A Case Study on Chinese Feng Shui in rural area
Chinese Feng Shui is
gradually becoming globally known in the 21st century, because of
the cultural interaction between East and West. Western people recognized Feng
Shui as traditional Chinese folk religion, who interested the principle and
social influence of Feng Shui in rural areas in China. When approaching Feng Shui issues, the
use of Mircea Eliade and Émile Durkheim’s theories
will help us to understand this topic more clearly.
Émile Durkheim, a French scholar, who is the first person championed the
central importance of society, including social structures, relationship and
institution in understanding human thought and behaviour.[1] He
rejected the definition of religion as ”belief in supernatural beings”[2]
given by Edward Burnett Tylor and James George Frazer, he insisted that things
in the world can be divided into two separate arenas: the sacred and the
profane, and the truly characteristic of religious beliefs and rituals is the
concept of the sacred, which sets apart as superior, powerful, forbidden to
normal contact and deserving of great respect.[3] In
contrary, profane things are little matter, referring to private and personal
concerns, namely: day-to-day business of each individual.[4]
Durkheim also believes that sacred things involve large concerns, especially
the interest and welfare of an entire group of people, connecting and affecting
the whole community. In Durkheim’s theory, therefore, sacred is communal and
society is sacred.[5]
Affected by Émile Durkheim, Mircea Eliade,
an influential Romanian historian of religion, introduced two Axioms for us to approach
religion. Firstly, he insisted that religion is an element in human behaviour,
it functions as a cause rather than an effect, representing that religion must
be examined independently. Secondly, Eliade proposed a new methodology for
understanding religion: Phenomenology, a comparative study of things in the
form and appearance, which can integrate certain general forms or broad
patterns out of their original time and space from various religion phenomena,
representing that we need to study a religious system with the comparison to
other religious systems.[6]
Apart from two Axioms of approaching religion, Eliade partly agreed with
Durkheim’s theory of the sacred and profane. When Durkheim explains it through
the prospective of social and individual, Eliade believes the uniqueness of
religion, he insists“ it centers on the sacred in and of itself, not on the
sacred merely as a way of depicting the social” and the role of religion is to
bring person out of the current situation into a Universe world, which is full
of transcendent and holy.[7]
According to Cambridge Dictionary, Feng Shui(Wind-Water) is “an ancient
Chinese belief that the way your house is built or the way that you
arrange objects affects your success, health, and happiness:”, it is a
board contested field of traditional knowledge and practice, consisting of
several different elements, namely: Wu Xin(Metal, Wood, Water, Fire and Earth)
and Yin Yang(Shady side and Sunny side).[8]
This belief is widely used in various aspects, divining lucky and proper dates
for building, travelling, wedding and so forth, in which Feng Shui Master uses
a combination of traditional lunar calendar and the individual’s data relating
to astrology[9].
In this article, Durkheim and Eliade’s theories will be applied to building
cases in China in order to develop a deeper understanding of this issue.
Appling Eliade’s theory in understanding Hierophany and the Qi element
of Chinese Feng Shui (I will explain this concept in the following paragraph),
I believe the core value of Hierophany is likely similar to Qi. Therefore, the Eliade’s
theory can be applied to real situation in China. In “The Reality of the
Sacred”, Eliade mentioned that when archaic clans set up their village, the
chosen location must be found at a place where there is a “Hierophany”, a
sacred appearance or has been visited by the sacred.[10]
This location will receive a ritual blessing and develop as the center point of
their village and the center of the world (Axis mundi), joining the regions of
the universe: heaven, earth and underground.[11] At
the same time, when Chinese people set up their village, they will recruit a
Feng Shui Master to choose a place (this ritual refers to See Feng Shui), where
is the meeting point of Qi. Qi can be translated into ‘Breath’ or ‘Breath of
nature’, which is described as the origin of Heaven and Earth, giving rise to
Yin and Yang.[12]
In the Chinese organic philosophy, the universe is perceived as a
self-generating organism pulsating with life-giving forces, and Qi was the
basis of all things.[13] The
location of a village should be able to capture the flow of Qi, as Qi flows
according to the shape of the mountain. Normally the Feng Shui location refers
to a valley, where is the meeting point of different Qi.[14]
Building village in this location can capture the most of the living-giving
flow of Qi, bringing four individual concerns to people, including prosperity,
happiness, long life and procreation.[15]
If the Feng Shui master has chosen a location, he will act as Exorcist, in
order to practice a ritual ‘Call Dragon’, enhancing the underground power of
this location.[16]
In the above descriptions of Hierophany and Qi, we can integrate some similarity
from two different phenomena. Firstly, whenever archaic clans or Chinese people
try to set up their village, they do not choose any convenient place to build, instead
they choose a place having spiritual or sacred feeling for them, a Hierophany
place or a meeting place of Qi. Secondly, the chosen location represented a
sense of security for them, showing that this is a suitable place for lifelong
living. Thirdly, people will conduct a ritual, after the confirmation of the
location. Therefore, I can integrate these two concepts out of their original
time and space from Chinese and Western religion phenomena.
