Most of you probably have ever heard the “Feng Shui” term. There are some who mentioned it as “Hong Shui”, which is basically the same meaning with Feng Shui. In the past decade, the practice of Feng Shui has gained recognition in the Western world because of the benefit in prosperity and health they felt after applying this art.

Feng Shui is an art in Chinese metaphysics that studies the influence of the environment on human fortune. Feng Shui can also be regarded as a lesson about the environment, which includes our earth, landscape, ocean, river, and the house where the man lived in it. Humans are considered as part of the universe so that the power of the natural environment will affect humans and fate.

Reflection of Chinese culture is almost dominated by Feng Shui, for example, most of the palaces and important buildings in China (such as the Forbidden City in Beijing) are constructed with Feng Shui consideration. Chinese culture also believes that if we bury our ancestors in a place with good Feng Shui, it will provide prosperity for all the descendants of the deceased.

The term Feng Shui is first believed to be found in an ancient Chinese book entitled “ Book of Burial ” (Zang Shu 葬書) written by an expert named Guo Pu 郭璞 (276-324). The book discussed the influence of energy on topography and he described that “The energy of the Dragon will be dispersed by the wind and will stop at the boundary of water.” From this description, the term Feng (風-wind) which represents the direction and Shui (水-water) which symbolizes wealth were taken. The Dragon in here refers to the mountain or the landscape.

The energy term mentioned in this context is not very clear, but in general this term refers to a vital force of nature and abstract moving on a landscape which can affecting the human life. This energy is known as Qi氣in Chinese. In some other languages ​​the word Qi is often paired with the pneuma to the Greeks, prana to the Hindus, ankh to the Egyptians, ruah to the Hebrews, tane to the Hawaiians, arunquiltha to the Australian Aborigine ​​and ki to the Japanese.

The energy of the Dragon will be dispersed by wind, so in order for the energy not to be dispersed, it should be well protected against strong wind. If the Dragon is moving, then energy will also move with the Dragon, so if the Dragon stops then the energy will stay. We can only use the energy when it stops. The “boundary of water” in here means an open place or water.

We cannot find the Qi definition or translation in the English dictionary that can describe about what qi like. Qi is sometimes translated as “energy” in English. We use the Qi term better than translated as energy because it is not actually the equivalent of that fit. Although Qi is without any shape, can not be seen and its existence cannot be proven scientifically using quantitative measurement and somewhat abstract to westerners, but in the eastern culture of China, Qi is considered as the basic forming of the entire life material in this universe (holistic life force). The Qi is always all around us and governs our health, wealth, and happiness. Physical deterioration is the destruction of Qi and death is the total lost of the Qi.

Albert Einstein quotes “Not everything that counts can be counted, and not everything that can be counted counts.” This quotes can be precisely describing the Qi.

Feng Shui master uses this qi settings which properly fit with the existing environment so that it can offer positive effect for all residents of the building. The Chinese divided qi into three forms of qi, heaven qi (Tian Qi 天氣), earth qi  (Di Qi 地氣) and human qi (Ren Qi 人氣).

Heaven Qi (Tian Qi 天氣) comes from the sun, moon, planets and stars. Earth Qi  (Di Qi 地氣) comes from the forces of earth like mountains, deserts, rivers, plains, etc. Mountain force governs our health and relationship, while water force governs our wealth. The magnetic field of our mother nature is also a component of Earth Qi. Human Qi (Ren Qi 人氣) is build up when you first inhaled your first breath when you were born. The Qi that within yourself will determine how compatible you with the others and to your environment like your house. You will learn about this notion later on in my other articles.

Qi is always moving. It can moves slowly, quickly, up, down, in or out. The ancient Chinese have discovered how to manipulate this qi in order to to achieve harmony in living. When it is in balance, then our healthy and wealthy being is also within balance state.