78
star or a god shrine decorated with 'prayer flags' (). All these have the power to protect the occupants.
Also, just inside the front door of the flat, the electric light, symbolising the sun, is always switched on. Dark rooms oppress. Brightness stimulates chi and transforms yin to yang. A chandelier can distribute chi around a room. Conversely, a room cluttered with objects will obstruct the flow of chi.
The flat in this case study faces Victoria Peak, which towers over Tai Ping Shan (Hill of Great Peace) District. The flat also faces (approximately) 'compass south'. Fung shui south, namely 'Red-bird Aspect' (a Chinese constellation in the southern sky), is not always true south. An old Chinese proverb states:
Even with 1,000 taels of gold, it is not easy to buy a house facing south.
It is believed by many that houses, temples, graves, and the Emperor on his throne should all face sunny south (Tatlow, 1993: 9). The south is pure, auspicious, and warm. In short, it is yang. With the south-westerly monsoon (actually, it mostly blows from the south-east, the direction that most typhoons come from) blowing in the summer, and the north-easterly monsoon in the winter, no one quarrels with this assumption. A flat facing south is thus warmer in winter and cooler in summer. This helps promote harmony among family members. Some Chinese believe people living on the south side of a building have better chi than those living on the north side. The latter are said to be less intelligent, less successful, and lack the vitality of their neighbours who live facing 'sunny south'. For a person who was born during the cold of winter, it is even more important for him or her to live in a building facing the warm spirits of the south (Tatlow, 1993: 9).
But, having said all that, it must be pointed out that in the Sha Tin district, in Hong Kong's New Territories, out of 60 villages or hamlets, only two or three face due south. Facing south is more important in the north, where bitterly cold winds blow, than in the sub-tropics, where other factors, such as the back-up of a mountain or copse, may have to be considered.