THE PREMISEFeng Shui is an ancient Chinese art that has been practised for thousands of years. It is based on idea that there should be a "balance" or harmony in world. Everything around us has its proper place. If something is out of place and balance is disturbed, this disruption can materialize as a feeling of uneasiness in people around it, or as violence or lack of prosperity in area.
Feng Shui, in all its various forms, acts to restore that balance and harmony. This balance can be in difference ways, such as health, prosperity, wealth and love. And a lot of it really works. The cities of Hong Kong and Singapore are prosperous capitals compared to their neighbors because they are located in places where Feng Shui is perfect for a bustling metropolis. Even house of Bill Gates, richest man in world, is said to be located in perfect location in hills to bring its owner great wealth.
But why does Feng Shui not work for some people? In order to answer that, we need to look at its history.
THE HISTORY
Feng Shui originated from ancient China, a land that developed other skills and arts such as medicine, martial arts and origins of chemical warfare. The knowledge of these skills were highly priced, and masters of these skills understandably did not want their secrets to be known to others, for fear that knowledge could be used for wrong purposes, or that masters would lose their status and prestige once knowledge became commonplace.
It is therefore expected that masters might not have handed down all of their knowledge to their students. These students might have compiled whatever knowledge they had, and guessed remainder that they did not learn from masters. Some of these students were geniuses, able to replicate miracles their masters had performed. Others were not so skilled, but used whatever knowledge they had to make a living for themselves. This scenario, when applied to Feng Shui, explains various schools of Feng Shui that exist today. Some schools do work wonders, but there are also those that produce very little tangible effect.