The Art & Science of Feng Shui: The Ancient Tradition of Shaping Fate by Henry B. Lin has always been on my short list of Recommended Reading. Now that I am re-reading dozens of Feng Shui books and posting reviews, I am delighted to be reminded of what makes this book authentic and special.

Published in 2000, Lin surely had the advantage of not only sharing his knowledge, but also countering some of the information that was published hastily by inexperienced consultants, on the heels of the New Age Feng Shui craze.

Lin provides a very readable history of Feng Shui, its founders, when they lived and from what province, (in contrast to other authors who only speak of the past in mythical ways), as well as some of the interesting titles penned by these geniuses.  While some of the very first books did not survive, other early feng shui masters wrote books with titles like A Collection of Heavenly Secrets, Random Talks on Residential Feng Shui, and even the slightly humorous What Every Son Should Know About Geomancy.

This is a physically large book that is over 200 pages, so I cannot do justice to the seventeen chapters if I limit the length of the review. I will focus on what is unique or comment on topics which I think might benefit from a footnote.  For example, Lin describes a period that encompasses the Tang and Song dynasties when two main branches of Feng Shui were developed. There were adherents of the “Situation” School and others who promoted the “Direction” School.  These two branches are referred to in current times as Form School and Compass School.  Eventually, it became more common to practice both schools of Feng Shui since they are so inter-dependent.

However, Lin correctly emphasizes that the Situation (Form) School is the most important.  As an illustration of this: if the land and exterior surroundings are seriously flawed with bad energy, it then hardly matters what direction the house faces.  Likewise, in modern times if a house is “situated” across from a freeway and next to a cemetery, we also don’t believe a good directional orientation of the house will totally compensate for the undesirable larger environment.

Lin is also one of the few Feng Shui authors, even decades later, to introduce readers to the first form of Feng Shui called Yin House. This is the divination of burial sites and it has a very special place in Feng Shui history, current times, and some really interesting parallels with Yang House (feng shui for homes and businesses).

It is also important for readers to know that Feng Shui was always used for large developments, city planning, and governmental capitals. The good or bad outcomes of long-running dynasties can be traced to the use of, or rejection of, Feng Shui design principles on a large scale. In fact, what most of us are practicing today is what I call “The Poor Man’s Feng Shui.”  Adjusting furnishings, décor and gardens are just the small details compared to how Feng Shui was originally integral to a city’s master planning or an administration’s military strategy.

Lin outlines the various applications of Yin-Yang Theory, and continues on with Five Element Theory, to emphasize how foundational and connected these principles are. We don’t just have Fire as one of the Five Elements; we also have sub-categories of Yin Fire and Yang fire. These nuances of Yin-Yang and Five Elements permeate literally everything. Once you see it, you cannot “unsee” it.

One concept which he brings forth, not generally written about for the public, is that the yin and yang nature of the land itself must be evaluated before an appropriate and complementary structure is situated on the land.  Further, he mentions that the land itself has a defined Qi potential, like a battery’s storage capacity.  That finite amount of qi can be released slowly over time, for the modest benefit of many occupants. Or, if the destiny demands it, one occupant might “hog” most of the qi during their stay on that land, leaving nothing residual for future occupants.  This idea actually helps explain why some people don’t do as well as predicted, based on other good Feng Shui criteria of their property.  Similarly, if you plant organic seeds into depleted earth, you won’t get as nutrient-dense food.

This concept of how powerful and influential the earth is carries over into his chapter on Burial Feng Shui. For the Chinese, honoring one’s ancestors with a good burial spot is done culturally out of respect, but more so that three generations of descendants can benefit as well.

We have the saying “the fruit doesn’t fall far from the tree,” which recognizes that we share familial DNA, destiny, or potential. With the skeletal remains buried in the earth, they still act as transmitters, communicating with the descendants.  It is as if the family has their own ethernet connection with which to communicate through the underground “cables” of communication.  Think about how plants and trees communicate with each other, both above and below ground and the analogy becomes clearer.

I often emphasize the compass as the essential tool of the trade, but we can train ourselves to first observe our natural surroundings, without any tools, but with a large dose of humility.  In studying the look of mountains, for instance, we can tell so much about the potential health and wealth of all those who live nearby. And yet, without training, the “dragon veins” and undulating forms of a mountain range might as well be as subjective as a Rorschach Test. The topic of mountains is expansive enough that I composed a whole other article about it called “Check Your Mountains,” inspired by Lin’s presentation in this book.

