SOCIAL RESEARCH IN THE N.T. OF HONG KONG, 1963 223
scientists or technicians. From this view of fung shui there follow two consequences. One is that geomancers are held in an esteem not shared by other practitioners of Chinese religion. They are gentlemen, unlike priests (naam moh lo), spirit mediums, and Buddhists who perform ordinary rites for laymen, for these, whatever the need for their services, are looked down upon as being, in a sense, unclean. Some geomancers are in fact gentlemen in a very specific sense: they do not make their living by their craft, but practice it as a learned hobby (albeit a rewarded one on occasion). The Colony is the home of many weekend geomancers. It is highly respectable to be a fung shui sin shaang and it is a matter for pride to be known to seek their company and profit by their learning. The second consequence is that a Chinese may cease to believe in and practise his traditional religion without abandoning his faith in geomancy. Be he Christian or atheist, fung shui retains for him its meaning and its appeal. (I am not asserting, of course, that geomancy is in fact compatible with Christianity or atheism; my point is that many Chinese Christians think that their religion does not bar faith in fung shui; and I daresay, although I have not discussed the matter with one of them, that Chinese atheists would deny that geomancy is anything with which their lack of religion could conflict). Geomancy is 'science' for those who would have it so. The Administration, to my knowledge, has had to contend with fung shui objections by Christians and presumably also by atheists.
55. Fung shui is primarily concerned with siting graves and houses. But not all graves and houses are geomantically placed. Fung shui is a preoccupation with success, and since an appetite for success must be stimulated by a taste of it, those who lack hope are not involved in geomantic striving. Fung shui is not for the very poor. It is when a man begins to think of the possibility of increased success for himself and his issue, a measure of prosperity already having been achieved, that he takes to a concern with geomancy. And those who are fully successful cannot afford to ignore the need to ensure their continuing prosperity by taking geomantic precautions. Underlying fung shui is a fundamental assumption of Chinese society: all men (that is, all Chinese who are fully accepted within society) are in principle equal and may legitimately strive to improve their station in life. The peasant in his cottage has as much right to hope for advancement as the mandarin in his yamen or, to take a more contemporary example.
SOCIAL RESEARCH IN THE N.T. OF HONG KONG, 1963 223
scientists or technicians. From this view of fung shui there follow two consequences. One is that geomancers are held in an esteem not shared by other practitioners of Chinese religion. They are gentlemen, unlike priests (naam moh lo), spirit mediums, and Bud- dhists who perform ordinary rites for laymen, for these, whatever the need for their services, are looked down upon as being, in a sense, unclean. Some geomancers are in fact gentlemen in a very specific sense: they do not make their living by their craft, but practice it as a learned hobby (albeit a rewarded one on occasion). The Colony is the home of many weekend geomancers. It is highly respectable to be a fung shui sin shaang and it is a matter for pride to be known to seek their company and profit by their learning. The second consequence is that a Chinese may cease to believe in and practise his traditional religion without abandoning bis faith in geomancy. Be he Christian or atheist, fung shui retains for him its meaning and its appeal. (I am not asserting, of course, that geo- mancy is in fact compatible with Christianity or atheism; my point is that many Chinese Christians think that their religion does not bar faith in fung shui; and I daresay, although I have not discussed the matter with one of them, that Chinese atheists would deny that geomancy is anything with which their lack of religion could con- flict). Geomancy is 'science' for those who would have it so. The Administration, to my knowledge, has had to contend with fung shui objections by Christians and presumably also by atheists.
55. Fung shui is primarily concerned with siting graves and houses. But not all graves and houses are geomantically placed. Fung shui is a preoccupation with success, and since an appetite for success must be stimulated by a taste of it, those who lack hope are not involved in geomantic striving. Fung shui is not for the very poor. It is when a man begins to think of the possibility of increas- ed success for himself and his issue, a measure of prosperity already having been achieved, that he takes to a concern with geomancy. And those who are fully successful cannot afford to ignore the need to ensure their continuing prosperity by taking geomantic precautions. Underlying fung shui is a fundamental assumption of Chinese society: all men (that is, all Chinese who are fully accepted within society) are in principle equal and may legitimately strive to improve their station in life. The peasant in his cottage has as much right to hope for advancement as the mandarin in his yamen or, to take a more contemporary example.
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