Living in harmony
Feng shui seminar to be held Saturday [3/8/08] in Diamond Bar

Written and originally published by City News March 7, 2008

By Imani Tate
Staff Writer

   When grandmaster Chi-Jen Liu strolled around their Taipei, Taiwan neighborhood and noted the harmony and discord emanating from each house to 8-year-old daughter Jenny, it reminded her of a passionate persuasion in a past life.
   "I feel this is my karma, something I've done before and came back to continue," said Jenny Liu, the feng shui master who will conduct a free workshop at 3 p.m. Saturday [3/8/08] at the Diamond Bar library.
   The workshop is relevant for ethnically diverse residents seeking harmony and balance in their homes and offices, said administrative librarian Irene Wang.
   Young Jenny even viewed stars differently, seeing them as more than bright orbs of light to wish upon and sensing their astrological connections to universal purposes and conversations. She later learned they could also reveal people's life stories when used to develop natal, or birth, charts.
A fourth generation feng shui master with her sister, Julie, Jenny marvelled at her father's accuracy with the charts.
   "My father can tell you your life story based on your chart. People would be laughing because they couldn't believe he could know so much about them and not know them personally. If it was not a good chart, he'd bring out the tissue box and put it in front of the person," she recalled. "He'd say, `he's going to cry.'"'
   Grandmaster Liu, Jenny and Julie worked independently until 2007 when they incorporated Liu Feng Shui as a family operation. The grandmaster's youngest daughter, Linda, is the graphic artist designing art for the business brochures and books. His wife, Mariana, provides moral support for them all.
"Feng shui is very old country," said Grandmaster Liu

about the practice which began thousands of years ago in China's Han dynasty.
   It was initially restricted to royal families choosing burial sites to sustain and release DNA energy to descendants, he added.
   Practiced primarily by Chinese, its influence has gradually expanded to the West with the re-opening of mainland China and significant migrations of Chinese to the United States, he said. Some aspects of feng shui are similar to cultural practices of ancient Africans in Egypt, the Aztecs and Mayans, Jenny added.
   Noting the need to make it more palpable to Westerners, the grandmaster adapted new language incorporating scientific, psychological and parapsychological terms to create a "grand view feng shui culture."
   He proudly admitted he was pleased when Jenny followed in his footsteps.
   "Jenny is a genius," he boasted. "She's in high demand. She uses her knowledge and experience to read people, create their charts and indicate how they can resolve issues with feng shui principles."
   Liu explains feng shui to novices simply, patiently and without condescension, no matter how basic the inquiry.
   "In a nutshell, feng shui uses the laws of nature to create environments promoting well-being and believes everything is connected. In Chinese, the philosophy is chi or life's essence," she said.
   Chi is the energy in everything and everyone and the five senses of sight, hearing, smell, taste and touch react to it, she noted. "For instance, if a house smells musty and dank, it influences your physical and mental well-being," Liu opined.
   Personal charts can be developed from the month, day, year and time of one's birth. These charts can identify one's cardinal or best direction for his bed or desk, complimentary colors and things conducive to personal

health and happiness.
   Energy or chi can be categorized into five elements: fire, wood, Earth, metal and water. These respectively correspond to the human heart and blood circulation system; the liver which detoxifies the body; the stomach and digestive system; the lungs and respiratory system and the kidneys.
   When positive, the elements create cycles of generation. Cycles of control represent negative energy. Feng shui masters consider energy and elements, furniture and accessories, colors and artifacts to promote peace and prosperity in homes and offices, Liu said.

   When the Lius re-designed a Hacienda Heights' McDonald's restaurant, its business doubled within a month, a phenomenon that earned broadcast features in America, China and Hong Kong.
   The Liu family custom designed their home to collect and distribute positive energy. Aerially viewed, the Arcadia house is in the shape of a turtle which symbolizes longevity, stability and wisdom. Everything inside attracts and reflects positive energy.
   "Positive symbols stimulate your subconscious," said. Liu.
   She applies spiritual and feng shui principles to her undergraduate degree in

environmental design from UC Berkeley and master's in architecture from UCLA to create positive personal and professional spaces and structures. She wants architecture to be both functional and considerate of the people living and working in buildings.
   Great-grandfather Hong Liu began the family feng shui legacy in the mid-1800s in mainland China. The second grandmaster, Jenny's grandfather, went by two names, Liu Shi Wu and Shao Jiang. Chi-Jen Liu, the third generation grandmaster, transported his feng shui expertise to Taiwan and, in 1977, to California.