Two schools of thought

> In classical feng shui, the San He and San Yuan styles share similar principles and theories but differ in their focus

THERE are two distinct major styles in classical feng shui. One is called San He (which translates to ‘Three Harmonies’ or ‘Three Combinations’, depending on the translator), while the other is San Yuan (which simply means ‘Three Cycles’).

While both share a common set of principles and theories, San He is about form, while San Yuan focuses on time.

The San He’s approach is also known as Xing Fa (Method of Form), and focuses on the land and its contours, shape and size of mountains nearby, the flow and direction of the rivers as well as the appearance of these features.

On the other hand, the San Yuan’s approach is also known as Li Qi (Calculation of Li), and emphasises on the influence of different types of qi, and their quality that changes with time.

In San Yuan, qi is dynamic, but a certain pattern of changes over time makes it possible to know where the auspicious qi is, and allows you to update your feng shui accordingly to stay on the right side of good qi.

Both schools recognise that qi changes over time.

While the San Yuan school tries its best to adapt to this everchanging qi, the San He school on the other hand tries to insulate itself and to outlive unfavourable qi cycles by selecting superior land forms.

As directions are important to both approaches, a feng shui compass, or loupan, is required.

However, under the San He and San Yuan umbrella, there are many other minor schools, with the most well-known San Yuan school being the Xuan Kong Fei Xing, or the Flying Star school.

Both San He and San Yuan have extensive ‘secret’ formulas to assess formations for good and bad luck in the area of wealth, relationships and health.

I use the word ‘secret’ in inverted commas because while these formulas were likely secret in the old days, these days you can find them with a simple Google search!

Here, I will attempt to show you the difference between the two approaches, and share with you two ‘secret’ formulas used in the San He and San Yuan schools respectively.