A LOOK AT FORM AND THE EFFECTS OF LAND MASS, OPEN SPACE AND WATER IN TRADITIONAL FENGSHUI
When examining the aspects that make up the San He School we find that it does indeed have three combinations, just as the name translated from the Chinese implies.
These are usually given as:
If we examine each of these in turn we begin to find some interesting features that can be quite easily verified for ourselves.
Lets take the first of these.
As is often stated: 'What we know of Qi is this: It is conducted by air, dispersed by wind and encouraged by water.'
However, when looking beyond this rather prosaic explanation, just exactly how can we best define and then maximise the physical environment we are looking at building in?
Lets take some simple examples:
COASTAL REGIONS:
Coastal regions and those with access to deep water will most likely have societies which have been structured on trade and the accumulation of wealth. The people living here are usually quick and gregarious. Where you have sufficient concentration of wealth, then nearby you will also find areas of recreation and amusement. Resort towns in other words. As one feng shui teacher expressed it to me. 'Affluent people want to enjoy their wealth!'
Certainly one might like to think of some of the more notable of the worlds trading centres to see that this is so: New York, San Fransico, Shanghai, Singapore, Yokohama, Southhampton, Rotterdam, Venice. All of these have access to deep water and also have resort areas nearby.
INTERIOR and MOUNTAINOUS REGIONS:
This can be contrasted with both the hospitality and stubbornness of people who come from either interior or mountainous regions. These kinds of environments it is said, produce great politicians and military minds. A quick check of the world's capital cities gives us interesting confirmation with this one. Think of Moscow, Washington DC. Canberra, Beijing, Brasilia, Rome, and so on. All either in interior regions of their countries or in mountainous areas. Perhaps Paris, London and Wellington are all interesting examples of a mixture of both the influence of water and mountains/interior. It would be an interesting exercise I think to actually trace the birth places of some of the most famous Politicians and Military minds that history has known and see what we find. Certainly if we look at the location and form of Afghanistan which is notoriously mountainous, it is famed for the intractability and ferociousness of its warriors!
DESERT and FLAT LAND REGIONS:
In turn these two kinds of environments are the opposite of what we find on coastal and mountainous regions. Here we will find by tradition, nomadic wanderers. One only has the think of the vastness of the Mongolian steppes and the nomadic herders who have lived there for thousands of years or the 'walk about' of Australia's aboriginal people's to see how accurate this is. The Plains Indians of the central states of the US are perhaps another example?
