Mr. Zi Wei Yang and the Resurgence of Feng Shui

Fengshui is an ancient Chinese tradition of placement in the universe which is designed to create balance within the self. The theory is that by placing certain articles in specific places within the home, the spirit of the person who lives there will be more balanced and will be more likely to achieve a feeling of inner peace. The four corners of a square room are each given a color designation (green, red, white, and dark) which is used to represent the four directions. These also have an animal symbol. Placement of certain items in the correct corner will lead to the intended balance (Brunn 48). Under the Communist rule of China following the middle of the 20th century, the idea of fengshui was suppressed for being emblematic of what was perceived as outdated spirituality and superstition. However, in Hong Kong, then a location which was under the control of British imperialist rule began to emerge a resurgence in the popularity of fengshui. Among the individuals who were trying to revitalize the practice was Yang Jun Ze. In the 1980s while working at Ming Pao Newspaper, Yang wrote articles which brought fengshui back to the mainstream.

Since the colonization of Hong Kong by China, there has been little published disharmony, at least in comparison with that of when Great Britain was in control of the location. Part of this is that the Chinese government is far more secretive and the Communist regime is far less likely to allow any negative information to be released to the media (Lee 333). By contrast, when Hong Kong was under control of Great Britain, the Chinese were far more willing to let unkind information out and would encourage, publish, and exploit the negative attitudes of the people to their colonizers.

One of the primary reasons that fengshui was able to transform from a national heritage to a larger worldwide practice was because of the articles that were written by Yang for Ming Pao Newspaper. In the article "Constructing a Transnational Multilocal Sense of Belonging," the author Hau Ling Chen states that when those from Hong Kong, China immigrated to Canada, they brought with them the circulation of their local newspaper. Locally the city of Vancouver became known as Hongcouver because of the vast amounts of Chinese immigrants living in the area who would circulate the issues of this particular newspaper (Chen 149). Besides allowing the Chinese immigrants to continue to participate in their own culture by circulating the newspaper, the popularization of the paper allowed the culture of that region to spread into the majority Canadian culture as well.