Real Chinese Houses Meet McFengshui
Ever wonder how traditional housing in China would be analyzed by McFengshui? Let’s take a typical courtyard house and analyze it according to McFengshui rules from Karen Rauch Carter.
Drawing adapted from Liu Dunzhun, ed.
Zhongguo gudai jianzhu shi.
(Beijing: Zhongguo gongyue chubanshe, 1984), p. 12.
| Traditional Chinese Courtyard House | McFengshui Rules | Reality Check |
|---|---|---|
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Courtyard houses typically face south. |
Direction doesn’t matter. | This orientation sites the house for solar gain — thus ecologically efficient in its heating and cooling. |
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The best rooms in the house typically face south and in the center of the home. These rooms are for the head of the household. |
Direction doesn’t matter. The center is the "heart" and when it is out of balance, it can easily affect the other areas of the house. The many angles from the buildings in a courtyard can cause poison arrows, and crystals should be hung just in front of the corner causing the problem. Or maybe put up mirrors to deflect the "negative energy." Or maybe do both |
You won’t see crystals or mirrors — yet people have lived happily and comfortably in these houses for centuries. |
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Rooms along the east and west sides are occupied by the children, servants, relatives, etc. |
These long hallways with lots of doors need crystals to be hung from the ceiling. | You won’t see crystals, yet people have lived well in these houses for centuries. |
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Rooms for women are in the northernmost part of the compound, behind the best rooms. Rooms for women were supposed to be cut off from the outside world. |
This area encompasses the Prosperity/Abundance, Fame/Reputation, and Relationship/Love sectors. | No doubt a McFengshui practitioner would invent some psychobabble about prosperity, fame, and relationships being “cut off” from the outside world. Which would be strange, because China is the longest-running civilization in humankind’s existence. |
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Rooms facing north are generally used as study, library, or office. They are also places to retreat in the heat of the day. |
Direction doesn’t matter. However, if people are upstairs, and there are toxic odors emanating from the floor beneath, they should lay a mirror facing down on the floor. | Nobody does this, because they haven’t lost their common sense. It is physically impossible for a mirror to have any effects on odors or aerosolized substances. |
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The formal entrance is typically in the southeastern area of the compound. The spirit wall requires that you turn sharply left or right to enter the compound. |
You enter from the Helpful People/Travel sector. This part of the house puts you in harmony with life so you don’t have to have help with anything. It also symbolizes being treated fairly and honestly. Add a item in this area and use intention to ensure a safe journey or to balance travel times. | Doesn’t seem to reflect how people lived in traditional China. Today, elders and small children stay home while the rest of the family migrates to the cities for work. They may stay away for months or years at a time — or never come back. |
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The latrine is typically in the southwestern area of the compound. |
The latrine is in the Skills and Knowledge/Wealth sector. This area symbolizes "inner wisdom, higher thought, self-cultivation, meditation, and all the other wonderful things associated with knowing and learning." | That must be why people take along reading material when they go to the bathroom. |
