An Introduction to Feng Shui

This book examines the origins and practices of Chinese Feng Shui as well as its recent Western interpretations.

Ole Bruun (Author)

9780521682176, Cambridge University Press

Paperback, published 4 December 2008

220 pages, 18 b/w illus.
22.8 x 15.1 x 1.1 cm, 0.36 kg

"...deeply insightful book. ...important for any student of Chinese culture. Useful for Chinese studies, religious studies, and anthropology. Highly recommended. --Choice

Feng Shui has been known in the West for the last 150 years but has mostly been regarded as a primitive superstition. During the modern period successive regimes in China have suppressed its practice. However, in the last few decades Feng Shui has become a global spiritual movement with professional associations, thousands of titles published on the subject, countless websites devoted to it and millions of users. In this book Ole Bruun explains Feng Shui's Chinese origins and meanings as well as its more recent Western interpretations and global appeal. Unlike the abundance of popular manuals, his Introduction treats Chinese Feng Shui as an academic subject, bridging religion, history and sociology. Individual chapters explain the Chinese religious-philosophical background, Chinese uses in rural and urban areas, the history of Feng Shui's reinterpretation in the West, and environmental perspectives and other issues.

1. Introduction
2. A brief history of Feng Shui
3. Feng Shui in the context of Chinese popular religion
4. Feng Shui research
5. Cosmological principles, schools of interpretation, and the Feng Shui compass
6. Feng Shui in the Chinese cityscape: China proper and overseas
7. Modern Feng Shui interpretations and uses
8. Environmental concerns
9. Feng Shui as cultural globalization
Bibliography
Index.

Subject Areas: Buddhism [HRE], Non-Western philosophy [HPD], Asian history [HBJF]