26th to 27th October 2007 (Friday to Saturday)
Wei Hing Theatre, City University of Hong Kong, Tat Chee Avenue, Kowloon, Hong Kong
Chief Organizers
Asian Institute of Intelligent Buildings (AIIB)
Building Services Operation and Maintenance Executives Society (BSOMES)
Co-organizer
Department of Building & Construction, City University of Hong Kong
Programme Highlights
Culture is one important issue addressed by Asian Institute of Intelligent Buildings, in particular, within the Intelligent Building Index. Chinese and western cultures have paid a great attention to the harmony between the human beings and our surrounding environment, the natural environment in ancient time and the built environment in modern time. Modern architecture very much concerns the harmony between the natural & built environments as well, or in other words, the buildings and the landscape. In ancient China, this study was called Feng Shui. In this third event, we have got a main theme. The emphasis is on applications to achieve sustainability and operability. As with last years, we shall have internationally distinguished and renowned environmental scientists, architects and Feng Shui researchers to share with you their knowledge and experiences in these areas, from North and South America, Europe, Australia and Asia. For the guided Feng Shui Tour, our participants were brought up to the Peak last year and we are going to visit heritage villages in the New Territories this year. Once again, you are reminded the main concept of our function. Scientific Feng Shui has two meanings, namely the verification of Feng Shui principles scientifically or studying Feng Shui logically in a scientific way. Let’s come together to make full use of our environment to achieve what we can achieve as available from the nature.
Supporting Organizations:
Programme Rundown
25th October, 2007 (Thursday)
6:00 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. Tea Gathering for Speakers and Invited Guests
7:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. Introductory Workshop by Michael Mak and Howard Choy
Basic understanding of the fundamental principles and schools of thoughts in Feng Shui as well as terminology being used in the conference
26th October, 2007 (Friday) Day 1
8:30 a.m. Reception
9:00 a.m. Introduction by Chairman of Organizing Committee
9:05 a.m. Welcome Speech by President of AIIB
9:10 a.m. Welcome Speech by President of BSOMES
9:15 a.m. Welcome Speech by Head of Department of Building and Construction,
City University of Hong Kong
Morning Session 1 Chairman: Mr. P.C. Lau
9:20 a.m. Tracing Rational Aspects of Feng Shui
Keynote Speech by Prof. Hong-key Yoon (New Zealand)
Feng Shui or Chinese geomancy is thought to have originated from the Loess Plateau of North China. The basic principles of finding an auspicious place is closely related to early Chinese loess cave-dwellings and reflect the cave-dwellers’ learning from the local environment. A number of rational aspects of Feng Shui principles can be traced from the followings:
· The basic landform requirements in Feng Shui of a background hill and watercourse reflect the early loess cave-dwellers’ practical consideration of ideal dwelling sites.
· The geomantic condition of a gentle slope for a house section and the choice of house plants reflects house builders’ rational thinking.
· The concept of the environmental energy (qi) cycle seems to have originated from early Chinese Feng Shui principles .
· Treating mountain ranges as ‘Chinese dragons’ led to the development of unique geomancy maps.
10:30 a.m. Morning Tea Break
Morning Session 2 Chairman: Ir. K.F. Yee
11:00 a.m. The Core Principles of Feng Shui
Speaker: Howard Choy (Australia)
The increasing corruption of Feng Shui in modern times is partly due to the practitioners moving away or forgetting the basics of the art and science of Feng Shui. By examining what are the core principles, we can work towards establishing a set of guidelines for the sound practice of Feng Shui and to arrest the corruption and the danger of Feng Shui becoming a real superstition.
There are many references by modern scholars and experts on the subject, such as Prof. Wang Yude of Huazhong Normal University in Wuhan, who wrote the notes on "the Basic Principles of the Art of Kanyu" and Master Li Ding-Xin's article "How to Tell the True Teachings of Yang Jun-Song", in which they sited the Classics for the correct practice of Feng Shui. The paper will attempt to examine some of these citations for a preliminary investigation of what constituted the core principles of Feng Shui.
11:30 a.m. VASTU-SHASTRA:
CLIMATE-ORIENTED SUSTAINABLE DESIGN SOLUTIONS
Speaker: Anubhuti Thakur, and Vanita Bhatia (USA)
Vastu-shastra is the ancient Indian science of architecture and design. It may be said to be the Indian equivalent of Feng Shui; sharing beliefs, ideologies, and the ultimate goal to channel positive energies in nature to achieve better and more fulfilling living environments for human beings.
