Japan wants to apply for Feng Shui. what do you think?

In some foreign countries and regions, the influence of architectural geomantic omen is no less than that in China. Countries greatly influenced by China's traditional culture, such as North Korea, Japan, Laos, Thailand, the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, Singapore, etc., have all kinds of activities to create geomantic omen, which have evolved into ways to meet the spiritual needs of local people. China's geomantic culture spread to Japan more than 1000 years ago. Japan attaches great importance to geomantic omen, and many architecture professors in colleges are studying astrological geomantic omen. Japanese first-class architect Mr. Okamoto's book "Interval Design with Yangzhai Studies" integrates the cosmic atmosphere with modern architecture; More than 2,000 universities in Japan offer Feng Shui courses in 1 10.

In 1970s, European and American scholars also showed great interest in architectural geomantic omen. Scholars from the United States, Canada, Britain, Australia, South Korea, Japan, Singapore and other countries have conducted special studies on this, and some feng shui topics have also become popular abroad. 1September, 994, new york Times reported the weight of China's architectural geomantic omen in American architectural design.

In recent years, with the development of construction industry and eco-environmentalism, the scientific nature of architectural feng shui and home environment has been examined from a new angle internationally, and the ancient discipline of architectural feng shui has revived. In Southeast Asia, the construction of many Chinese temples is obviously influenced by geomantic omen. Many hotels and high-rise buildings are designed according to the opinions of local overseas Chinese Feng Shui masters. Bio-housing fever has arisen in Germany, and houses adopt civil structures; The selection standard of biological residence is the geomantic omen of ancient buildings in China. Americans don't believe in geomantic omen, but in the late 1980s, the cosmic aura regimen became popular in the United States. Some politicians, rich people and stars should consult Feng Shui when buying a house. At present, there are 17 universities in the United States offering courses such as the Book of Changes and Feng Shui. In 1970s, the world's first doctor's degree in Feng Shui was obtained from the United States by Korean Yin Hongji.

10 years ago, Professor Yu Xixian from Peking University was invited to the British Embassy to talk about China culture. Only when he went did he know that the embassy had convened ambassadors from 38 different countries in Beijing to attend the lecture. "The British ambassador asked to hear about China's geomantic culture."

On March 8- 10, 2002, the first World Classic Feng Shui Conference was held in Cologne, Germany. A German Feng Shui expert who lives near Cologne and has been engaged in Feng Shui research 18 years said that his job is "acupuncture for the house". South Korea officially announced its plan to move its capital in August 2004; Over the years, the Korean government has been preparing for the relocation of the capital, and has hired 400 Feng Shui masters so far, hoping that they can find the most ideal location for the new capital, including the construction of the presidential palace. Australians seem to believe in gossip and geomantic omen more than Chinese medicine. In English, "Yin Yang" and "Feng Shui" are written in the same way as Chinese Pinyin. The word "Yin and Yang" often appears in bookstores in many big cities in Europe, and is usually printed on the cover of a book called Yijing. Feng shui is more popular in Europe. Portuguese construction engineer holds a thick English version of Chinese Feng Shui book in his hand.

Westerners admire China culture for a long time, from food, clothing, housing and transportation to China Kung Fu and China architecture. Nowadays, architectural geomantic omen is also very popular, but it is not a blind worship of China culture. Although architectural geomantic omen is full of superstition, it has rich connotations in China's ancient philosophy, aesthetics, geology, geographical ecology and landscape, including the discussion on how people adapt to nature, which is the real reason for its spread abroad. "Get the essence from the rough, get rid of the false and keep the true", which is the fundamental attitude towards architectural geomantic omen.

Internal reasons for the prevalence of geomantic omen in Chinese and western architecture

What is the hottest concept in the field of housing in 2004? This is a Chinese residence. Western-style architecture has sprung up for more than ten years. In Beijing alone, there are at least 65,438+00 new buildings designed entirely by China to attract consumers. These Chinese-style houses are divided into traditional and new Chinese-style houses, both of which emphasize the traditional lifestyle and culture of China. At the same time, although western-style architecture is still popular, it is not a classical architecture, but a modern and distinctive type. Traditional Romanesque architecture is regarded as garbage that pollutes the urban landscape and is spurned.

