bank of China Hong Kong
When it comes to theories and pieces of self professed wisdom, the feng shui theorist and enthusiast have no equal. Armed with logic and quotes, they will argue till the cows come. Even when the cows are cosily snuggled in, they will still not rest.
Hong Kong is the bedrock of feng shui. They are the epitome of the materialist crowd and what provide better fodder for dream chasers than feng shui! When the Bank of China was built, tongues went a wagging. Officially opened on May17, 1990, it at that time was one of the few buildings to break the 1000 feet mark. No doubt it is now dwarfed by the likes of the Petronas Tower, 101 and that one in Dubai, it is still a good example of feng shui tenets.
The story goes that the designer bypassed feng shui consultation. As an architectural showpiece it was certainly awesome. It had sharp edges, amplified by the modern building material of glass. All this gave power to its killing ‘sha’, acting like a sharp cleaver devastating all and sundry around it. Up to one point, it was blamed for the onslaught of economic disasters that plagued Hong Kong.
It had water features but they were against feng shui principles, being placed at the west and northwest. This placement was claimed to weaken the building and amplified the bad shape of the building. From the shape and the bad water placement, it was enthused as a good place for those who were into shady business.
Bank of China Water Feature
The casualty seemed to be the Government house right across it. The governor passed away a short time after its opening, another was fired and yet another caused many problems. Its first governor, Tung Chee Hwa apparently noted its bad feng shui and refused to live in it. Hind sight shows he outlasted his predecessors.
Bank of China Front View
By coincidence or chance, the fate of the tower apparently improved after some remake was done to it. Its front was planted with trees to soften its killing effect. Awnings were used at the rear as a holding feature with water features placed at the sides to channel the energy to the front.
This book is a translation of a text by FengShui Master Jiang Da Hong (ca1640) with my explanations and comments. The root text is a section on yang dwellings from his book “5 Songs of the Heavenly Principles”.
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