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What is Phong Thuy? In Vietnamese, the word Phong stands for wind, and the word Thuy stands for water. Wind and water are natural forces of life. In short, phong thuy is the relationship of life forces in our everyday life. Before we get into detail about phong thuy, let’s examine some fundamental principles, on which the science of Phong Thuy is based.
The Five Elements:
Before modern science’s naming of the different elements found on earth, early scholars classified earth’s maters into five categories: earth, metal, water, plant, and fire. Their reasoning is as follows:
Earth gives life to Metal: metal objects were made from molten earth materials
Metal gives life to Water: when heated, metal turns into liquid form
Water gives life to Plant: plant relies on water for nutrients and photosynthesis
Plant gives life to Fire: most fire comes from natural plant materials
Fire gives life to Earth: after burning, most materials turn into ashes and earth
Since that time, modern scientists have come up with various methods of classifying earth’s elements. In addition, numerous questions and doubts were raised as to the validity of the original philosophy. For instance, one can burn things without the use of fire or natural wood products. Metals don’t melt down to be water. And lastly, when things are burned, the only mater that’s left is hydrocarbon after evaporation, not earth or ashes. As modern Phong Thuy practitioners, we can only accept the fact that there are always exceptions to the rules. The key to Phong Thuy is not to find complexities amongst things but rather to find harmonious explanations! Thus, understanding the relationship of the five elements and how they interact is the key to mastering the art of Phong Thuy.
Harmony and Balance:
Balance is governed by laws of nature. The following is the fundamental presentation of balance in Phong Thuy. Balance can be explained in with the symbol of Bat Quai (Sacred Octagon). Situated on each side of the octagon, three horizontal stripes are systematically divided into broken lines and solid lines; each has its own sacred meaning and symbolism. Keep in mind that there are several major schools of Phong Thuy out there. There’s one school that believes that the water element always dominate the front of any edifice. There’s also another school that believes the forces of nature is governed by magnetic pulls of the earth: North, South, East, and West. I belong to the later school of thought.
Directions and Elements:
Each of the eight directions has its own elements and representations:
Directions Elements Representation
North: Water Career, status, upward mobility, work environment…
Northeast: Earth Knowledge, schooling, academic success…
East: Plant Health, family relationship, harmony in the home…
Southeast: Plant Wealth, fortune, prosperity, luck…
South: Fire Fame, recognition, visibility, achievement….
Southwest: Earth Love, romance, marriage…
West: Metal Ingenuity, creation, children rearing…
Northwest: Metal Spiritual guidance, supporter, followers…
To practice Phong Thuy, one can take an area of land and divide the area into eight directions. This can be done by standing in the middle of the area and using a compass to make a mental note of the appropriate directions. In more practically sense, one can also divide a house, an office, a bedroom, or even a table into eight directions. Just keep in mind that balance must be uphold. The existence of one element must be countered by other elements. Too much of one element is equally bad. For example, in a house, if there were too many plants in the Southeast corner, then knowledge, health, fame, and love would suffer. Furthermore, if elements are misplaced, balance is also affected. For instance, if water is found in the Southwest corner, then that would be weakened the earth element, which, in turn, makes spiritual guidance, creativity, fame, and fortune more pronounced. In this case, love would suffer.
Phong Thuy & Dragonfish (arowanas):
Based on the representation above, there are only three places where one can place water: North, East, and Southeast. Depending on what one wants to improve in one’s life, these areas can be improved by the use of pictures or paintings of waterfalls, fishponds, lakes, oceans, and aquariums.
For Phong Thuy reasons, aquarists have been known to raise goldfish, koi, gouramis, and arowanas. When raising goldfish, hobbyists tend to keep eight red and one black. The black one is used to balance the “good luck,” as too much luck is equally bad. As many hobbyists can only afford one and/or arowanas tend to fight each other if kept in groups of less than five, many hobbyists end up having one to a tank. For some hobbyists who don’t have financial constraints, super reds and Malaysian crossbacks have been known to be raised in groups of eight or nine. It is quite a sight!
Remarks:
Phong Thuy is by far more complex and more complicated than presented here. The purpose of this article is to share with hobbyists how to incorporate arowana keeping with the popular beliefs in Phong Thuy. Should you have questions or concerns about this article, please reply to trevorbui@hotmail.com. We look forward to providing hobbyists with more useful Phong Thuy tips periodically. Happy arowana keeping!
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