In essence, this paper will discuss the concepts of Vastu-shastra and their application in today’s climate-oriented sustainable solutions. The location of rooms, as directed by the Vastupurusha mandala, and its logical translation to creating spaces that work in synergy with nature will be explored.
12:00 p.m. An assessment into the basics of
Eight Mansions Feng Shui Theory
Speaker: Fook Tsan Wong (Malaysia)
The paper analyses and reviews the basic principles of Eight Mansions FengShui Theory from various perspectives. The analysis is based on the tabulations of full cycle faith gua calculations and concluded that the distribution of faith gua is not logically represented. Auspicious and inauspicious directions in the Eight Mansions are permanently fixed and not vary with time, instead of Eight Mansions; only six mansions are able to apply. These inconsistencies render the theory questionable. The paper concludes that, it is not advisable to apply this Eight Mansions Theory without modification. This fact should be made known and be a serious discussion among Feng Shui practitioners.
12:30p.m. Lunch
Afternoon Session I Chairman: Mr. Ricky Chan
2:00 p.m. OBSERVATIONS LINKING MEGALITHIC MONUMENTS TO
THE CHINESE LUOPAN
Keynote Speech by Derek Walters (Britain)
Remains of stone circles and alignments, the purpose of which remains largely obscure, are found in northern latitudes scattered over an area stretching for more than 10,000 km from Ireland to China, the most familiar of these megalithic monuments and the one most comprehensively investigated being Stonehenge in England. Despite the vast distances between the monuments many share similar distinctive features, one of which is the alignment to the North-East, the direction which in Chinese folklore tradition is known as the ‘Ghost Gate.’ There are other unexpected parallels between the layout of some of these megaliths, such as Stonehenge in England and Khorats Karer in Armenia, and the shi, the ancestor of the Chinese Geomantic Compass or Luopan.
3:00 p.m. spatial perception in feng shui
Speaker: Gyda Anders (Germany)
The Chinese thinking underlies a holistic process-related principle, of the Dao, the way of practicability. The principle of Dao and the theory about Qi on a building practise will be examined. In particular, the way of life caused an accordant perception of space will be focused. Space being perceived by its atmosphere and by the movement through this space, and subtle guided in a way of self-so being the way to experience the space. The impact, the effect a building, a garden, a town or a monastery or so have on us is created by the interaction and interchange of emptiness and fullness or solidity; by developing and disappearing forms and varying configurations. The capacity to change presumes that the repletion is never complete. This paper concluded that Feng Shui provides principles, devices and methods to express, realise, manifest to a certain degree for these holistic process-related principles.
3:30 p.m. Afternoon Tea Break
Afternoon Session 2 Chairman: Mr. Howard Choy
4:00 p.m. SUSTAINABLE FENGSHUI ECO-HOUSE
Speaker: Kok Hoo Loo (Malaysia)
The paper compares the basic concepts in Feng Shui and Ecology and attempts to develop a set of principles applying in the design of houses that are open planned, flexible, sustainable, self-help and conforming to the principles of Feng Shui. Western concept of ecology deals with harmonious relationship between man and nature. However, the ancient Chinese culture constantly seeking a harmonious relationship between Heaven, Earth and Man. These principles are manifested in the philosophies of Confucianism, Taoism, and Buddhism. The “Heaven” dimension deals with the influence of attractive forces of planets to man renders a more holistic approach to our built environment. Feng Shui is a tool that captures, translates and transforms these principles into physical forms and hence our built environment. This paper evaluates different Feng Shui theories and practices, and condenses the principles into a set of parameters that are able to integrate fengshui with ecology elements applicable in the modern context – the Feng Shui House.
4:30 p.m. Functions of THE Xuan Kong Da Gua Method
Speaker: Marcos S. Murakami and Renata M. Dumont
Da Gua reveals the evolutions of heaven’s order (represented by Xian Tian Ba Gua – Early Heaven sequence) into Di Qi qualities (Earth energy standardized by Luo Shu – Magic Square). It is a unique study to accompany the evolution of a country, city, or the impact of urban planning. It is also useful in analyzing the main access or entrances of great areas, such as farms and malls. Great Portal techniques can also be used for constructions (Yang Zhai analysis), although it is important to remember that this school is based on the “Heaven on Earth” advanced methodology. Therefore, it adopts 64 Hexagrams instead of the 8 Trigrams sectors, all interpretations being far beyond the direct relationship between Hou Tian Ba Gua (Later Heaven sequence) and Luo Shu used in Fei Xing or Ba Zhai systems.
