FENG SHUI SCHOOLS
Classical feng shui grew out of two great traditions: the Form School (形勢派), which reads the shapes of the landscape, and the Compass School (理氣派), which works with directions and time. Today most masters draw on the best of both.
Feng shui is thought to be thousands of years old. Masters such as Lam Kam Chuen place its beginnings around 3000 BC, and some recent findings suggest it is older still. It is clear that a body of knowledge reaching so far back has evolved in many ways, adapting over the centuries to the needs and ways of life of each generation.
Every text refers to two main branches: on one hand the Form School, credited with the longer experience, and on the other the Compass School. For a long time there were rivalries and disputes over which school was supreme, yet today any respected master bases their work on the best principles of each. This is a simple summary to bring us closer to the contemporary practice of feng shui.
"Xing Shi Pai 形勢派" - The Form School
As its name suggests, it is based on the careful observation of existing forms, both natural and man-made: plateaus, mountains, rivers, buildings, vegetation and the whole rich array of features around us give rise to a deep and detailed analysis. One of its best-known parts is the theory of the five celestial animals.
It consists of five mythological animals, each with its own character (the black turtle, the phoenix or red bird, the green dragon, the white tiger and the yellow snake), which together mark out the arrangements that make a physical space favourable. The Form School also draws on classical ideas such as Yin and Yang and the Chinese five elements to read and classify the environment.
The observation of energy currents, known as water dragons and mountain dragons, is likewise an important part of its study.
"Li Qi Pai 理氣派" - The Compass School
This school makes a systematic study of the cardinal directions and the time factor. Its most popular tool is the Luo Pan, the traditional Chinese compass, far more complex and detailed than the Western one. The school offers a great many mathematical formulas based on numerical patterns such as the Luo Shu, or magic Chinese square.
Its best-known branches are Ba Zhai or Pa Chai (Eight Houses, 八宅) and Xuan Kong Fei Xing (玄空飛星), also called the school of the Flying Stars. Masters such as Joseph Yu, Eva Wong, Yap Cheng Hai, Raymond Lo and Larry Sang are among its best-known teachers. See links.
The Bagua Method
This method is attributed to Lin Yun, head of the Tibetan branch of the Black Hats (BTB). It is well known in the West, probably for the simplicity of its approach and for its use of what have become known as the aspirations of life. It assigns nine symbolic areas to the physical space (helpful people, career, knowledge, family, health, creativity, prosperity, fame and relationships). Intention plays an important part in it. This branch of feng shui is recent (the 1970s) compared with the other schools, which originated in ancient Chinese dynasties.
The aspirations method is sometimes criticised or set outside traditional feng shui, though the tradition owes much of its present wide diffusion to it. Lillian Too, a well-known contemporary writer, has released a variant that uses the front door, placing the areas by reference to the cardinal directions. Master Joseph Yu wrote in one of his articles that this method has its origins in Hong Kong about a hundred years ago.
The School of the South
This is another branch still under discussion, which proposes adapting the order of the trigrams and directions to the geographical hemisphere. For most teachers the differences between north and south do not change the essential use of the compass or its interpretation, although it is true that some phenomena do manifest differently in one hemisphere and the other. No one can ignore that the seasons vary in activity and length from one part of the world to another, that the influence of the sun and moon differs, and so on.
Feng shui, now as in the past, still shows disputes and differences. This should be no obstacle to its study. Knowledge can be enriched by different points of view where there is respect and humility. Good teachers tend to keep to these principles: differences of opinion do not undermine their work or their own experience, but they show the student that feng shui is not something rigid and unchanging, and that various points of view are possible. On the most important matters, however, there tends to be broad agreement — the facts that form, perhaps, the backbone of feng shui.
Harsh or destructive attitudes among certain groups only create distance, generating Sha Qi (sick energy). When practitioners waste a great deal of time in contemptuous criticism, they also lose the valuable chance to know themselves better and to build fellowship. Often the ego (so characteristic of students of the metaphysical arts) drives away, paradoxically, the very values feng shui upholds: the search for harmony and balanced energy, which the Chinese masters call “Sheng Qi”.
To learn and practise feng shui, besides a grounding in the theory of the schools, a good measure of sensitivity and common sense is advisable. It is plain that some people choose favourable spots clearly and instinctively, even without any knowledge of feng shui. An inner openness to our surroundings and to the beauty around us is of fundamental value, and should not be dismissed.
Perhaps this is readily understood by artists, architects, interior designers, engineers and other professionals who use the principles of feng shui naturally — though a traditional teacher might attribute such a happy choice to certain innate qualities. That, however, would lead us to studies parallel to feng shui, such as Zi Wei Dou Shu or the Ba Zi branch (the Four Pillars of Destiny), which form part of Chinese metaphysical study.
If you decide to go deeper into feng shui, you will never lack material for study and research. You will find that its origins reach back thousands of years and that it connects with the widest range of knowledge, combining town planning, ecology, aesthetics, spirituality and prediction with careful observation of the natural world.
Related: The Five Celestial Animals · The Feng Shui Compass (Luo Pan) · The Five Elements. To study the classical schools in depth, take a look at our professional Feng Shui course.
