Talks on Feng Shui with Dr. Hsu

14: Does Good Luck Come From “the Blowing of Wind And the Flowing of Water”?

When Chinese people talk about Feng Shui, we often hear the phrase: “Feng sheng shui qi hao yun lai,” roughly translated it means “Good Luck comes with the blowing of wind and the flowing of water”. Somehow this saying sounds convincing in Chinese, but from the Feng Shui point of view the opposite is closer to being true.

In the Feng Shui classic, The Book of Burials, says “Chi is dispersed by wind, and confined (or defined) by water.” The ancients said that one should make sure the Chi coagulates and should not be dispersed and the chi is well-defined by water.

However, having water is more important; to hold the Chi is secondary. An auspicious site, therefore, must be near water. It should also be protected from wind.

Photo: Taras Litvin

It’s important to point out that “water” doesn’t simply mean physical water, lakes, rivers or oceans. It basically means an open space. This is because all bodies of water naturally provide an open space.

As the quote says, open space or “water” must be defined to contain the chi flow. If a house or piece of land is near a big river or lake, but has nothing to contain the space, wind will blow through, and Chi cannot coagulate. Therefore, it is important that to either side of the site there should be something – hills, higher ground or other structures – to contain this space. Such features are called “guardians”.

But, just as the guardian features do not have to be hills, the open space does not have to be literal water: it could be a courtyard, a road, or something similar.

hen one can see open space, one can see the future. This also applies to human life: when you have a firm place to stand, you can look faraway. If your situation is secure, you can lift your head and look into the future.

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