Feng Shui (Pronounced as fung-schway)
In the book called Feng Shui by Ernest J. Eitel, on the question: What is Feng Shui? He wrote (back in 1970s): Sinologue looked through the Chinese Classics for an answer to this question, searched through their Dictionaries, and found none. Merchants asked their compradors and houseboys, what is Feng Shui? But the replies they got were rather obscure and confused, and at best they were told, that Feng Shui means "wind and water", and is so called, "because it's a thing like wind, which you cannot comprehend, and like water, which you cannot grasp.'
To get you going, I have reproduced several definitions below:
Eva Wong called it as "The traditional Chinese art and science of living in harmony with the environment."
Raymond Lo said: "It is a unique subject in Chinese metaphysic dealing with the influence of the environment on human fortune. Literally, feng, means wind or air and shui means water. The study of feng-shui is the study of environmental influences on human lifeˇKˇK.. The Chinese believe that if everything is placed in accordance with feng shui principles, we can create a healthy, prosperous and harmonious environment and improve our quality of life.'
Larry Sang said: "It is a natural science which theorizes that the environment is considered an integral element in the art of living. Based on the interactions among the movements of the orbiting planets of the solar system (heaven), living environment (earth), and one's birth date (individual), Feng Shui is a unique system that mathematically devises the most favourable direction for one's living quarter and work place."
Elizabeth Moran said in her book that it is a system based on keen observation of heavenly (time) and earthly (interior and exterior space) forces and how the qi of each interact. It is a practice of balancing these factors.
Stephen Skinner has described Feng Shui as: "The art of living in harmony with the land, and deriving the greatest benefit, peace and prosperity from being in the right place at the right time."
Ernst Borschmann regarded Feng Shui as "the relations to the surrounding nature, the influence of the landscape on the beauty of the buildings and the happiness of the inhabitants"
Another writer said FS is "The art of adapting the residences of the living and the dead so as to co-operate and harmonize with the local currents of the cosmic breath."
Dr. J J M de Groot called it a quasi-scientific system, supposed to teach men where and how to build graves, temples and dwellings, in order that the dead, the gods and the living may be located therein exclusively, or as far as possible, under the auspicious influences of Nature."
John Michell suggested that: The art of perceiving the subtle energies that animate nature and the landscape, and the science of reconciling the best interests of the living earth with those of its inhabitants.
Joseph Needham in `Science and Civilization in China' concisely described the function of FS as: "Every place had its special topographical which modified the local influence of the various qi (energies) of Nature. The forms of hills and the directions of watercourses, being the outcome of the moulding influences of winds and waters, were the most important, but, in addition, the heights and forms of building, and the directions of roads and bridges, were potent factors.
This view is also shared by Raymond Lo, in that he has said that: "In a much broader sense, shui has a wider applications and also embraces physical circumstances, including mountains and landscape. In modern cities, it also refers to roads, streets, flyovers, building - the concrete jungle. SO Shui embraces the tangible, physical environment. Feng is harder to explain. It does not merely refer to wind and air but also to something abstract and intangible. It is some invisible force which the naked eye cannot see. Hence the study of feng shui is the study of environmental influences on human life. Such influences are divided into 2 categories - 'the tangible, physical environment and the intangible invisible forces.'