Into the Fire: Fengshui Master Lee Shing Chak Teaches Us How to Make Most of the Coming Decades

As we step into a new era, feng shui master Lee Shing Chak tells Prestige how the coming two decades will look like for Hong Kong.

The ancient art of feng shui may not be something many of us think about these days, but as it’s existed for thousands of years its relevance to Chinese culture is undeniable. And for master of the art Lee Shing Chak, feng shui formed a significant part of his life as early as he can remember. 

“Both my grandfather and my father were feng shui masters, and my father started talking to me about it at quite an early age,” he says. “It wasn’t until I was nine or 10 years old that I really started paying attention and trying
to learn feng shui properly. I remember a lot of people would come to see my father when I was a child, and I’d be very curious about what they came for. And as they might also be TV stars or celebrities, I’d eavesdrop on their conversation.”

Despite the iNFLuence of his family Lee followed his own path, studying design throughout his Education. It was only after his father’s death that he decided to follow in the family footsteps and devote his full attention to feng shui.

“To be honest, when I first started going down this path, I didn’t think it would lead anywhere,” he says. “I didn’t think many people were thriving – or even surviving – as feng shui masters. And despite feng shui being a very significant part of Chinese culture, I also felt as if society wouldn’t accept me, because it contradicts science. This spurred me to thinking about how to blend the two fields together and take an alternative approach to feng shui.”

Looking around, he quickly realised many practitioners were from an older generation, often in their sixties or seventies, and he understood the need to make feng shui relevant to younger people. So he began collaborating with various media platforms and even created his own periodical, in which he offered other contemporary feng shui masters an outlet to reach a wider audience. 

“Most people nowadays don’t understand Chinese metaphysics,” Lee explains. “It involves 10 elements: life, luck, feng shui, karma, academics, name, physical appearance, respect for the Gods, knowing the right people, and Health. In ancient China, metaphysics was considered on the same level as medicine, so if you were looking at the stars or a face or palm reading, you’d be shown the same respect as a doctor. It was all part of the Five Arts: Mountain, Destiny, Physical Inspection, Divination and Medicine. If you don’t understand this cultural tradition and our History, then it’s very hard for you to grasp Chinese metaphysics.

“I think we need to pay our respects to the knowledge and traditions of the generations before us before we can build on it for a newer and younger generation. That’s what I hope to achieve.”

Naturally I ask him what the coming years will look like for Hong Kong. This year marks a transition between something known as Periods, which together make up a Grand Cycle, and change is on the horizon. It’s important to learn and adapt during this phase, Lee says.

“2024 is the last Period of San Yuan Jiu Yun, the 180-year feng shui Grand Cycle,” he explains. “Anything we say, anything we do and whoever we are, given different dimensions, the good can become bad, and the bad can become good, so it’s necessary to understand the dimension we’re in. But how do we do that? Chinese tradition believes in cycles in nature, and in ancient times we looked at the Northern Star. Depending on where the constellation is aligned, we can figure out the four cardinal directions and sequence of the four associated seasons.

“We’d live according to these cycles like a calendar, and it wasn’t just us – the ancient Egyptians, Babylonians and Indians all followed their own systems. Eventually we all observed a Grand Cycle, when all nine planets in our solar system aligned, which happens around once every 180 years. Each Period, then, is roughly 20 years long and, depending on which segment we’re in, they can have different effects on various aspects of our lives, such as our fortune, careers and finances. They could even influence certain industries, economies and geographical locations.”

Lee explains that the eighth Period we’re leaving is characterised by the Earth element, and we’re now stepping to a 20-year Period characterised by Fire. This new element we’re associated with focuses on anything related to distance, whether it’s between people, things or places. 

“This means it brings good fortune to industries like transportation, web services and communications,” Lee says. “Some people consider this ninth Period to benefit virtuality, such as Web 3.0, blockchain and cryptocurrencies, because traditionally we’d burn joss paper and effigies for our departed loved ones, and that means our ancestors would receive them. Did they really receive them? No one can have concrete, physical proof, so that’s why fire can be interpreted as relating to virtuality. The Technology and digital sectors will definitely flourish during this Period, as well as renewable energies. On the other hand, there’ll be more wars and natural disasters, like forest fires and volcano eruptions. 

“The more of these issues you can address during this Period, the more success you’ll find within the next 20 years. Solving these problems is how one can become successful
in the Period of Fire.”