# feng shui **URL:** \ **Category:** Cecil's Columns/Staff Reports\ **Created:** [February 1, 2010, 8:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/feng-shui/527221 "2010-02-01T08:43:04Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![kktime](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/4491bb/32.png) [@kktime](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kktime)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2010, 8:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/feng-shui/527221/1 "2010-02-01T08:43:04Z")
Dear Cecil, Do you think the subject started off more incidental then mystical. In modern day, now, it is portrayed rather mystical, more to confuse and mystified it to rip the benefit about its effectiveness if any for monetary gain. This is just a hedge on my part, as ancient people studies are mostly base on visual analyst and measurement like what said about PI the number. So i was thinking the emperor could have sent out men, thousands or hundred of thousands of men, just to find out what sort of living made happy man and what these happy men living environment like. Well having great resources at hand, maybe abled compilation of conclusion which the records the feng shui masters are reading today and trying to interpret in all sort of form. What do you think? CHRISTIAN ---
**Author:** ![Nametag](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nametag/32/406_2.png) [@Nametag](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nametag)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2010, 11:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/feng-shui/527221/2 "2010-02-01T11:37:32Z")
[The Master has spoken](http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/2065/whats-the-story-with-feng-shui): > [@](#): > > From one perspective, feng shui is the art of arranging the environment (the exteriors and interiors of buildings, gardens, and even the body) to optimize the impact on the people who live there. Looked at another way, it is a very complex set of superstitions. > > … > > Whatever may be said for its modern incarnation, feng shui had its origins in a practical appreciation of the environment. > > … > > It’s not hard to see how these observations, reflections, and some common sense led to a system of beliefs or superstitions about the placement of buildings, doorways and windows, furniture, and so on. Over the centuries there developed what Simon Brown calls “a complex and integrated system of theory and practice, embracing almost every aspect of people’s lives.” To put it another way, _feng shui_ is nonsense to the extent that _chi_ is nonsense, and in its practical aspects to the extent that its theory runs ahead of its data. ---
**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2010, 12:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/feng-shui/527221/3 "2010-02-01T12:36:35Z")
[quote=“Nametag, post:2, topic:527221”] [The Master has spoken](http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/2065/whats-the-story-with-feng-shui): Actually, it was one of his assistants, **Dex**. Let’s move this to _Comments on Staff Reports_. **samclem** , Moderator, GQ ---
**Author:** ![Nametag](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nametag/32/406_2.png) [@Nametag](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nametag)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2010, 1:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/feng-shui/527221/4 "2010-02-01T13:14:44Z")
Damnit! I could have sworn that was a Cecil column! ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2010, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/feng-shui/527221/5 "2010-02-08T16:53:56Z")
Feng shui teaches us that putting a bathroom under the stairs can have a negative effect on wealth. [It is written](http://www.thespiritualfengshui.com/feng-shui-bathroom.php). ---
**Author:** ![C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b2d939/32.png) [@C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/C_K_Dexter_Haven)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2010, 9:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/feng-shui/527221/6 "2010-02-09T21:36:07Z")
Yes, **kktime** , I agree (and I wrote the Staff Report, not Cecil. It was one I had a lot of fun doing.) I did mention a couple of examples: > [@](#): > > houses facing north were hit by dust storms, while houses facing south got maximum warmth from the sun. Thus facing south was luckier than facing north. I don’t think the emperor needed to (or would have) sent out men to take a survey of the population; I think it was just lots of things that people noticed over centuries, that was eventually codified. ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2010, 4:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/feng-shui/527221/7 "2010-02-10T04:32:29Z")
> [@Jackmannii](#): > > Feng shui teaches us that putting a bathroom under the stairs can have a negative effect on wealth. [It is written](http://www.thespiritualfengshui.com/feng-shui-bathroom.php). Maybe a bathroom, but it’s an entirely natural place to put a powder room, with warnings about hitting your head. Okay, feng shui is typically BS and its application by people with too much money (almost said “too much Monet,” but I’ve noted that state among my customers before) pay while I rearrange their video wallplates, but overall it’s mostly harmless. ---
**Author:** ![Lestrade](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/94ad74/32.png) [@Lestrade](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lestrade)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2010, 2:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/feng-shui/527221/8 "2010-02-10T14:05:31Z")
While he may not be capable of dishing out the straight dope, [Douglas Adams](http://www.biota.org/people/douglasadams/) had an interesting take on Feng Shui: > [@](#): > > Apparently, we need to think about the building being inhabited by dragons and look at it in terms of how a dragon would move around it. So, if a dragon wouldn’t be happy in the house, you have to put a red fish bowl here or a window there. This sounds like complete and utter nonsense, because anything involving dragons must be nonsense - there aren’t any dragons, so any theory based on how dragons behave is nonsense. What are these silly people doing, imagining that dragons can tell you how to build your house? Nevertheless… (It’s too long to quote, but an excellent read.) I’ve found this explanation to be remarkably useful in my day-to-day life. You see, my partner is quite a bit smaller than I am. What they find “cozy” I often find to be a source of head injury. After one quick reminder about the relative proportions of dragons and their incendiary tempers domestic bliss descends once again. ---
**Author:** ![C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b2d939/32.png) [@C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/C_K_Dexter_Haven)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2010, 9:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/feng-shui/527221/9 "2010-02-10T21:55:35Z")
I haven’t invited any dragons into my house to see how they move around, but I do know that modern architects are very concerned with things they call “traffic patterns” which have to do with how people enter the house, hang up their coats, etc. When people come into the house, do they get an open, comfortable, welcoming feeling, or a shut-in, cramped, over-crowded feeling? Such feelings are real, and can be affected by the floorplan, the wall coverings, the furniture, etc. When you walk into a new place (store, office, friend’s home, whatever), you get a first impression, whether consciously or (more often) subconsciously. This is not to say that there’s not lots of feng shui that’s pretty silly. This is to say that there’s also lots of feng shui that is very reasonable, and in line with common sense. We may not express it in terms of mystical forces, but we do say that a light colored floor and light colored walls make a room feel more spacious. We may not worry about spiritual balances, but we do say that having sufficient light from windows makes a room more cheerful. And so on.