“If there is light in the soul, there is beauty in the person.
If there is beauty in the person, there is harmony in the house.
If there is harmony in the house, there is order in the nation.
If there is order in the nation, there will be peace on Earth.”
Chinese Proverb
These words echo a belief system which has been deeply valued in China for over 6,000 years. Feng shui is derived from Chinese words meaning wind and water. Its central idea is that positive and negative energy is generated by the positioning of objects, and its central goal is to find a perfect spot in space in time to accentuate the positive and achieve harmony.
In 1797, the Encyclopaedia Britannica reported the word in English for the first time, referring to the Chinese belief that “all the happiness and misfortunes of life depend upon the feng shui”. This belief has seen objects, rooms, buildings and even entire cities organised in line with the forces of yin and yang.
The 2008 Beijing Olympics was a perfect showcase for Chinese culture, and the Bird’s Nest Stadium and the National Aquatics Centre offered spectacular examples of feng shui at work. They combined multiple symbols of good luck and plenty, with the two stadia together representing the ancient Chinese saying that the sky is round and earth is square. As China moves forward economically and technologically, respect for the principles of feng shui suggest that the country’s links to its cultural heritage are as strong as ever.
