Cecil Lee

Due to the birth control policies of mainland China, there are now around 53 million one child family. These children (boys or girls) are treated as `little emperors' by their parents and grand parents. Can you imagine being young without a single brother or sister to play with? Warmest Regards, Cecil Dear cecil, - Cross posted from Chinese Culture conf. - I read that there is one child policy in China. What happens if a couple gets pregnant again after having one baby. Thanks. Cecil: Usually they have to go for an abortion.

Dear Anon, For the Chinese (local - China) and overseas Chinese, there is the pressure not so much of just having a baby but rather a baby son. Chinese value highly a baby son because only a son can carry their family name through to the next generation. For example, Mr Tan would like his surname to be `carried' to his next generation. Only if he has a son, his surname Tan can be `happy' as his son will also adopt his surname Tan. If he has a daughter, and if his daughter marrys a man, if the man's surname is Wong, she comes Mrs Wong. There are many situations where Chinese man were `forced' to take up a second wife or due to family pressure, marry another in the hope that they have a son. If his wife did not bear him a son, in some instances, it may result in her getting very bad treatment from her in-laws. In the past, when a Chinese girl marries, she is said to be married to her husband's family. During Chinese New Year, the second day is the day where the Chinese girl is suppose to return to her maiden home. Warmest Regards, Cecil

Dear Anon, Like any country, land has been gradually been `converted' into built up areas. However, the good news is that China is one of the four countries with an ancient civilzation lasting for more than 5,000 years old. With such a history, there are many (many) historical buildings and landscapes like the Guilin, the site where Shapes and Form School was said to have originated. Many of these locations have become tourist attractions. Because of the tourism, it has helped to preserve monuments e.g. Chinese Temples, Tombs, the Great Wall etc.. Many Chinese had the idea that when they grow old, they would like to visit China. But contrary to this, it would be better if one is young to visit China. The reason is because, of walk, walk and walk. If one is too old, one cannot enjoy the vast sights and large monuments. Warmest Regards, Cecil

Dear Anon, There is quite a diverse Chinese both in China and many overseas Chinese. Frankly, so far, I did not recall any or many Chinese displaying a picture of an Emperor and Empress. In China, it is `illegal' during the Communist period to display such pictures other than leaders like Mao or Chou Eng Lai. Perhaps, you could have seen pictures of Chinese Gods e.g. God of Wealth. The most popular Gods are the three figures of Fu Lu Shou or Luck, Prosperity and Longevity Gods. A picture of the three Gods are available under the conference: "Photo Tours with Interest." Warmest Regards, Cecil

Dear Anon, In Chinese sword play, some swords are considered Yang (Male) while others are Yin (Female). Therefore, there is some truth in the above statement as I believe, the seven star sword is Yang. In Chinese sword play, sword fighting methods differ for a woman and a man. Some sword fighting methods utilize a Male and Female (in harmonious interaction) and this pair (under a skillful pair) is difficult to beat. Warmest Regards, Cecil

Dear Anon, As there are many Chinese, there are many points of view. The Chrysanthemum plant phonetically called `Ju' or sounds like the number 9 in Mandarin. 9 is represented by Autumn or the 9th month. This plant is thus an `autumn' plant. I guess some people would not like having `autumn' but rather `spring or summer' plants. I believe to some of these people, autumn is like `sun set' or closer to winter. While spring and summer is bright and `alive'. Warmest Regards, Cecil

Dear Anon, It is quite expensive to change doors and windows every year. Unless they are made of material that has a high wear and tear and need replacement yearly. You will be surprised to learn that not many Chinese know the art of Feng Shui especially the Flying Star Theory. In the past, there is a veil of secrecy in Feng Shui. One Chinese Emperor also planted falsehood in Feng Shui for fear that others use it also. It was said that this Emperor kept the real `secrets' of Feng Shui and planted falsehood. This is why, till this day, it is said that not all Feng Shui theories are 100 percent applicable. We must therefore, sieve out the not workable from what is relevant today. Warmest Regards, Cecil

Dear Elena, If you have not stayed at the house yet, you can get the contractor to paint the entire house. The `worse' effect is if one digs the ground at the Tai Sui's current location or knocks down the wall at the location. This is the main concerned as compared to painting the wall. I would go ahead to paint the entire house but (out of Chinese custom) avoid being at the location when the house/that sector has been painted. Warmest Regards, Cecil