Yu, dean of the Graduate School of Landscape Architecture, said: "Feng Shui is the traditional evaluation standard of architecture and cities. After breaking the traditional concept of Feng Shui for many years, people suddenly found that cities and buildings have become worse, and people need to find new beliefs and rules. " "Feng Shui and science are two different things. It is a cultural phenomenon, reflecting the ideal of China people to coordinate man and environment, and it is the perceptual knowledge accumulated by China people through thousands of years' experience. Today, feng shui is getting hot again, which only shows that we find ourselves lacking the same faith and self-confidence, and hope to find something back in the tradition of feng shui, even though it is the product of agricultural civilization. "

With the high development of western industry, the unrestrained desire to "conquer nature" has expanded, and human beings and nature are opposed to each other, which has evolved into a series of frightening environmental and social crises since the second half of the 20th century. In the process of introspection, scholars feel the importance of coordination between man and the natural environment. At first, some scholars paid attention to the overall philosophy of "the unity of heaven and earth" in China's traditional culture, and therefore "discovered" the value of geomantic omen, which set off an upsurge of geomantic omen research, hoping to introduce geomantic omen theory and methods into the existing environmental planning and design ideas and give new vitality to the post-industrial society. In this respect, Americans are in a leading position.

As early as 1950s, young architects headed by the Smithsonian Institution believed that it was not enough to consider only the contact between people, but "man+nature+man's view of nature". From 65438 to 0969, Professor Macharg of the University of Pennsylvania published the book Design and Nature, which profoundly expounded the relationship between man and nature, and pointed out that scenery is determined by ecology, and everything in nature is interrelated, and advocated that the relationship between man and natural environment should be considered from the perspective of overall organic; This view based on ecological theory has become the cornerstone of ecological architecture and has a far-reaching impact on the whole field of architecture and urban planning. Architectural ecology regards people, buildings, natural environment and social environment as artificial ecosystems. Architecture is only a part of the system that belongs to people and meets some needs of people. It must become a link in the ecosystem together with people, act according to ecological laws and ensure the normal operation of the ecosystem. Architectural geomantic omen pays attention to the choice of excellent architectural environment, conforms to nature, and makes people closely combine with architecture and environment. In this sense, architectural ecology is in step with China's Feng Shui thought.

1984, the book Fundamentals of Ecological Design by Todd and his wife was published. The author quoted Paul Sun's report 1982 at the Sun Village Conference in new york, saying: The geomantic world outlook originated from overlooking the world, and it is a natural and harmonious way to make residents and their descendants live a plain life in their residential areas. In the book, Todd and his wife point out in detail the similarities between Feng Shui and modern solar buildings, earth-covered buildings and underground buildings, and then come to the conclusion that Feng Shui does contain profound wisdom, which makes it a guide to humility and obedience to nature.

In a word, the revival of architectural geomantic omen is the inevitable result of people's reflection on the global environmental crisis and social crisis, and the result is the inevitable emphasis on the coordination between man and the natural environment, which is consistent with China's holistic view of "the unity of heaven and earth and man" in architectural geomantic omen, and there is an opportunity for revival under new conditions. Therefore, the understanding of architectural geomantic omen should not only carry forward the traditional culture of China, but also get rid of the dirt of feudal superstition, and adopt the method of "sublation" to make its reasonable internal components serve the present and benefit mankind.

Why do some people deny the application for architectural feng shui?

Represented by Professor Chen Zhihua of Tsinghua University, etc., the application for architectural geomantic omen was denied. The main point is "I don't think Feng Shui has a deeper content. It is a vulgar superstition like dream interpretation and divination, and there is nothing to criticize (Source: Science and Atheism). "

Is its view correct? Obviously it is untenable. Architectural geomantic omen does contain many superstitious elements, such as divination and fortune telling, but it is by no means the mainstream view of architectural geomantic omen. Its mainstream view is the harmonious unity of man and nature. It is obviously a misunderstanding to deny the whole of architectural geomantic omen by the minor part or irrationality of architectural geomantic omen. The study of China's architectural geomantic omen in western architectural circles has grasped his idea of harmonious development between man and nature, so there is a research upsurge. If the deniers only see the superstitious secondary components of architectural geomantic omen, but can't see or recognize its mainstream reasonable components, it is a question of level and understanding, and can't explain the problems of architectural geomantic omen itself. Understanding architectural geomantic omen should be understood comprehensively from scientific view, historical view, truth view and dialectical method, rather than unilaterally, which is expounded in my related articles "Architectural Geomantic omen and modern science" and "Understanding architectural geomantic omen from dialectical view of historical truth".

In a word, the natural geographical layout of "beautiful mountains and rivers" and the architectural geomantic omen based on the natural view of "geomantic omen" are the perfect unity of harmony between man and nature, which is in line with modern science. Architectural geomantic culture can play a unique role in building a global harmonious society.

Therefore, it is not only necessary but also urgent to declare architectural geomantic omen as a world cultural heritage. Once South Korea, Japan, Malaysia, Singapore, the United States and other countries are allowed to declare first, it will make Chinese people feel even more heartbroken, far from being comparable to the Dragon Boat Festival.

About the author: Zhang Dongjie, Ph.D./postdoctoral fellow in electronics and physics, Nanjing Normal University.