Feng Shui is about achieving life-fulfillment through benefiting from the energies of our living environment. In Oriental countries, Feng Shui practitioners strive to manipulate the metaphysical forces of nature known as 'Chi' to enhance their career, relationships, health, and business success.

Over the last ten years, Feng Shui practice has gained increased recognition in the Western World as the benefits of practicing this art has been self-revelatory and unchallenged. With such a booming interest in Feng Shui, undoubtedly many people are easily confused or misled by the intricate principles and numerous schools of Feng Shui practice.
The world today is filled with self-proclaimed Feng Shui practitioners who claim greatness but fail to deliver. Within this atmosphere, finding an authentic Master or teacher who can truly offer the traditional and authentic form of Chinese Feng Shui can prove to be extremely difficult for the average layman.

It has been said that the technology of an advanced culture will be viewed as magic by that of a less technologically advanced civilization.

Feng Shui has unfortunately suffered the same fate; its practices and teachings muddled in the mires of superstition and folklore. There is a need to correct this biased view placed upon this practice. Classical FENG SHUI is a form of metaphysical science that can almost be fully explained by logic and sound principles. This science's roots are traceable to the I-Ching, (the book of Changes) viewed by the Chinese Culture as the equivalent of the Bible.

Modern lifestyles have twisted our peaceful existence into one of chaos and extremes. Feng Shui adopts the principles of balances (Yin and Yang) to correct these flaws. Humans have for centuries lived intertwined with the flow of nature; Feng Shui is based on this. Present dwellings however have relegated these principles, creating disharmony with disastrous consequences for the occupants.  Undeniably, certain aspects of our lives seem to be controlled by external forces not fully understandable to the layman. The earth's gravity, electromagnetic fields, directional influence and its surrounding constellations all place some form of emphasis on our actions. FENG SHUI enables us to understand these aspects from our living environment and allow us to tap or tune into our natural beneficial cycle or position, thereby enabling a us to be in tune with our environment rather than against it. By doing so, we can perform better, see and seize opportunities as they arise and function optimally in all aspects of our lives.

Feng Shui, originally known as 'Kan Yu' is about living in harmony with nature. By living in harmony, we are able to harness the beneficial energies (known as Chi) to better our lives.

Traditionally Feng Shui has always been split into two ideologies; San He and San Yuan. These schools originated over 1500 years ago and their fundamental theories have remained relatively unchanged since.

San He deals with landforms; your surrounding environment's appearance, physiognomy, characteristics which could influence on your life. Simply put, it relates to most forms in nature, be it man made or natural such as roads (direction, location and design), buildings (distance, direction, shape and design), mountains (incoming or outgoing, shape, distance, size, growth of greenery, element and form), rivers or water flow (direction, distance, shape, types of water flow, inlet/outlet and form) and structures or contours of the land. San He is a system where formulae are mainly based on environment.

The San Yuan system on the other hand, focuses more on the aspects of time and how it effects your Feng Shui. Their idea being that a property's fortune changes with time. This is a dynamic view of Feng Shui that a person's environment runs in 20-year cycles after which their 'luck' expires unless the energies in their environment are renewed. Most of the formulae in this system focus much how the quality of chi in a property changes in cycles. This system is widely used as a system of predictive Feng Shui where Masters can predict events and outcomes of the residents through logically deductible mathematical formulae. (To read more on these systems please refer to our articles on Classical Feng Shui). 

Naturally, for centuries, these two 'schools' have been at odds with each other as to who was better. However, in the last 100 years, San Yuan and San He are recognized as the two main branches of Classical Feng Shui.

In recent years (about 15 years ago actually), a simplified version of Feng Shui took root in the West. This could be a direct result of the lack of classical knowledge and resources available to Feng Shui enthusiasts in the West. "Feng Shui" has been very much reduced to a 'fashion' or the 'in thing' where correct principles are no longer followed. Marketers and smart businessmen take the opportunity to commercialize the idea and release books after books, products after products with the title "Feng Shui". Traditional or Classical Feng Shui practitioners refer to this as New Age Feng Shui.

Classical or Authentic Feng Shui, as opposed to New Feng Shui, deals with matters of energy in our environment and is personal to each individual. Every formula or application is executed with care and careful calculations. Feng Shui audits can be performed taking into consideration many aspects of the environment and the residents. For instance, from the time the residents move in to a property they start a relationship with that environment and its natural energies. Four aspects need to be considered for a Feng Shui analysis: TIME, ENVIRONMENT, BUILDING and THE RESIDENT.

Many genuine advocates of Feng Shui practice either only 8-Mansions (Pa Chai) OR the Xuan Kong Flying Star (San Yuan) school of Feng Shui in conjunction with inspecting the forms of the site (San He). Some practice all three systems simultaneously! Genuine Feng Shui practitioners should be able to predict events that have occurred in a house just by his or her feng shui analysis of the property. A skillful practitioner should be able to pinpoint certain events that had occurred, is presently happening; even future events.

Much like a seer minus the mystical and psychic abilities, Feng Shui is actually a science and art. Anyone who takes up this study seriously will be able to achieve this. There is no need for any rituals, religious, intuitive or psychic abilities. Feng Shui is knowledge; the practice of Feng Shui is a SKILL. It is a skill that can be learnt by any genuine enthusiasts.

In Hong Kong, Taiwan, Singapore and Malaysia where this art is practiced with high standards, Feng Shui Masters are engaged by senior corporate bodies as consultants to help them with building designs, town planning, house designs to ensure good outcomes and the smooth sailing of their business. Good Feng Shui Masters are sought-after for their valuable advice before making major decisions, signing major contracts, selecting the timing of a product or event launch, moving into a new premises and even hiring new staff.

Feng Shui is not just the art of placement. In fact, it is much more than that. By understanding how the chi in our environment and particular location work in given period of time, a Feng Shui practitioner can ascertain certain outcomes of events or predict possible happenings. Feng Shui can also be applied to create positive opportunities in life, improve health and well-being and most of all, improve your quality of life.

Good Feng Shui is dependent on two major factors - a thorough understanding of the classical theories as well as good skills in applying the formulas.