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MAURICE FREEDMAN
tance was put up by the Administration to geomantic objections to plans for development. Reporting on the first phase of British rule Orme wrote that fung shui objections had been made to the proposed routes of the railway and roads, 'but it is characteristic of the Chinese folk that their superstitious fears have always yielded ultimately to the needs of a progressive age.' (Report on the New Territories, 1899-1912, p. 47). But as long as the Administration wishes to honour its undertaking to respect local beliefs and customs the formula it has arrived at seems to be the most sensible that could be devised. It appears to strike the right compromise between intransigence and complete passivity.
69. I come now to the price the Administration must pay. If fung shui is detrimentally disturbed not only may compensation be demanded but a ritual remedy may be sought which often takes the form of a tun fu, a series of rites to prevent misfortune. Fung shui, as I have argued, is a kind of 'science', its principles working automatically and without the agency of anthropomorphic supernatural entities. But some fung shui, even undisturbed, give off a malign influence, a Killing Breath (shaat hei) for which the remedy cannot be sought within fung shui itself. Rites become necessary. They call upon supernatural beings (as opposed to forces) and, characteristically, require the services of men who, being 'priests' and not, so to say, scientific technicians, stand in contrast to geomancers. In reality, the contrast is imperfect, for some geomancers do apparently undertake to perform tun fu, but the 'pure' fung shui sin shaang will not meddle with such things, saying that a Deadly Breath will never emanate from a properly constructed fung shui and that the remedy for a disturbed one is the province of religious practitioners from whom he is careful to dissociate himself. Tun fu are typically performed by maam moh lo, although other kinds of ritual specialists may also be involved; there is a spirit-medium in the Tai Po area who has performed these rites. Tun fu (or tan fu, as it is called in some places; there are some linguistic and ethnographic questions I cannot discuss here) invokes a range of deities, general and local, to counteract the malignancy and ensure peace. Among these deities some will decide that the work falls within their province and take appropriate action. Tun fu by one rite imposes a special religious embargo on the action of the evil influences and by another removes the embargo when peace and security seems to have been assured. The Administration and others
234
MAURICE FREEDMAN
tance was put up by the Administration to geomantic objections to plans for development. Reporting on the first phase of British rule Orme wrote that fung shui objections had been made to the pro- posed routes of the railway and roads, 'but it is characteristic of the Chinese folk that their superstitious fears have always yielded ultimately to the needs of a progressive age.'-Report on the New Territories, 1899-1912, p. 47). But as long as the Administration wishes to honour its undertaking to respect local beliefs and cus- toms the formula it has arrived at seems to be the most sensible that could be devised. It appears to strike the right compromise between intransigence and complete passivity.
69. I come now to the price the Administration must pay. If fung shui is detrimentally disturbed not only may compensation be de- manded but a ritual remedy may be sought which often takes the form of a tun fu, a series of rites to prevent misfortune. Fung shui, as I have argued, is a kind of 'science', its principles working auto- matically and without the agency of anthropomorphic supernatural entities. But some fung shui, even undisturbed, give off a malign influence, a Killing Breath (shaat hei) for which the remedy cannot be sought within fung shui itself. Rites become necessary. They call upon supernatural beings (as opposed to forces) and, charac- teristically, require the services of men who, being 'priests' and not, so to say, scientific technicians, stand in contrast to geomancers. In reality, the contrast is imperfect, for some geomancers do appa- rently undertake to perform tun fu, but the 'pure' fung shui sin shaang will not meddle with such things, saying that a Deadly Breath will never emanate from a properly constructed fung shui and that the remedy for a disturbed one is the province of religious practitioners from whom he is careful to dissociate himself. Tun fu are typically performed by maam moh lo, although other kinds of ritual specialists may also be involved; there is a spirit-medium in the Tai Po area who has performed these rites. Tun fu (or tan fu, as it is called in some places; there are some linguistic and ethno- graphic questions I cannot discuss here) invokes a range of deities, general and local, to counteract the malignancy and ensure peace. Among these deities some will decide that the work falls within their province and take appropriate action. Tun fu by one rite imposes a special religious embargo on the action of the evil in- fluences and by another removes the embargo when peace and security seems to have been assured. The Administration and others
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