’ affects the wealth, career, health and relationship potential of the occupants. The quality of this set of ‘qi’ can change as we move though time and a house that is considered highly auspicious during a certain period can lose its quality many years down the road and vice versa.

The Eight Mansions system on the other hand is less dynamic. Once the house is correctly matched to the occupants, the house continues to support the occupants. In fact the longer the occupants stay in the house, the better the Feng Shui. (It is technically incorrect to say that time does not matter in the Eight Mansions. However the time element is so small and insignificant that for all intents and purpose we can ignore it in this discussion.)

Sounds contradictory, does it? One changes with time while the other does not?

In my opinion its does not, and you will understand better, if we dig deeper into the basis of the system.

The Eight Mansions system is based on the principle that mankind is imbue with an energy signature during birth that determines his favourable sectors and directions. Based on the date of birth, mankind is classified into with the East or West Life Group. If they are in the East Life Group, their favourable sectors (in the dwelling) and directions are north, south, east and southeast. For the West Life group, the favourable sectors and directions are the remaining cardinal and inter-cardinals of northwest, southwest, west and northeast.

The fundamental belief of this system is that the occupants will be supported (benefits them) by the house if the three important factors namely, the main door, stove and bedroom are in a sector or direction that is favourable to them – there is an exception with the stove.

The Flying Star system on the other hand believes that the house is influenced by the energy exerted by the nearby planets which changes its position over time.

If you study the practical application of the Xuan Kong Flying System, you will notice that the emphasis is on the locating the main door, stove and bedroom in sectors with good and timely energy. It is likely trying to be in the right place at the right time. (It is technically incorrect to say that the Flying Stars does not consider the person. It still does – via the personal or life gua – but the emphasis is still more on the changing ‘qi’. )

Does it look like the Flying Star is trying to capitalize on the energies of heaven (cosmic and from out of space) while the Eight Mansions is trying to do the same with the earth? It is food for thoughts.

From the above, you can see that the two systems are not divergent, they simply have different emphasis. Can you combine the systems together? Not really. You cannot combine the two systems and use it together without conflict.

However this has not stopped practitioner from trying. Let me give you an example of how they are doing it. Suppose the Flying Stars says that two sectors namely south and southwest are both suitable for a bedroom. Then – assuming that all things are equal – they would use the south sector as a bedroom for an East Life person (one of his auspicious sectors). And they would use the room in the southwest sector for the West Life person (one of his auspicious sectors).

Up to now, I have not talk about the surrounding forms (e.g. mountains and rivers). It does not mean that they are not important. They are. The presence of the right form is important to both the system as they enhance the positive energies in both the systems. So it is more a similarity than a difference.

In summary, the Eight Mansions system seems to be trying to capitalize on the energies of earth while the Flying Star appears to do the same with the energies of heaven?

Think about it. It is definitely food for thoughts!

Absolutely Feng Shui

The Feng Shui Ruler

Feng Shui Pictures

Stove: Location and Facing

Which Sector is my Door Located?

Five Arts of Chinese Metaphysics

House that Prosper Wealth and Descendents

What Colour Should I Paint My Bedroom?

Chinese History and Feng Shui

Feng Shui Personal Gua and Sleeping Directions

Feng Shui: The Eight Mansions and Flying Star

Feng Shui and More