An Introduction to Feng Shui

Introduction to Religion

by Ole Bruun

Feng Shui has been known in the West for the last 150 years but has mostly been regarded as a primitive superstition. During the modern period successive regimes in China have suppressed its practice. However, in the last few decades Feng Shui has become a global spiritual movement with professional associations, thousands of titles published on the subject, countless websites devoted to it and millions of users. In this book Ole Bruun explains Feng Shui's Chinese origins and meanings as well as its more recent Western interpretations and global appeal. Unlike the abundance of popular manuals, his Introduction treats Chinese Feng Shui as an academic subject, bridging religion, history and sociology. Individual chapters explain the Chinese religious-philosophical background, Chinese uses in rural and urban areas, the history of Feng Shui's reinterpretation in the West, and environmental perspectives and other issues.

Genres: Religion, Architecture

220 pages, Paperback

First published October 1, 2008

Reviews

[WryPriest · Rating 4 out of 5]

Despite the title, Bruun's book is not the sort of introductory treatment of feng shui newcomers would likely expect or seek. The subject matter and topical discussion is a bit inconsistent, with some sociological/anthropological field studies left unclear as to their purpose for inclusion. Much better field work does exist in his subsequent book, 'Fengshui in China,' which examines the history, cultural crossover, modern legacies and often disappearances of feng shui in various regions and locales of early 2000s China.

Still, definitely some worthwhile stuff here for the western or English language student of feng shui and there aren't tons of academic works on the subject which are easily available in library systems or from book warehouse websites. The last chapters were surprisingly useful for English readers not familiar with the rather fractured and refracted transmissions (or invented transmissions) of feng shui schools and hybrid schools around the world and in the west (for example, westerners with their own modified or even invented(!) systems of feng shui which are completely removed from the standard classical systems in Asia today, nevermind their original application purposes).

The bibliography has also been a great resource for hunting down some less common or older or adjacent topical works on the subject from every kind of background and region of the world.

[Guini Mayse · Rating 4 out of 5]

Half of this book is historiography and but damn does it create a clear line of what feng shui is and how the west has twisted it.

[Xing Lan · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book is quite vague and discursive. It aims to provide a clear and fresh outlook regarding Feng Shui while it is away from this target. Generally speaking, the main drawback of this book lacks a proper framework. More exactly, too many topics make this book very crude. Also, the author needs more knowledge in the historical background concerning Feng Shui.