I live in Malaysia which is a multi-racial country. It is always interesting to know how the different races perceive each other. In a survey conducted recently the result shows that a large percentage of the other races think that the Chinese are greedy! While this is definitely not true, at least not from the Chinese perspective, I can think of at least one reason why they perceive so.

When two Chinese meet, it is customary for one to inquire whether the other has eaten. Food is after all very important to the Chinese. But what is next? It is usually, “Did you make any good money recently?” or “Do you have any good money making opportunity?”! This is probably the reason why they think the Chinese are greedy.

This perception is further reinforced by the many Chinese symbols of good fortune and wealth that is found in many Chinese homes. You may have heard of the Pi Xiu or Dragon Dog and its ability to pull in wealth. There is also the Three Legged Feng Shui Frog (with and without the ancient Chinese coin in the mouth), the Fu, Lu & Shou (Happiness, Wealth and Longevity) trio, God of Wealth and so on.

This brings me to the topic of Feng Shui. My clients know that I do not use such items in my Feng Shui practice. The reason is that Feng Shui is about ‘qi’, while these items of good luck are not.

But do they work? In my opinion, they work but not in the magical way that most people think. Here is what I think.

Symbols can influence the human sub-conscious mind. Let’s take the Three Legged Feng Shui Frog. If you believe that it can help you to accumulate money, this belief can get imprinted in your sub-conscious over time. The sub-conscious then affects then affects the conscious mind which in turn affects out action. We go out to make and accumulate more money!

Let’s take another example of the drawing of carps. Carps, in Chinese sounds a bit like abundance. Having a drawing of carps hanging on a wall in the dining area gives the message to the sub-conscious that there is abundance. This in turn can influence the conscious mind and tell it that there is abundance which is a positive emotion.

Feng Shui? No. But does it work? Maybe.