Book looks into Japans feng shui

Joseon Feng Shui Talks about Japan

Kim Du-gyu; Dreamnet Media: 344 pp., 15,000 won

By Chung Ah-young

Hippocrates, the godfather of medicine, paid attention to the individual characteristics of the body and the environment. He conceived the idea that factors such as climate, quality of water and soil, and laws of the land of the environment influence the formation of the bodily and spiritual characteristics of the human being.

Such ideas, not only from Hippocrates but also from other ancient philosophers have affected Western medicine, architecture and city planning, which is equivalent to feng shui.

Feng shui literally means “wind and water” and is known as an ancient Chinese philosophy of nature as a form of geomancy. It is believed to affect the pattern of a life and even the destiny of human beings in ancient times. In Goryeo (918-1392) and Joseon (1392-1910), feng shui was widely used on a national level as rulers relied on administrating the state according to the laws of the land.

Nowadays, feng shui mostly remains in selecting the location of graves. “Joseon Feng Shui Talks about Japan” written by Kim Du-gyu, geomancer and professor at Woosuk University, looks at Japan through its use of feng shui, which is “unique and different from that of Korea.”

At the beginning of the book, the author laments the Korean view that feng shui is a superstition and archaic discourse. But Japan boldly accepted the concept in its own way, and readjusted it to suit its own historical and geographical situation.

Japan widely adopted the philosophy and applied it from when creating a personal garden to building an imperial house and selecting a burial site, which seems to be a “key factor for Japanese prosperity.”

Although there was no exact record of use of the same term, “feng shui,” the concept was well expressed in “Jakjeonggi,” the 11th-century book about gardens, which is believed to be the oldest book on gardening.

The author first harbored the curiosity for how the imperial household has existed in Japan for such a long time, presuming the influence that Japanese geomancy had on its oldest continuous hereditary monarchy, compared to other short-lived kingdoms historically in other countries.

Kim introduces readers to two distinguished examples of successful geomantic adoptions — gardens and imperial tombs. The garden culture first developed in China and flourished in Japan after passing through Korea. Also, feng shui originated in China and spread to Japan through Baekje. (18 B.C.-660 A.D.)

Japan’s geography, of course, is different from that of Korea and China, with more than 30,000 short but fast-running rivers, a myriad of mountains 3,000 meters in height and frequent earthquakes.

In traditional feng shui, auspicious sites are determined by the lay of the land, which requires a balance among the four mountains — the Blue Dragon of the east, the White Tiger of the west, the Red Phoenix of the south and the Black Tortoise of the north.

But interestingly, in his observation, the hind guardian hill (main mountain) in Kyoto is lower than the other surrounding mountains. In traditional geomancy, the main mountain is supposed to be the highest among the neighboring ones, which symbolizes the power of the ruler.

Unlike the traditional formulas of a good site surrounded by the four propitious mountains, in Japan, the auspicious site is supposed to be, except for the main mountain, surrounded by a pond, running water and a wide road, instead of mountains.

Other historical cities in addition to Kyoto have lower main mountains than the surrounding ones as the emphasis of Japanese geomancy was put on water not mountains, valuing the flow and location of water.

Instead of following the traditional formulas, Japan reinvented its own feng shui and made a better use of water, rather than mountains, as the nation was enclosed by water and waterways were more effective for transport in ancient times.

“Selecting a good site in a different way — Japan’s plentiful water and Korea’s many mountains — created a different fate for both nations later. Japan already opened trade with Europe in the Edo period and became a marine power in the 19th and 20th centuries after opening its doors to the United States and Europe,” Kim wrote.

However, Korea, which put more emphasis on mountains, remained a closed nation until the late 19th century and was even annexed by Japan, the book says.

Japan’s different approach toward the traditional concept was quite strictly reflected when selecting imperial tomb sites and creating more ponds in the gardens.

The author delves into the feng shui paradigm, saying that his book is intended to raise awareness about feng shui and go further to form an alternative paradigm for the northeastern community. “It is wrong for Koreans who keep a long-held feng shui tradition to destroy our natural eco system just by following in the footsteps of Westerners,” he wrote.

He adds that feng shui has various prototypes that can be developed as an international paradigm not only in Asia, but also in other parts of the world. “As the Greek philosophy laid the foundation of the Western philosophy, feng shui has infinite potential."

The author studied German literature at the Hankook University of Foreign Studies and at Munster University in Germany. From 2000, he started researching feng shui and has actively engaged in academic activities and written publications.