Feng Shui in the news - Singapore

According to the media censorship guidelines in Singapore, especially in the English language newspapers, articles on Feng Shui can be written around the Chinese festive period, namely the Chinese Lunar New Year. Feng Shui is still regarded as a kind of "superstition", which is partially true given that many Feng Shui consumers tend to be "luck punters". And hence you see such a newspaper article written in a "positive light" appearing around this time. 

This article appeared in The Sunday Times with the title "Big companies are big on fengshui". 

Funny how they have put the two words Feng Shui together as one word. There is a huge photo of a San He Luo Pan - bet the reporter did not know the difference between San He and San Yuan or Zhong He Luo Pans. And there is the ubiquitous Dragon symbol decoration (auspicious object) embedded in between the columns. There is still a lot to be written about Feng Shui.

The Feng Shui community is highly fragmented with many different schools of thought and methods practiced by different masters and consultants. If the associations and governmental agencies are going to regulate this industry, they need to come up with a really ingenious plan to cater to the vast differences. 

In the newspaper article, the main company features was Standard Chartered Bank, whose employees in different departments follow Feng Shui Masters' recommendation to enter through specific doors. It is nice for a change, to have the newspapers write an article about Feng Shui without the usual mention of "superstition". 

Chinese "Ren Ri" People Day - 7th Day of First Lunar Month

Just like the 12 days of Christmas in western culture, the Chinese Lunar New Year festivities have their own version - 15 days of celebration traditionally. The 7th day is called "People Day", Ren Ri, and it is described as all human beings' birthday.

In the south of China, and practiced by Chinese originating from the south of China, the traditional dish of this day is Raw Fish Salad. As salads have to be tossed, everybody at the table stands up and using their chopsticks, tosses the salad mix together while shouting out auspicious Chinese words and well wishes. The most popular now will be "huat ah!" (to prosper). The higher the salad is tossed, the greater height one will scale up their career ladder.

The origins of Ren Ri or People Day is mainly mythological. The legend is associated with Nu Wa - (pronounced as Nwee Wah), the Chinese equivalent of Mother Earth. Nu Wa's top half of her torso takes the human form, while the lower half is that of a serpent or dragon. 

Nu Wa is a legendary figure that represents the creation of life, the female fertility symbol versus the male symbol of Fu Xi. In an ancient depiction, the 2 characters are featured as inter-twined, just like Yin and Yang. 

A well-known story about Nu Wa is the one about her mending the sky:

In Shen Zhen there is a giant sculpture of Nu Wa carrying the 5 color stone to mend the sky. 

Nu Wa is attributed as the creator of mankind - and there was a sequence of the days that she created life on earth:

Day 1 - Chicken

Day 2 - Dog

Day 3 -  Pig

Day 4 - Goat

Day 5 - Ox

Day 6 - Horse

and finally Day 7 - Humans or Ren (Chinese Pin Yin). 

This is the legend associated with the 7th day of the Chinese New Year - Man's birthday. In different parts of China, this day is celebrated in different ways. In Guangzhou (old Canton), the practice is to climb hills and recite poetry. In Singapore and Malaysia, food gourmet feasts on raw fish salad. In other parts of China, another practice is to make decorative gold foil pieces that are pinned on the hair or on as decorations on Chinese wall dividers. 

Feng Shui 2012 - Changeover of Annual Qi

While the Chinese community all over the world celebrate the Chinese Lunar New Year on January 23rd, it is technically still the year of the Metal Rabbit before 4 February 2012. There are 2 calendars that are used in the Chinese calendar systems - the Solar calendar and the Lunar calendar. 

The Lunar calendar is based on the movements of the moon around the earth, and hence is calculated based on the earth's shadow on the moon. The Sun's light is involved and it should be called the Luni-Solar calendar. Each lunar month is about 29-30 days and so the resulting shortfall when compared to the western Gregorian calendar of 365 days, creates first day of the Chinese Lunar year falling on different dates through the years. In some years, the shortfall is compensated by having double months in a year. In 2012, the “闰” month is the 4th lunar month, and so we have double 4th lunar months. 