5:00 p.m. Closing Speech of Day 1 by Technical Committee Chairman
6:30 p.m. Gala Dinner (Speakers and invited guests)
27th October, 2007 (Saturday) Day 2
9:00 a.m. Reception
9:30 a.m. Introduction by Chairman of Organizing Committee
Morning Session Chairman: Dr. Albert So
9:35 a.m. Feng shui design of ming and ching – city of beijing
Keynote Speech by Michael Chiang (Hong Kong)
Michael Chiang is a distinguished scholar in Chinese architecture and garden designs. He is especially accomplished in the ancient science of Feng Shui and its application in architectural designs. Michael has written and practiced widely on this particular subject.
10:30 a.m. Morning Tea Break
11:00 a.m. A Study on the Ryukyu Islands Feng Shui Village Landscape
Speaker: Bixia Chen, Yuei Nakama and Genji Kurima (Japan)
In a Ryukyu Feng Shui village, a forest belt, known as village Ho:go, was planted to curve in the front and extend to the east and the west to embrace the village along with preserved forest on the rear hill. Fukugi tree (Garcinia subelliptica) lines were planted to embrace the houses. Compared to the symbolic existence of Feng Shui trees in China and other regions in East Asia, tree planting on a larger scale was used as a practical means to repair defective topography with little protection from the strict natural condition in flat islands. This paper focus the study on the features of village layout and forest composition in the front forest belt, embracing habitat trees and forest on the back hill. Garcinia subelliptica and Calophyllum inophyllum were the predominant species in the upper storey in the forest belt. A large number of species were also found in the under storey vegetation in the preserved forest. Thus, the Ryukyu Island pattern Feng Shui landscape is an ideal landscape that embodies a pleasant habitat, as well as functions to conserve biodiversity and environment in island topography.
11:30 a.m. Development of Scientific Research in Feng Shui
Speaker: Michael Mak (Australia) and Albert So (Hong Kong)
Feng Shui is a body of ancient Chinese knowledge that aims at creating a harmony between environment, buildings and people. It has influenced most traditional building design in China for thousands of years. Nowadays, as many advance countries seek to establish a deeper understandings of these relationships between the human and natural environments, architects begin to recognize that Feng Shui as a broad ecologically and architecturally connected paradigm. However, the development of Feng Shui principles and practices are complicated and there is little research into the application of Feng Shui knowledge to the built environment and architectural design. This paper reviews contemporary studies of Feng Shui by both Chinese and westerners, and in particular investigates the past, present and future development of scientific research in Feng Shui.
12:00 p.m. Closing Speech by Chairman of Executive Committee, AIIB
12:10 p.m. Lunch
2:00 p.m. Feng Shui Study Tour – Feng shui villages of hong kong
Depart City University of Hong Kong
5:00 p.m. End of Feng Shui Study Tour and return to City University of Hong Kong
Language of Presentation
The official language of the conference is English
Supporting Organizations:
Construction Industry Institute, Hong Kong
Good Feng Shui Geomantic Research
Hong Kong Institute of Facility Management
Hong Kong Institution of Engineers Building Services Division
IFMA Hong Kong Chapter
Interior Design Association Hong Kong
The Chartered Institution of Building Services Engineers-HKB
The Hong Kong Institute of Architects
The Hong Kong Institute of Housing
The Hong Kong Institute of Real Estate Administration
The Hong Kong Institute of Surveyors
Registration Details
Registration
To register, please complete the reply slip and return it with your cross cheque or bank draft payable to “Asian Institute of Intelligent Buildings Limited” to Department of Building & Construction, City University of Hong Kong, Tat Chee Avenue, Kowloon Tong, Attention: Dr. Albert So (Feng Shui Conference) on or before 5 October 2007
Cancellation Policy
Full payment will be required to guarantee the booking. Should you be unable to attend, a substitute or replacement may be made at any time. Alternatively, we will make a refund less 10% services charge for cancellation received in writing 30 days before the event. We will refund 50% of the fee and send to you the conference materials for cancellation received in writing 7 days before the event. We regret that no refund will be made for cancellation received less than 7 days before the event.