The geographer and the Fengshui practitioner: So close and yet so far apart?

Elizabeth Kenworthy Teather*, Chun Shing Chow

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalJournal articlepeer-review

22 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Fengshui deserves serious scrutiny from geographers. Fengshui has been a highly significant influence on the shaping of human environments in the Chinese cultural sphere for at least 4000 years. Efforts to eliminate it in the twentieth century, by Chinese governments intent on modernisation, have failed. Advice on fengshui is still eagerly sought today by families and businesses in Chinese communities, whether on the mainland, offshore or overseas. The first part of this paper briefly introduces fengshui. The second part applies Lefebvre's three modalities of space to the time-space manipulations and outcomes of the operation of fengshui. The third part explores what fengshui offers a postmodern world, concentrating on (a) the nature of the 'harmony' it seeks to establish between people and nature; (b) the nature of fengshui's time-universe; and (c) the extent to which fengshui's goals of time-space harmony offer a framework for approaching sustainable development.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)309-332
Number of pages24
JournalAustralian Geographer
Volume31
Issue number3
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 1 Nov 2000
Externally publishedYes

Scopus Subject Areas

  • Geography, Planning and Development
  • Earth-Surface Processes

User-Defined Keywords

  • China
  • Fengshui
  • Geomancy
  • Harmony
  • Hong Kong
  • Nature
  • Sustainability
  • Time-space

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