The Solar calendar is based on the movements of the earth around the sun, and hence it is calculated based on the sun's shadow on earth. This has been mapped in ancient China using the Gnomon stick. Based on the method of measuring the sun shadow, the ancient Chinese were able to accurately capture the seasonal changes in the country, and has mapped out 24 divisions of a year - called the 24 solar terms (节气). Jie marks the beginning of the month while Qi marks the middle of the month. 

The Solar calendar matches closer to the western Gregorian calendar's 365 days and so the first day of the Solar year is always in February around 4th, 5th or 6th. 

You might like to know that the actual Ba Zi system and the Flying Stars Feng Shui are all based on the Solar Calendar. The Zi Wei Dou Shu method is based on the Lunar calendar. 

As such, the monthly changeover of Jie Qi follows the Solar Calendar. The first day of the Solar Calendar is Li Chun (Spring Begins) and it is on 4th of February, 2012. This the day when the year pillar changes from Xin Mao (Yin Metal Rabbit) to Ren Chen (Yang Water Dragon). 

4 Feb 2011

4 Feb 2012

Besides the changeover of the Tian Gan Di Zi (Heavenly Stems and Earthly Branches) of the year, the Xuan Kong System of Feng Shui (Flying Stars) also has a changeover of the annual visiting stars. 

In 2011 - the annual chart was :

In 2012 - the annual chart will be :

As you can see from the above charts, the calamity star number 5 will be residing in the South East / Shun for the whole of 2012, beginning on 4th of February 2012. That is why you will have read from many web sites, newspapers and magazine articles that the South East sector is an afflicted sector for 2012 - warning of dangers, etc. Many are quick to point out that the last time 5 was in the South East, it correlated to the outbreak of SARS in South East Asia, including Hong Kong, resulting in economic turmoil in the region as travelers refrained from visiting. 

That was 9 years ago, and as the intelligent reader will notice, that by having 9 numbers, we can see that every 9 years the same Flying Star number re-visits each sector! Does that mean that every 9 years - a major disaster will strike the same region? Does the reality of occurrences correlate to such a 9 year cycle? 

As you can tell from this simple logic, many Feng Shui masters use the annual rotating Flying Star charts to provide Feng Shui entertainment predictions around this time - Chinese Lunar New Year to either create publicity for themselves or for earning that extra dollar by charging for Feng Shui talks. 

You may notice that at such talks and articles, the more experienced and older Feng Shui masters always encouraged listeners and readers to take it as a guide only, and not as an absolute.

In reality, the annual Flying Star chart is used in Feng Shui to predict what kinds of Qi combination is triggered off by the annual visiting stars - and it is all specific to each house type and their accompanying Flying Star charts. Only then can a Feng Shui master accurately predict and pre-empt what kinds of influences of Feng Shui are on each particular premises. 

Happy Reading! 

Auspicious Numbers 2012

Auspicious Numbers

The origins of numbers date back to India, and they are referred to as Hindu numerals, Arabic numerals, Hindu-Arabic numerals, etc. The original symbols used for numbers were different from what we used to do, have a look at this picture:

Numerals are symbols - they are glyphs or special characters used to denote quantity in counting. In the highly symbolic Chinese culture, numbers take on more meanings than just for counting. For example, from the Yi Jing (or I Ching), 2 numbers are used to refer to the emperor:

九五至尊

"the 9,5 ultimate"

One explanation is that 9 is ultimate and biggest single digit while 5 is the middle number representing central control, and hence the emperor. The other explanation is based on the Yi Jing hexagram (6 lines), namely the first one, Qian hexagram made up of 6 unbroken lines. 9-5 refer to the 5th yao (5th line from bottom up) and is the "best" yao as the dragon is in the sky - reaching the summit. 

While the above has more literal meaning, the use of numbers to denote auspiciousness has more to do with "sound-alike" or homonyms. 

Here are some popular numbers and their auspicious meanings:

9

The biggest single digit and hence often used to refer to the Emperor. In Chinese, 9 is pronounced as "Jiu" which is a homonym to “久", meaning long as in time. So when this number is used with other auspicious numbers, it adds on to the auspiciousness by suggesting "everlasting". When combined with the next popular auspicious number 8, for example as 998 - it sounds like "to prosper for a long time".