Following the footpath of the above finding, I believe there should be another
phenomenon similar to the model of Axis mundi in Feng Shui
issues. As Eliade mentioned, people will also use vertical objects, namely: pole
and pillar, to mark the sacred location, representing the sacred center.[17] I
believe when Chinese people found a great place for setting up village, they
will mark the location by using the same method. Moreover, I found that Chinese
people did demonstrate this method, they build Paifang (Memorial archway gate)
as the entrance of the village, practicing as the same meaning and functions of
Axis Mundi. Firstly, it helps people to identify the location, showing the
sacred location was blessed by Gods or having Qi. Secondly, it captures the
underground power for the village, I think it is partly similar to Axis mundi,
as Paifang only connect with the Earth and Underground, but Axis mundi connect with
the Sky, Earth and Underground.[18]
As Paifang did not connect with the Sky, they might have different functions. However,
the core value of them should be the same. They are both acting as the character
of connecting the Earth and underground, being as a tool to communicate with
the nature. Therefore, applying Eliade’s theory can further develop my ideas.
Apart from the basic function of choosing a proper location for the
village, Feng Shui also affects the social relationship and institution. In
this situation, using Durkheim’s theory will help us understand the phenomenon
better. In his theory, he mentioned that “the first possessions were not individual,
but communal in character”, as early people regarded that the sacred ground
should be belong to the whole tribe, the priest or any other people who have no
right to own the ground.[19] I
believe this concept can be applied in Feng Shui issue. The relations among
buildings in the vicinity has been a major social issue in Chinese villages, as
the flow of Qi is influenced by all natural bodies and by human constructions.
If the buildings are too big, too close or too dominant, they will be accused
of blocking the Qi of other families.[20] When
applying Durkheim’s theory, we can understand that Qi is sacred and it is a
property of the whole community, therefore no individuals should be allowed to
catch the shared Qi at the expense of the other’s or even the society’s. As
from ancient time, a strict rule has been implemented in order to regulate the
sizes of houses, ensuring the Qi is equally distributed and no household is
left in the shade.[21]
It states that all houses should be : ‘East overlooks West and North overlooks
South’, providing overall design for the entire village, representing that no
house is allowed to be higher than the others, eliminating negative flow of Qi
towards the society.[22]
However, in the modern society, this rule has been broken due to heavy demand
of space. Village leader allows people to build bigger and higher house towards
the North and the East within the village, but never in the other way to build
bigger and higher house, since this will block the Qi for household behind.[23]
This solution minimizes the negative effects towards the entire sacred society.
Although some of the rules had been broken due to rapid social development, the
core value of the sacred and commonly shared Qi is still dominating the whole Chinese
society. Chinese Feng Shui focus on the overall flow of Qi, believing that the
most crucial thing is to maintain the Qi of the village or society, while the
individual one’s is less important. I believe this example can demonstrate the
application of Durkheim’s theory, which indicating the concept of society is
sacred, for its core idea being the same.
After applying these two theories to understand Feng Shui issue, I have learnt
a lot. Firstly, those theories provide guidance for me to understand religion
phenomenon, not only can I use the writer’s point of views to approach
religious issues, but also implement them in real situations to discover new findings.
Secondly, I gained a deeper understanding of the two theories and Feng Shui
issues. Although those foundation theories are quite difficult to understand,
they provide basic knowledge for my further study in the field of Religious Studies,
helping me to cope with future problems.
In conclusion, the use of reductionism and non-reductionism in the field
of Religious Studies has always been a controversy. In this case study, I
applied two theories with various approaches towards religion, including Mircea
Eliade and Émile Durkheim’s theories. They are applied in Chinese Feng Shui
issues with main focus on the application of Hierophany and the concept of
society is sacred. For Hierophany, an example of the Chinese Qi is used. For
the concept of society is sacred, an example of maintaining the Qi of the
village is used. After finishing this case study, I believe that the religious
situation in China is slightly different to Western one. Therefore, when we are
approaching Chinese religious phenomena, we should not only apply to the
Western theories, but also consider the difference between East and West and
our own social characteristic so as to showcase the uniqueness of Chinese
religion.
Bibliography:
Bruun Ole. An Introduction to Feng Shui. New York: Cambridge University Press
2008.
Pals, Daniel L. Eight Theories of Religion. New York:
Oxford University Press 2006.
[1] Daniel L. Pals, Eight
Theories of Religion (New York: Oxford University Press, 2006), 85.
[2] Pals, Eight Theories of
Religion, 95.
[3] Pals, Eight Theories of Religion,
95-96.
[4] Pals, Eight Theories of
Religion, 96.
[5] Pals, Eight Theories of
Religion, 96.
[6] Pals, Eight Theories of
Religion, 197.
[7] Pals, Eight Theories of
Religion, 199.
[8] Ole Bruun, An Introduction to
Feng Shui (New York: Cambridge University Press, 2008),2.
[9] Bruun, An Introduction to
Feng Shui, 71.
[10] Pals, Eight Theories of
Religion, 201.
[11] Pals, Eight Theories of
Religion, 201.
[12] Bruun, An Introduction to
Feng Shui, 108.
[13] Bruun, An Introduction to
Feng Shui, 108.
[14] Bruun, An Introduction to
Feng Shui, 108-109.
[15] Bruun, An Introduction to
Feng Shui, 59.
[16] Bruun, An Introduction to
Feng Shui, 59.
[17] Pals, Eight Theories of
Religion, 201.
[18] Bruun, An Introduction to
Feng Shui, 208.
[19] Pals, Eight Theories of Religion,
91.
[20] Bruun, An Introduction to
Feng Shui, 62.
[21] Bruun, An Introduction to
Feng Shui, 64.
[22] Bruun, An Introduction to
Feng Shui, 64.
[23] Bruun, An Introduction to
Feng Shui, 64.
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