Dear Anon, 1. It is more important to find out how long one spents time at that location. 2. Usually, a protruding corner can easily be solved in the living room by adjusting the furniture. So long as one avoids sitting at the location of the pointed arrow, this would suffice. 3. For the bedroom this is harder to avoid especially if one has a small room or have built in furniture. Ideally, it is best to avoid having poison arrows in the first place. I guess no one would like to if they can avoid, poison arrows aimed at their bed. If possible the poison arrow should not be aimed at the bed or part of the body. 4. As for plants i.e. artifical plants, in my opinion, after looking at the situtation for a long time, would at this point in time say that it is really no harm using artificial plants rather than live plants. One has to weigh priorities i.e. which is the worse of the two. To have a poison arrow aimed at the bed or to make the room more `yang' using say real plants. It is questionable (in my opinion) for now that artificial plants can equate real plants. Warmest Regards, Cecil

Dear Anon, Let me share with you some interesting events: 1. Our first forum was started on 6 June 1997 using a third party hosted forum. I remembered that was only once, when someone posted an advertisement in the forum. A user responded " Hey!, we are here to learn ... " Suprisingly, there was not a single flame for this forum! Only the above advertising Spam. 2. The second forum was hosted by me on my website but the software was cumbersome and not user friendly like this one. I recalled: not a single flame or spam occurred under this forum. 3. This forum which was started on 31 December 1998 till this day had only one `flame'. Before, this `flame' I had earlier discussed on the fear of a `flame' and true enough it occurred. 4. I guess you can say that we are lucky not to suffer the fate of so many other forums. I also personally believe that partial responsibility lies with the moderators of the forum. Some moderators may be `weak' and unable to lead their forums properly. 5. Rest assured that the chat room we operate is for members of www.geomancy-forum.com only. Although it is hard to monitor or control flames or spam, I believe, with good management and support (plus peer pressure), it can be successful. Surprisingly, even when we moderate the forum, there is no flame or spam. The reason for doing so is because, there are now a total of more than 8,000 forum members and we cannot afford anyone to spam our users. We will certainly work the chat room later on. Many Thanks to everyone who have contributed to such a wonderful learning experience. I am glad that many users have come to share not only their problems but bring better insights into how applied Feng Shui can be applied. Warmest Regards, Cecil

Enclosed please find two porcelain plates with figurines of Chinese ladies. In the first picture (court ladies), can you spot the lady at the centre with a fan.

In an urban city even in Singapore, it is difficult to find bamboo trees growing. So I took a picture from my collection of Chinese porcelain plate of a Panda with baby surrounded by bamboo trees. The reason why bamboo are not grown is because it needs lots of maintenance and they grow very fast. `Chopping' the plant can be `quite messy'.

This Bank in Singapore has two towers. = If you notice carefully in the picture, it does not aim poison arrow to itself but to neighbouring buildings. Its a case of poison arrows for `others' and not for self.

Enclosed please find various views of the still uncompleted One Fullerton building. Poll answers will be posted at a later date.

Dear Elena, Thanks for bring up the Chat feature. 1. So far this forum has been progressing very well with more and more users joining the forum. 2. There is a Chat Online feature (located in the above `black' frame next to the "Mark All Read".) 3. The best way to chat is to set an agreed time e.g. GMT xx.xx for users to participate online on certain dates. For now, it is more fruitful to leave messages and reply to them first. 4. Robert is currently busy moving our servers progressively to the larger site. The next shift involves the report management or www.geomancy.online.com which will be on a faster and bigger bandwidth server. As many users are located in the US, our servers at the US will provide much faster response than down here in Singapore. 5. Once everything is ok around February, you will get to see more participation from him. Here, we can organise chats at specific timing. At the moment, the forum and members (especially those listening in has grown and grown). We will at the same time continue to improve on all areas. Looking forward to serving you better! Warmest Regards, Cecil

Dear Users, Some users are `confused' because they read somewhere that instead of using Red string with 6 coins, the recommendation was to use 6 coins with e.g. salt water. What is the rationale of using Red string with 6 coins and not 6 coins with water:- Metal in Water, will result in Metal being absorbed to create water, ending up losing the Metal as a controlling element. And the strengthened Water is not really going to be effective in controlling by controlling Fire, because the Strong Earth #2 & #5 is not at all being controlled. Red String helps to control 6 coins, because 6 is already strong plus being metal themselves, so need a little control, it will not affect or activate the Earth, simply because there is a very strong Metal influence. If you noticed, Fire-Earth-Metal (Triple combinations). Where Fire creates Earth, and yet destroy some Metal, while Earth produce Metal and yet destroy Water. This creates a harmony cycle which is what most cures should eventually do. Create a balance. Warmest Regards, Cecil Copyright (C) Geomancy.net - Cross posted from another forum --