8

8 is a popular number in Chinese mythology and as well in religion. The 8 Chinese Immortals and their 8 auspicious Taoist tools, in Buddhism there are 8 auspicious symbols and the 8 fold path. As a homonym, 8 sounds a lot like "發" or prosper. So 8 is a very popular Chinese number. For example, in car plate numbers, the 8, 88, 888 and 8888 are highly bid numbers that cost into the thousands! We are now also in the Feng Shui period of 8 and that makes 8 even more auspicious. 

6

6 is used again in the Yi Jing (or I Ching) to refer to the broken lines - yin yao. There are 6 lines in a hexagram, and when there are 6 broken lines - the resulting hexagram is Kun. Kun hexagram refers to difficulties that can be overcome, and so the following Chinese phrase is used to describe a well-wish for smooth times: 

六六大顺

In the Cantonese dialect, spoken in Guang Zhou, China and in Hong Kong, 6 also sounds like the word for "prosperity"(as in "loke"). So when combined with the number 8, 68 doubles the auspicious prosperity! In Flying Stars, 1,6 and 8 are the 3 white colored stars that are auspicious. In Chinese, when placed together as 168, it sounds like yi lu fa - or prosper all the way on the road. 

3

3 sounds close to "生" in Chinese and it means growth. When combined with 8, it means to grow and to prosper. And so, this Feng Shui Master decided to get an auspicious number plate for his new Mercedes Benz:

3 and 8 is also an auspicious He Tu (河图) combination that represents the element wood - which again means growth potential. 

It is quite common to see the combinations of 8 and other numbers on car number plates in Singapore, for example:

9988 (prosper long time)

6888 (prosperity)

1888 (keep prospering)

168 (prosper on the road)

3388 (grow and prosper)

2888 (easy to prosper)

If you buy 4D lottery, you may have noticed that last week, 1888 came out as one of the consolation prizes. I was told by my car dealer that 3388 is always sold out early. I bought the 3888 number more for marketing impact than anything else, as it stays on the mind of my clients and potential clients. Something for people to talk about. In any case, it makes me smile each time I walk to the car, and that makes me happy, which is all that matters! 

Dear readers, please also take note that auspicious numbers as mentioned in this article is more of Chinese social customs than actual Feng Shui. There are numbers also in Feng Shui, but they take on a symbolic meaning - for naming purposes to represent different things like Flying Stars and trigrams - in a qualitative use than quantitative use. 

The "lucky numbers" are as lucky as you think they are! Enjoy reading!

Making time for family this Chinese New Year

Thanks to my elder sister (she is born in the year of the Dragon), I re-connected back with my family in mid 2011. So I have been spending the past 2 days of the Chinese New Year at my mum's place. And we visited our late daddy at the Bright Hill Temple crematorium too. 

Here are the photos of our day out yesterday at the Chinese New Year Riverside event at the Marina Bay Floating Platform and Resorts World Sentosa. The evening time light made for some dramatic photo shots using my iPhone. The photos were all taken by me, don't have the technical expertise of a photographer - just an eye for angles!

 At the Resorts World Sentosa - be careful the bad flooring around the dragon exhibit there, my mum tripped on the uneven floor. 

 Mummy Chua

Happy Chinese New Year!

Wishing all clients and future clients a very happy and prosperous Chinese Lunar New Year 2012!

(Huat = 發 in Hokkien, meaning to prosper!)

Spring Festival 2012 - Flowers Blooming

Next week Monday will be the Chinese Lunar New Year - year of the Yang Water Dragon or Ren Chen in Chinese. This calendar is based on the lunar positions and so the first day of the year tends to vary against the western Gregorian calendar. This is because the lunar month has 29 or 30 days, a total of 360 in a year versus the 365 of the western Gregorian calendar. That will be a question many people will like to ask every time when Chinese New Year comes around!

As it marks the arrival of Spring, it is also known as the Spring Festival in Chinese. And so, one of the social and cultural customs of this festival is display of flowers and fruiting plants around the house as part of the decorations for this holiday. 

Amazingly, the cactus plant at my parents' garden had been blooming since last August. This is the 6th round of blooming for the cactus plant. Guess my tender loving care helps! I am in the garden a lot when I visit my mum twice a week, as she is recovering from having breast tumors removed. Even the phalaenopsis Orchid plant is blooming! 

Some say it is a good omen. I'm just happy to see my tender loving care is bringing results to the plants, they show their gratitude with their flowers!