Feng Shui is popular in Chinese architecture. Is architectural Feng Shui just superstition or does it have some basis?

“Be wary of academic Feng Shui masters” Tao Shilong said that “superstition” like Feng Shui is spreading under the guise of science. "By burying the remains of the ancestors in the Feng Shui treasure land of their choice, they can be promoted and rich, and have many children and grandchildren. This is the goal pursued by Feng Shui." Chen Zhihua, a professor at Tsinghua University, holds a similar view to Tao Shilong. Previously, he had published an article arguing that the theory of Feng Shui is definitely not a science, but a scourge that hinders Chinese people from developing science. Chen Zhihua said that in rural areas, it is often seen that two families fight over the Feng Shui of a building for several generations. This is ignorance and the tragedy of the nation. It gets in the way of real science, confuses research, and makes a few charlatans rich. Regarding these views, Yu Xixian said that the "notoriety" of superstition on Feng Shui began in the 1920s, when Western architectural concepts were introduced to China. Many academics proposed a ban on Feng Shui, and the Beiyang government adopted the suggestion. After liberation, although the government never explicitly prohibited it, under the special political environment, Feng Shui could not help but stop. "Ci Hai" compiled in the 1950s explained Feng Shui: "It is also called 'Kanyu', a superstition in China." Yu Xixian said that according to his research, in the Yangshao culture 6,500 years ago, it was possible to Find the shadow of Feng Shui. In his view, the basic theory of Feng Shui is the same as traditional Chinese medicine, art of war, martial arts, tea ceremony, and chess. It is my country's Yin-Yang and Five-Element theory, and the "Book of Changes" is its important basic work. "Feng shui and traditional Chinese medicine are very comparable." Yu Xixian believes that they were both produced in ancient Chinese production practices and spread in the same way, either from ancestors or from masters to disciples. At the same time, the special inheritance method also makes them have many schools, and there have also been irregular stages. Yu Xixian said that after Feng Shui developed into the Han Dynasty, some nonsense things such as birth dates and numerology were added. Feng Shui of the Yin House was also developed, and the superstitious elements were further increased. This is the same as traditional Chinese medicine. Traditional Chinese medicine has also seen superstitions such as "using a pair of original crickets as a medicine introduction" and "human blood steamed buns as a medicine introduction". However, the ultimate fate of traditional Chinese medicine and Feng Shui are different. Traditional Chinese medicine has been vigorously developed after liberation, and it has become an important part of world medicine by eliminating the dross. However, in Feng Shui, essence and dross still coexist, and science and superstition are confused. Yu Xixian believes that another reason why Feng Shui is regarded as superstitious is that the practitioners are a mixed bag. Many fake Feng Shui masters make a living by cheating. “Ancient buildings cannot avoid Feng Shui.” “Before Western architectural concepts were introduced to China, which city, village, and town in China did not rely on Feng Shui for site selection?” Yu Xixian said that the essence of Feng Shui is ancient Chinese architecture. The essence of an experiential culture of site selection and planning lies here. In ancient times, Feng Shui was known as Kanyu, Geography, Qingwu, etc. He believed that just as alchemy was the origin of Chinese chemistry and divination was the origin of Chinese astronomy, Feng Shui became the predecessor of Chinese geography. He introduced that Feng Shui site selection should "hide the wind and gather Qi", so it pays attention to beautiful mountains and clear waters, surrounded by mountains and waters, and emphasizes the unity of nature and man, that is, the harmony between man and nature, man and man, and nature and nature. One of the schools, the Luantou School, pays attention to "identifying the direction, measuring the hills, observing the yin and yang, and observing the flowing water." "This is completely consistent even if it is tested using the current science of building site selection." Professor Li Shuyou wrote in the article : "The existing famous ancient villages and towns, such as Xidi and Hongcun in Huizhou, southern Anhui, and Bagua Qi Village in Lanxi, Jinhua, Zhejiang, were all sited and built based on Feng Shui principles." As an urban planning scholar, Beijing Institute of Technology Urban Han Zenglu, a professor at the Institute of Construction, made no secret of his yearning for the feng shui world of ancient China. "Feng shui pays attention to the overall layout and overall coordination of the city, emphasizing the reasonable spacing between buildings, and emphasizing the comfort of people living in them. These are the things that modern architecture lacks most." In Han Zenglu's view, since the introduction of Western architectural concepts into China Later, China's city builders suddenly fell from their past pride in ancient architecture to inferiority, and fully accepted Western architecture from another ideological system. Chen Zhihua, a professor at Tsinghua University, disagrees with this view. Scientific analysis of architectural feng shui is to explain some phenomena in traditional Chinese architecture, such as why the Temple of Heaven is round at the top and square at the bottom, and why the water in the Forbidden City changes from Enter from the northwest and exit from the southeast. However, "We study architectural Feng Shui as a historical phenomenon, not as a science." "Chinese Feng Shui craze" abroad "In fact, it is not uncommon for Feng Shui classes to enter campuses." Yu Xixian He said that as early as the early 1990s, he taught Feng Shui classes at Peking University. It was an elective course open to the whole school, and more than 100 students attended each time.

Teacher Han Zenglu from Beijing Institute of Construction Engineering and teacher Li Shicheng from the Department of Physics of Southeast University also offered elective courses related to architectural Feng Shui on campus. Yu Xixian said that research on Feng Shui in Hong Kong and Taiwan has never been interrupted. Yu Xixian once went to the University of Hong Kong and Tamsui University in Taiwan to give Feng Shui courses. Feng Shui research is more prosperous in Korea and Japan. Yoshio Watanabe, a professor at Tokyo Metropolitan University in Japan, recently told Yu Xixian that 110 universities in Japan offer Feng Shui courses. In the 1970s, the world's first doctorate in Feng Shui was obtained by Korean Yun Hongji from the United States. Yu Xixian still vividly remembers an incident 10 years ago. He was invited to give a lecture on Chinese culture at the British Embassy. When he went there, he learned that the embassy had summoned ambassadors from 38 countries stationed in Beijing to listen to the lecture. "The British ambassador asked for questions." , is China’s Feng Shui culture.” Questions about commercialization Xu Shaoshan denied that setting up “Feng Shui classes” was for commercial purposes. "This class focuses on promoting the culture of architectural Feng Shui, not making money." Xu Shaoshan said that hiring many professors to teach real Feng Shui will make the "popular" fake Feng Shui masters in the current society lose their living space, and fake Feng Shui will have no place to live. However, Professor Cai Dafeng, director of the Department of Literature and Museum at Fudan University and a doctor of architecture at Tongji University, has previously stated that in modern society, the use of Feng Shui has mainly become a commercial practice. "It is worth thinking carefully about how to guide Feng Shui. As a research object, Feng Shui has research value from the perspective of folklore and architecture; but if it is used from a commercial perspective, it is promoted for the purpose of obtaining economic benefits. It’s not responsible enough.”