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In its strict forms, fung shui does not involve the presence of a deity but in the rural villages in the New Territories, especially in the Hakka villages, a belief in fung shui is intimately interwoven with an older animistic belief in earth gods and tree spirits. Fung shui is intimately interwoven with the Tao and is an aspect of popular Chinese belief systems,
The comments and examples given in this account are taken from a doctoral thesis in social forestry carried out by the author on fung shui woods in the New Territories from 1990 to 1994 (Webb, 1995b). The study identified 337 fung shui woods in the New Territories from air photographs, examined the botanical composition of 60 woods, and carried out in-depth interviews with village representatives in 20 villages to determine how villagers used and perceived their woods today.
Of great importance to the fung shui of a village are the shrines to the village spirits and earth gods. The earth gods have the generic name poo sat (good spirit), but may also have their own local names. For example, the earth god's name at the Tai Wong shrine of Ma Mat Wai near Fanling is 'Hin Tan'. The earth gods are territorial because they are thought of as spirits of the locality (genii loci) in which their shrine is situated. They are typically located by a large boulder or venerable banyan tree. The earth god, in its various forms, is seen as the presiding deity of the village, its protector and arbiter of disputes. Villagers will make offerings to them in return for favours at specific times (Burkhardt, 1958)
The earth gods may also be known generically as Tai Wong (great king) and Paak Kung (paternal great uncle), and are associated with shrines also bearing these names. At first sight and without local knowledge, it is often difficult to distinguish the two, but generally the former type of shrine is the more elaborate. The wealthier the village the more elaborate is the shrine, but no study has yet been done on styles of shrine in the New Territories. Just as village houses were constructed by travelling groups of masons (Hase, 1992), so village shrines may also have been built in the same manner, so that within any one district the shrines may display the same style of design.
A Tai Wong shrine may have its own stone or cement platform with a similar "armchair" shape to that seen in the layout of traditional graves. On the altar, the focus of the shrine, often a special stone or inscribed plaque, may be provided with a roof. To one side of the shrine there may