White Women And Feng Shui

I was recently coaxed onto a web forum to talk about feng shui…or so I thought. It turned out that the people asking questions just wanted to ridicule the art and insult me at the expense of someone I love (my husband).

Despite the underhanded way they got me to the forum they did bring up some interesting points and comments such as:
• “When I think of feng shui the first thing that comes to mind is a white woman…but that’s just me.”
I can completely understand where this guy was coming from because the first thing I think of when I hear “marriage counselor” is a Catholic priest and “cigar aficionado” is a term that automatically comes to mind when I hear the name Bill Clinton.

Another one was:
• “I’m sick and tired of Westerners spouting off about Asian culture like they’re experts or something.”
So true. I’m sure there’s no one in Asia running a McDonald’s or writing about capitalism. Shame on us for thinking we should venture to learn anything outside of our own borders.

But the truth is that feng shui has become a lost art in China. It was banned by the Communist regime and only recently allowed to be practiced again in the country. So despite feng shui being Chinese few Chinese actually know what it’s about or even use it. Feng Shui Grand Master Yap was one of the first to begin bringing the knowledge of feng shui to “outsiders” following feng shui’s allowance back into the culture and was ostracized by his peers for doing so. But his intention was to gain greater acceptance of this ancient science so that more people would learn, benefit from and spread the knowledge of feng shui around the world regardless of their race or cultural background.
I would think that Westerners would want to do the same if we were in the same position…but that’s just me.