Basic feng shui theories and terminologies

In feng shui articles, there tend to be numerous theories and terminologies that can appear puzzling to readers, especially those who are new to the subject.

In view of this, I attempt below to familiarize you with some of the terminologies and theories of feng shui.

The art of divination with regard to feng shui is closely related to the harmony of the cosmic breath – yin ( 阴) and yang ( 阳 ). Yin and yang are the negative and positive principles of universal life.

The following is quoted from “Feng shui, Chinese Colours and Symbolism” written by Evelyn Lip:

“……. The universe too is made up of yin-yang and is represented by wood, fire, earth, gold and water. The balance of these ingredients or elements changes nature or man’s fate. ”

The Chinese believe that the universe is made up of yin-yang and is represented by Wu Xing or five forces or elements (五行).

The five elements are Metal ( 金 ), Water ( 水 ), Wood ( 木 ), Fire ( 火 ), and Earth ( 土 ).

There are two main cycles of interaction between the Five Elements, namely creation and counteraction, as described below.

· The Creation cycle

Metal created Water, Water nurtured Wood, Wood gave rise to Fire, Fire produced Earth and Earth gave birth to Metal.

· The Counteraction cycle

Metal broke Wood, Wood cut into Earth, Earth absorbed Water, Water put out Fire, and Fire melted Metal.

All calamities were said to arise from disturbances of the Five Elements and the ancient Chinese were cautious not to interfere with the laws of nature and heaven..

Also known as the Celestial Stems or Tian Gan ( 天干), the Ten Stems are Jia ( 甲 ), Yi ( 乙 ), Bing ( 丙 ), Ding ( 丁 ), Wu ( 戊 ), Ji ( 己 ), Geng ( 庚 ), Xin ( 辛 ), Ren ( 壬 ) and Kui ( 癸 ).

The Twelve Branches, Di Zhi ( 地支 ) are Zi ( 子 ), Chou ( 丑 ), Yin (寅 ), Mao ( 卯 ), Chen ( 辰 ), Si ( 巳 ), Wu ( 午 ), Wei ( 未 ), Shen ( 申 ), You ( 酉 ), Shu ( 戍 ) and Hai ( 亥 ).

Note: The interpretation of yin and yang nature of the Twelve Branches can vary with different geomancers.

One of the main applications of the Ten Stems and Twelve Branches is BaZi (Four Pillars of Destiny). They are used in BaZi to calculate the character and life events or destiny of a person.

The terms of the Twelve Branches are applied to the Chinese Horoscope symbols as follows:

Relationship of the animal symbols, the orientation and the corresponding hours are as follows:

Note: The Chinese gave each period of duration of two hours a name, e.g. Zi is from 11 p.m. to 1 a.m. and Hai from 9 p.m. to 11 pm.

The Bagua ( 八卦) has two versions, namely the Earlier Heaven Bagua and the Later Heaven Bagua. The latter version is more widely used to represent the direction or orientation.

The Eight Trigrams are Qian ( 乾 ), Kun ( 坤 ), Zhen ( 震 ), Kan ( 坎 ), Gen ( 艮 ), Xun (巽 ), Li (离), and Dui (兑)

There are two kinds of lines forming their symbols: a broken line and a solid line. The broken line - - indicates yin and the solid line - yang. The symbolic meanings are based on the way in which yin and yang lines are combined.

Each trigram or gua corresponds to an aspect of life and also corresponds to one of the cardinal directions.

The Eight Trigrams represent the direction or orientation as follows:

The Bagua can also be used to represent people. The table below shows the element nature of each gua and the people it represents.

Above is just a brief description of some of the feng shui theories, which have very wide applications.

I hope you find the above tables useful as they contain information that can be used for future reference purposes.

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