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One of my (few) forays into the land of television is a design show called Love It or List It. It is actually a real estate show. One member of the two-person team, Hilary, is in charge of renovating a house for a family, while the other, David, tries to convince the family that their house cannot be salvaged (the way they want it) and they are better off finding a new home.
I often agree with the designer Hilary. Many of these homes are nice, some even great. They may have some idiosyncrasies, but what home doesn't? Often, the cost of renovating/refurbishing is much less then buying a new home. And often, the type of home David finds for them, that they can afford, is of a lower value and quality than the home they hope to leave.
Recently there was a Chinese couple which gave both Hilary and David a difficult time (to say the least). Both Hilary and David worked in a spectacularly creative fashion to give this couple exactly what they wanted: a home that followed all the rules and regulations of Feng Shui, with only a little over budget.
As I watched the show, I began to get the impression that many of these requirements are arbitrary and superstitious (and superstitions is up there with arbitrariness).
I cannot find the video, but here is a link which describes some of their "requirements."
Helen and Andrew Yee have lived in their large suburban home for 15 years. It was perfect when they bought it because it followed the Feng Shui principles of good energy flow. But the good energy came to a halt when the 3 kids came along highlighting a lack of bathrooms, poor sightlines, and an 80's main floor. Helen loves her house and wants to fix it, but Andrew wants a larger home and wants to move on. Will Hilary's renovations be able to wow this family into staying or will David take them away to a larger home that meets all the Feng Shui criteria?The show was excruciating. Hilary came up with some good designs, and David found great houses for good deals. But, each effort was not good enough. Or there wasn't enough money to pay for the exact requirements.
From the quote above, and from watching the show, the decisions of this family was clearly not a Feng Shui thing, but based much more on what they wanted. They even got a non-English-speaking, Chinese mother-in-law to give her expert advice. She moved her hands around to show her displeasure or demands, but it wasn't clear what she wanted, or if it corresponded with what the couple was asking for.
So superstition, layered on top of fantasy demands, made this show a study in impossible clients. If I were part of it, I would have found a quick way out. "Find your own Feng Shui," I would have said - politely, of course. "Or go back to China where you can find a whole country revolving around Feng and Shui."
The other interesting thing about this couple is that they both had perfect, Canadian English (the program is a Canadian show). This means that they either were born here, or moved to Canada as very young children. "What do they really know about Feng Shui?" was my first question. My second observation was that Chinese families, even two or three generations down, don't really change. Or they accommodate their new surroundings to fit their cultural and belief systems.
So much for an integrated, multi-culti society, with people from the far concerns of the world calling themselves "Canadian" yet having no desire to fit into Canada's traditions, or any real desire to know much about them, and who will keep on propagating their own alien worlds. And the nice, pleasant and accommodating Hilary and David (how Canadian!) let them!
So back to my questions from the list above:
- What does a lack of bathrooms because of a growing family have to do with Feng Shui?
- How could the house have "good energy" when they first bought it, but no longer does.
- How did they not notice the non-fengshuiness of the staircase, the husband's office, the children's bedrooms sans bathrooms, etc., when they first bought the house?
- Why did the kitchen no longer had bad Feng Shui after Hilary gave them a beautifully remodeled kitchen, with a modern stove and appliances, without changing the "fire shouldn't be beside water" criteria?
- Why did they agree on the origninal plans (albeit on paper), but made a fuss when they saw the changes (as above)? Can they not read plans?
- With all the demands they made, how cannot they understand the very high costs they incurred?
- Etc.
Here is an interesting blog, where the writer returned from a trip to China, and found it full of superstitions. Here is one comment he makes:
A lot of the superstitions centre around wealth and the desire to make money.
This weird animal thing is a Pixiu. It is a Chinese mythical hybrid creature resembling a winged lion.
It likes to eat gold and silver. Unfortunately for the animal, it doesn’t have an anus. So what it eats stays inside (I’m not sure why it can’t throw up).
This is great for humans. If they have a Pixiu it will bring wealth to the owner that cannot escape...
Our guide informed us that they are a gambler’s favourite lucky charm. And you can’t just own one. You have to make it yours. You have to perform a ceremony. She informed us (in all seriousness) that once purchased you have to soak it in warm water for 10 minutes (to wake it up?) and then take it out and look into it’s eyes. Then it becomes your Pixiu and will help you win lots of money when you go to the bookies.
Yes, once an inanimate piece of stone has been carved into a Pixiu shape by someone and then “trained” by the owner, it will make the owner rich.
It is a well known fact that all bookies in China are broke as every gambler owns a Pixiu and they just keep winning. ;)...
And, of course, the ultimate superstition: Feng Shui. Even the skyscrapers are designed with Feng Shui in mind...
The building [below] must be positioned so that it has water in front of it (for food) and a mountain behind it (for protection). But then how will the dragon that lives in the mountain go about it’s business if you put a big building in front of it? Simple. Put a big hole in your big building for it to fly through.