In his chapter on water, Lin details why the presence of water is so important for the affluence of nearby people and towns and how water and mountain both influence each other. As well, he expands on the different types of water, where the direction, speed, shape, volume, depth and sound of water should all be taken into account.  An astute Form School practitioner will also note when water is coming from a higher level to a lower level, widening or narrowing, as indicators of whether or not the people or town can utilize and retain the wealth that the water brings.

In modern-day cities and developments, people may live many miles from water sources that could affect them, but there are still miniature water features that one can bring to their own property in order to benefit from the magical power of water, the life blood of the planet. In this chapter, Lin also weaves in more insight about how in the absence of real water, we can still look to the “dragon veins” in a mountainous or hilly area to see where the Qi is being directed, as virtual water. In Feng Shui, the Kan Trigram (Water) is also related to blood.

In Lin’s chapter on wind, he explains the nature of wind as a type of Qi and how it interacts with both mountain and water sources. Some types of wind are characterized as yin or yang depending on the direction from which they come. Historically, the Chinese who had access to Feng Shui masters would make sure to position their home (or palace) in a way that can make the most of the directional wind. At this point, you may be wondering how feasible it is to recognize these features in the natural environment and it may seem daunting with stories about Feng Shui masters walking the land and appearing to spend a life-time to come to their conclusions.

Back in 1999, I went to China with a group of Master Sang’s students and we listened to our tour guide ramble on about the arduous practice of walking the mountains, as our feng shui forefathers had to do.  After a while, Master Sang, jumped out of his seat at the front of the bus and chuckled his way down the aisle, telling students that nowadays you can fly over a mountain in a helicopter and evaluate the mountain in a half day, unlike the feng shui practitioners from hundreds or thousands of years ago who did their work on foot.

In the book’s chapter Exploring Directions, Lin outlines two systems used for personal best directions. He calls one the “Ba’ gua System,” and the other as the “Eight Characters of Birth System.”   Even though the term “ba’ gua” has been used in New Age feng shui circles to refer to the Black Hat Map, the words “ba’ gua” literally mean “eight directions.”  For Lin, he describes the Ba Zhai or Eight Mansion School, where everyone has four good directions and four bad directions based on their birth year.  He also provides Table Charts which distinguish between males and females born in the same year, as identifying with a different “gua.”  While this is a very popular practice, I defected from that School officially in 2012 and have written about why, such as in my Addendum to my books.

Lin then refers to the Ba Zi (Four Pillars of Destiny) form of astrology as the Eight Characters of Birth. This is because the year, month, day, and hour of birth each have two Chinese characters attached to them based on your birth data. One character is called a “branch” and another is called a “stem.” This is one of two forms of Chinese Astrology, where it’s revealed that each person is quite a mixture of the Five Elements (Water, Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal). Curiously, he makes a point of saying that both the Ba’ Gua System and the Eight Characters System are based on the Chinese Lunar calendar. All other authorities agree that we use the Solar Calendar for these systems.

When using the personal best direction guidelines in collaboration with feng shui principles, a living space can be stylized to suit the individual uniquely. He gives one example, which I cannot necessarily endorse, but which makes sense on a certain level.  In the example he gave, Lin notes that a person can choose a facing side of their house based on what season they were born in. Spring is related to the direction of East. If a person was born in springtime, he recommends an east facing house.  However, this simple principle might easily contradict the “ba gua” system (Eight Mansion School). If the person happens to be an East Type person based on Year born, the east-facing house will “sit” (back) to west and therefore be a West Group house.

The bottom line is that there is a big difference between Feng Shui in theory versus Feng Shui in practice.  Few people can utilize every single feng shui edict and often there will be contradictions to sort through and prioritize.

The chapter on the Bright Hall is worth mentioning since not every feng shui book discusses the concept, which ties in nicely with the ideal exterior environment for an entrance, incorporating Form School, and the “supporting actors” otherwise known as mountain, water and wind.

Succeeding chapters on how to recognize the “dragon’s lair” and how to interpret mountainous and hilly regions for their effects on people, I was struck with some random thoughts about the connection between mountains, land and the fate of humans.  Lin describes in great detail the natural environments which can create people of wealth, dignitaries, heads of State, members of congress and other lofty positions.  What is not stated, but becomes obvious, is confirmation of a spiritual principle which says that we choose our parents and our next incarnation.  Part of that is based on where one is born and the feng shui influence to help manifest that predetermined destiny.