Bamboo is again featured very prominently in this picture: 1. Bamboo plants are featured prominently in the background of this picture. 2. The old man uses the bamboo to fish. The act of catching the fish symbolises the usefulness of the bamboo. No wonder, why the Chinese `love' bamboo. Many homes used to hang out their clothes on bamboo poles. Again, with a little imagination, you can see so many uses of bamboo. Warmest Regards, Cecil

This is an old auspicious Chinese picture: 1. The Eight Immortals on top of the picture. 2. At the center of the picture is the Chinese Character `Fu' or Prosperity / Wealth. `Fu' is the same Fu as found in the Fu Lu Shou (Prosperity, Luck and Longevity). Warmest Regards, Cecil

Dear Anon, Like the Western astrology, Chinese has a long history of Chinese astrology. Feng Shui is more earthly based while Chinese astrology is based more of `heavens' and stars. For example, Animal sign/planet Rat = Jupiter Ox = Saturn Rabbit = Uranus etc... As mentioned in the Photo Tours of interest, star constellations are vital part of Chinese Astrology. In addition, with so many Chinese `gods' and Chinese look up to the sky (Heaven) and pray to the `stars' which "Heaven" is at. The agenda or `terms of reference' of this website is focus more on Feng Shui rather than Chinese Astrology. Warmest Regards, Cecil

Dear Anon, There is a saying that Chinese eat anything with four legs. (And more!) The more expensive delicacies are: 1. abalone 2. broiled sharks fins 3. drunken prawns (life prawns placed in a covered bowl and VSOP poured into it. The prawns got `drunk' in the VSOP). 4. Scallops (at one time) 5. Oysters. (more Westernized Chinese) 6. Peking duck lots more.... Exotic dishes that combined various goodies include " Buddha Jumps over the Wall", suckling pig and lots lots more. Warmest Regards, Cecil

Dear Anon, Yes, two doors facing each other is not as good for relationships. Here, I must emphasis that of relationship. In our practical world, there is really not much one can avoid such situations. Anyway, most of the time, these are not your relatives and you can still `control' the situation without using "Feng Shui". In the past, I related the case of a Singapore public flat. Both doors are facing each other directly. Here, one owner, placed a Ba Gua mirror above his front door. The neighour had `no choice' but to counter-act this by placing a Feng Shui mirror. If you look at it, this is a lose-lose situation and not a win-win situation. I have also done Feng Shui audit of several Private Housing. I was `shocked' to find that even private condominium called Parkview, at Bukit Batok has flats not only with two doors facing each other but so close! The two doors are barely 1 metre away from each other. Can one therefore use things like a windchime etc... We have to be practical in such situations. More important concerns are those where there is a much greater threat such as poison arrows. It is important to weigh the priorites and not consider `perfection'. Warmest Regards, Cecil

Dear Elena, Today, I would view, the flooring with a `different' view. In my opinion, I view flooring in relation to the Yin and Yang rather than the element of a person. 1. Preference would be for lighter coloured tiles than dark coloured tiles. Especially if the house does not get enough lighting. My view has `differed' in this view point that instead of looking at the elements and relating it to the persons, (5 elements), I go one higher to the Yin and Yang. The rationale is that it is more important to keep the house, `bright' especially the living room. For the bedroom paquet or wooden flooring is acceptable, which makes it dark (for some room) but in fact, creates a more Yin environment. In my present understanding is that it is very hard to relate the flooring to a whole family. It is really difficult. Therefore, you can say that, my point of view, here has somewhat changed. I keep on thinking about this issue and still feel that the easiest way to `tackle' floor is what I have mentioned above. Some Feng Shui practitioners may still pay emphasis on the `flooring'. But again, I feel that it is hard to apply it as we live in a real world and this is not an academic excercise. Hope that helps. Cecil

Attached please find a can label showing the Ma Ling Branch Bamboo Shoots. Please note that bamboo shoots should not be eaten alone but rather like rice, it tends to absorb the flavor of other ingredients. (In my opinion, eaten alone it is quite tasteless.)

More ancient Chinese bamboo pictures.

Bamboo is commonly drawn as a picture in a Chinese calligraphy painting. Picture below shows a Scholar's `auspicious' couplet.