Read complete books and articles on: Feng Shui

At Questia, we offer:

Exclusive access to more than 67,000 books and 1.5 million articles.
Trusted resources from leading publishers.
Time saving tools to do better, faster research!

10 of the Best Books and Articles on: Feng Shui

as selected by Questia librarians

1.

Ecologies of the Heart: Emotion, Belief, and the Environment (Chap. 2 "Feng-Shui: Ideology and Ecology") » Read Now
by E. N. Anderson. 256 pgs.

Collections: Philosophy, Entire Library

There is much we can learn about conservation from native peoples, says Gene Anderson. While the advanced nations of the West have failed to control overfishing, deforestation, soil erosion, pollution, and a host of other environmental problems, many traditional peoples manage their natural...
Read More

There is much we can learn about conservation from native peoples, says Gene Anderson. While the advanced nations of the West have failed to control overfishing, deforestation, soil erosion, pollution, and a host of other environmental problems, many traditional peoples manage their natural resources quite successfully. And if some traditional peoples mismanage the environment--the irrational value some place on rhino horn, for instance, has left this species endangered--the fact remains that most have found ways to introduce sound ecological management into their daily lives. Why have they succeeded while we have failed? In Ecologies of the Heart, Gene Anderson reveals how religion and other folk beliefs help pre-industrial peoples control and protect their resources. Equally important, he offers much insight into why our own environmental policies have failed and what we can do to better manage our resources. A cultural ecologist, Gene Anderson has spent his life exploring the ways in which different groups of people manage the environment, and he has lived for years in fishing communities in Hong Kong, Malaysia, Singapore, Tahiti, and British Columbia--as well as in a Mayan farmtown in south Mexico--where he has studied fisheries, farming, and forest management. He has concluded that all traditional societies that have managed resources well over time have done so in part through religion--by the use of emotionally powerful cultural symbols that reinforce particular resource management strategies. Moreover, he argues that these religious beliefs, while seeming unscientific, if not irrational, at first glance, are actually based on long observation of nature. To illustrate this insight, he includes many fascinating portraits of native life. He offers, for instance, an intriguing discussion of the Chinese belief system known as Feng-Shui (wind and water) and tells of meeting villagers in remote areas of Hong Kong's New Territories who assert that dragons live in the mountains, and that to disturb them by cutting too sharply into the rock surface would cause floods and landslides (which in fact it does). He describes the Tlingit Indians of the Pacific Northwest, who, before they strip bark from the great cedar trees, make elaborate apologies to spirits they believe live inside the trees, assuring the spirits that they take only what is necessary. And we read of the Maya of southern Mexico, who speak of the lords of the Forest and the Animals, who punish those who take more from the land or the rivers than they need. These beliefs work in part because they are based on long observation of nature, but also, and equally important, because they are incorporated into a larger cosmology, so that people have a strong emotional investment in them. And conversely, Anderson argues that our environmental programs often fail because we have not found a way to engage our emotions in conservation practices. Folk beliefs are often dismissed as irrational superstitions. Yet as Anderson shows, these beliefs do more to protect the environment than modern science does in the West. Full of insights, Ecologies of the Heart mixes anthropology with ecology and psychology, traditional myth and folklore with informed discussions of conservation efforts in industrial society, to reveal a strikingly new approach to our current environmental crises.
Show less
2.

China: People and Places in the Land of One Billion ("Feng Shui: The Ancient Chinese Art of Placement" begins on p. 283) » Read Now
by Christopher J. Smith. 360 pgs.

Collections: History, Entire Library

...276 The Last Words: Waiting for Rabbits to Bump into Trees , 278 Appendix 1 Feng Shui: The Ancient Chinese Art of Placement 283 Appendix 2 A New Language of Dissent in...
3.

Fortune-Tellers and Philosophers: Divination in Traditional Chinese Society (Chap. Four "The Way of Wind and Water") » Read Now
by Richard J. Smith. 434 pgs.

Collections: Entire Library

...regional peculiarities were expressed in the common saying: "Customs differ every ten li " i.e. several miles shili butong feng . Qing propaganda efforts, such as the...
4.

Traditional Chinese Site Selection-Feng Shui: An Evolutionary/Ecological Perspective, in Journal of Cultural Geography » Read Now
by Ke-Tsung Han. 22 pgs.

Collections: Psychology, Entire Library

...Traditional Chinese site selection--Feng Shui: an evolutionary/ecological perspective...by Ke-Tsung Han ABSTRACT. Feng Shui has endured as an art of site selection...human...
5.

Asia's Environmental Movements: Comparative Perspectives ("Hong Kong: Buddhism, Taoism, and Feng Shui" begins on p. 223) » Read Now
by Yok-Shiu Lee, Alvin So. 319 pgs.

Collections: Entire Library

Exploring one of the most dynamic and contested regions of the world, this series includes works on political, economic, cultural, and social changes in modern and contemporary Asia and the Pacific.
6.

Sources of Korean Tradition, Vol. I: From Early Times through the Sixteenth Century ("Geomancy" begins on p. 243) » Read Now
by Peter H. Lee, Wm. Theodore de Bary, Yongho Ch'oe, Hugh H. W. Kang. 390 pgs.

Collections: History, Entire Library

Drawn from Peter H. Lee's Sourcebook of Korean Civilization, Volume I, this abridged introductory collection offers students and general readers primary readings in the social, intellectual, and religious traditions of Korea from ancient times through the sixteenth century. Sources of Korean...
Read More

Drawn from Peter H. Lee's Sourcebook of Korean Civilization, Volume I, this abridged introductory collection offers students and general readers primary readings in the social, intellectual, and religious traditions of Korea from ancient times through the sixteenth century. Sources of Korean Tradition is arranged according to the major epochs of Korean history, including sections on: Korean culture - its origins, writing, education, poetry, song, social life, and rituals; religion - the rise of Buddhism and Confucianism; the economy - the land, agriculture, commerce, and currency; and its changing political structures. A superb collection by the foremost scholars in the field, Sources of Korean Tradition is supplemented by a bibliography and prefaces by both editors. An impressive storehouse for the grand corpus of thought, beliefs, and customs held by people of Korea for centuries, this volume is a valuable companion for those interested in the history of Korea and East Asian studies.
Show less
7.

Geomancy and Town Planning in a Japanese Community, in Ethnology » Read Now
by Arne Kalland. 16 pgs.

Collections: Religious Studies, Entire Library

...Ethics 13(4):345-60. Paine, R. T., and A. Soper. 1981. The Art and Architecture of Japan. New York. Rossbach, S. 1983. Feng Shui. The Chinese Art of Placement. New York...
8.

Cosmology, Ontology, and Human Efficacy: Essays in Chinese Thought (Discussion of geomancy begins on p. 152) » Read Now
by Richard J. Smith, D. W. Y. Kwok. 258 pgs.

Collections: Religious Studies, History, Entire Library

...polarities would have meant a different cosmology and therefore a different Chinese civilization. Notes 1. See Feng Yu-lan, "Why China Has No Science--An Interpretation of...
9.

Feng Shui, Astrology, and the Five Elements: Traditional Chinese Belief in Amy Tan's The Joy Luck Club, in MELUS » Read Now
by Patricia L. Hamilton. 21 pgs.

Collections: Literature, Entire Library

...Feng Shui, Astrology, and the Five Elements: Traditional...traditional belief in The Joy Luck Club is feng shui, or geomancy. The most opaque yet potentially...cosmology to...
10.

Appropriate Geography: Patrick Abercrombie and the Energy of the World, in Journal of Design History » Read Now
by David Matless. 12 pgs.

Collections: Entire Library