The author also notes that an artificially created environment will not yield the same result as a naturally occurring ideal environment.  In other words, look for a naturally-occurring flat pad to build on in the mountains, instead of cutting into the mountain with a bull dozer. He predicts eventual bankruptcy from that kind of violation of nature. This is in contrast to the little, minor adjustments we make in our homes to change our fortunes.

With so much information about the shape of mountains, my mind wandered into the territory of the ancient pyramids, which can be found all over the world.  Once assumed to be burial tombs, there is now a consensus that they were used for entirely difference purposes, with speculation that they were some sort of power-generating structures.  Ironic that the pyramid shape itself is associated with the fire element and fire is also symbolic of electricity.  Lin expounds on how a site can be categorized not only for its good Qi, but also how much out-put of that good Qi can be expected generation after generation, like a battery that will eventually lose its charge. Trunk sites and branch sites describe the power structure and subordinate nature of different mountains and “dragon veins.” Mountains which are hundreds of miles long are considered “super-conductors” of Qi.

After descriptions of burial sites that produce geniuses, Nobel Prize winners, or conversely prostitutes, we get into his chapter on Residential Feng Shui. This chapter has many truths in it, although I don’t agree with all the interpretations, especially statements that seem rigid or contradictory. As an example of a rigid statement, Lin notes that a house which has lower land level in the back is undesirable and the occupants can feel unsupported, like a chair with no backing.  Here he fails to mention two circumstances which are only evident to those who practice the Flying Star School of Feng Shui. One circumstance is the house which really does not face the street side, rather towards the back to major views as the real facing. In this example, the back is not really the back after all.  Understanding the concept of Sitting and Facing is critical. The other circumstance where lower land level in the back is good, is for the house type described as the “Reversed” House type based on when it was built. In this case, lower land level works as virtual water.

Lin describes what he thinks are the best arrangements and locations for various rooms in the house, stating that the living room should be on the street side of the house, the first room you and your guests enter into from outside. His reasons make sense in some regards, but this then dismisses the popular floor plan where the living room is in the back and readily available for a nice flow of indoor and outdoor entertaining in the back yard. In The U.S. we have a popular house plan referred to as mid-century (20th century) ranch style home.  Often, this floor plan has a kitchen and dining room or den to the left and right of the main entrance and a peek of the living room in the back from the entrance hall or after turning at the end of the hall.  In the same breath as stating that the living room should be on the front side of the house and bedrooms in back for greater privacy, Lin oddly states that the best location for the master bedroom is in the center of the house. This goes against common knowledge that the center of a house can be the intersection of several rooms and may be more chaotic, less restful than what you want for a master bedroom.

He mentions that there should not be any exposed beams in a living room, but this is actually the more benign location for them, compared to a bedroom.  Bathrooms are a big topic in Feng Shui and there is a general notion that we shouldn’t sleep too close to a toilet. Meanwhile, larger homes often have a private, adjacent bathroom connected to most, if not all, of the bedrooms.  Is this really detrimental to our health and well-being?  You won’t get a conclusive answer from Lin because in one paragraph he states that a bathroom next to a master bedroom is inauspicious, but in the next paragraph he advises the elderly to have a bathroom close to a bedroom out of physical convenience.

Those who practice Flying Star School Feng Shui will design a floor plan or look for a floor plan where the master bedroom and other sleeping rooms are in the best flying stars for health and then all the other rooms, including bathrooms, rank lower in priority. Knowing that there are no houses with all positive zones, we have to make concessions.  It should be noted that there is a big difference between a bedroom where the toilet is a mere three feet from the bed, compared to a toilet which is more than ten feet away and in its own “closet,” even if the two rooms are connected.

Lin’s chapters on Residential Feng Shui, Commercial Feng Shui, Extensions and Deficiencies are all fairly straight forward information, which you can also find elsewhere. It’s the first part of this book which is unique and which I recommend for the serious student of (Landscape)Form School Feng Shui.

His chapter on Remedies is disappointing, as it is so brief, and only addresses a small fraction of situations which need attention. He also seems to advocate the use of some popular Black Hat remedies, after blissfully not mentioning this New Age aberration at all.  In his defense, one book cannot possibly address all scenarios. Yet, he only mentions the use of the compass in the Appendix and we don’t even get a hint about the application of Five Element Theory for interiors.

Towards the end, he shares with readers the tradition of talismans. He describes them as integral to Feng Shui, which I don’t see at all in modern times. But as a personal fan of “Fu” talismans, I appreciate that they are mentioned.

Author: Kartar Diamond

Company: Feng Shui Solutions ®

From the Book Reviews Blog Series