Word: shui
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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...computer-store manager keeping accounts with an abacus. Hong Kong's skyline bespeaks the sterile utility of modern commercial architecture, yet few of the colony's real estate developers would pick up a shovel before consulting a geomancer to site the building according to the rules of feng shui, meaning "wind and water" and envisioning a felicitous balance of place and design...
...James Morris into Jan Morris). It is worth noting that when she writes about the "architectural hodgepodge" and "irresistible activity" of Hong Kong, she does so as a visitor, not as a permanent resident. Home base is a quiet village in Wales where, one can reasonably assume, the feng shui has been good for centuries...
Alluding to the sometimes bizarre recommendations of feng shui masters, an ancient Chinese proverb states, "If you invite a geomancer into your house, you may as well start packing to move now." Hong Kong's Exchange Square building has managed to remain on its site -- with a few strategic revisions. During his survey, Feng Shui Master Chung Ying-Mei decreed that the structure's base must form a U shape, which he claimed was much more receptive to the good fortune emanating from the bay. Architect Remo Riva complied. Says Riva: "He said we should also put up an antenna...
Labor relations are heavily dependent on feng shui. "If we didn't go along with the local staff's beliefs, they might just decide to stay at home one day," says Michael Mathews, vice president of the international sales and marketing division for Hong Kong's glittering Regent Hotel. In the Regent's case, the feng shui master recommended that the hotel set up a panoramic picture window facing Hong Kong Harbor to allow the nine dragons who live nearby to have access to their favorite bathing spot on the bay. Dragons, it seems, do not know...
Though the location of Peking itself was fixed by classic feng shui masters of the 13th century, the Chinese Communists have condemned the art as "superstition," severely limiting its practice on the mainland. That may yet undermine China's attempt to assimilate the capitalist spirits of Hong Kong, which is scheduled to come under Peking's control in 1997. Thus local businessmen and ordinary citizens regard the Bank of China's feng shui dilemma with a polite silence, avoiding any embarrassment to the People's Republic. Meanwhile, as work proceeds on the unlucky building, the Communists have refrained from commenting...