History

xistence of Feng Shui dated back thousands and thousands of years in numerous forms.  It was until the ancient China's shamans, diviners, and sage-kings combined  documented and concerted to three  integrated blocks of feng shui: the compass, the Ba Gua (eight trigrams), and the theory of change (I-Ching/Yi Jing). The story goes that during the time of the Yellow Emperor (Huang Ti) in prehistoric China, compass was originally used for feng shui. This compass was later modified for use in navigation.

He Tu & Dragon Horse (Qi Lin)

Legend has it that one day Fu Xi (one of the Three Kings in prehistoric China) was by the bank of riverside and watched a mythological dragon horse ‘Qi Lin’ emerging from the Yellow River (Huang He). On the back of the horse found a pattern of black and white dots. Fu Xi named it as He Tu (river chart). This representation was later organized in a specific order called Xian Tian (Early heaven) sequence.

Lou Shu & Giant Turtle

Years later Emperor Yu (Xia dynasty) found in River Luo a giant turtle which has special markings on its shell. These markings were later transcribed into a nine grid known as magic square or Lou Shu. The sum of the three numbers in any horizontal, vertically and even diagonally are 15.

While He Tu represents the perfect heavenly order, Luo Shu represents the energy pattern of the Earth and indicates nine different types of Qi (life force)

The Ba Gua (Eight Trigrams) of King Wen

K'an-yu / Yin- and Yang-domain Feng-shui

The Han dynasty (206 BCE-219 CE) saw influence of k'an-yu. K’an means “the way of heaven and Yu means “the way of Earth”. The predecessor of luo pan called Shi Pan was used for selecting times and dates. It was said that k’an-yu was championed by the Taoists Huang-shih Kung and Ch'ing Wu, who argued that geological bodies, particularly mountains and rivers, are filled with vital energy. The pathways of energy in mountains are called dragon veins, while those in waterways are called water dragons.

The ancient Chinese theorized that the land's energy could make or break a kingdom. For instance, if the capital city was built on land with nourishing energy, the country would prosper; if it was built on land carrying malevolent energy, the country would suffer catastrophes. Likewise, if an emperor were to be buried on or near landforms with positive energy, his dynasty would last. On the contrary if he were to be buried on landforms with negative energy, his dynasty would fall. In fact, kan-yu was first used only by emperors and nobles to select propitious burial sites. Anyone attempted to practice outside the emperor’s court risked their lives. Only until the Chin dynasty (265-420 CE) commoners started using kan-yu to choose sites for houses (yang-domain feng shui) and burial grounds (yin-domain feng shui). 

Feng-shui Schools / The Lo-p'an / The Flying Stars System

The term Feng Shui, was first used by Kuo P’u (276-324 CE). He wrote a famous classic called “Book of Burial” which became the doctrine of many feng shui schools. One of the famous quote:

" Qi rides the wind and is dispersed;
It is stopped at the boundary of water." -Kuo P'u

The T'ang (618-906 CE) and Sung (960-1279 CE) dynasties were the golden ages of feng shui. During the T'ang, the geomantic compass called luo pan, with its twenty-four directions and seventeen rings, was incorporated into feng shui practice.

Today's lo-p'an differs only slightly from the lo-p'an of the T'ang dynasty. Yang Yun-sun an imperial master was the era's foremost feng shui expert for the Three Combinations (San-he) feng shui school. He theorized that the energy carried in mountains could be charted by looking at the features of surrounding valleys.

During the Sung dynasty, Hsü Jen-wang expanded the Three Periods (San Yuan) school to include buildings as well as landforms. He was believed to be the founder of the Hsüan-k'ung (Flying Star) school. To evaluate buildings, Hsü's school used the Flying Stars System, which combines information of the direction a building faces, the year it was built, and the luo pan to locate auspicious and inauspicious energies inside the building. As cities grew with more and more houses built far away from natural landscapes, the Hsüan-k'ung school saw its increasing popularity. Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) - The Emperor appointed an official called Kuan Tai Fu to regulate the practice of feng shui and the production of luo pan. There were registering and grading of different skill levels of masters. This practice continued even until Ch’ing dynasty.

One of the feng shui's last phases of development was in Ching dynasty (1644-1911) and notably by two famous masters Jiang Da Hong (1620-1714) and Shen Chu Reng (1849-1906). Jiang wrote a number of classics and began to use 9 yun cycles and called his method San Yuan. Shen later on wrote a book classic on Xuan Kong (Flying Star) and became the basis of 20th century Flying Star theory. In the early Ching, Jo Kuan Tao Jen popularized the Ba Zhai (Eight Mansions) school. As for the residence, Ba Zhai would match the occupant's guardian star based on his or her year of birth with the direction of the main entrance/location of the house.

However, during the Cultural Revolution (1966-1976) matters associated with feudal society and practices like feng shui were forbidden and many masters fled to Hong Kong, Taiwan, Singapore and Malaysia. In present China, this traditional knowledge gains recognization and there are now universities conducting historical research on feng shui.

During the Republic years (1911-1949), the Xuan Kong school continues using the principles of Landform Classification, in addition to the compass and the Flying Stars system for evaluating the feng shui of a building. The San He school, on the other hand, devoted to the study of mountains, valleys, and waterways. Today, the San Yuan, San He, Xuan Kong, and Ba Zhai are widely practiced around the world and are known as Classical or Traditional Chinese feng shui.