Feng Shui in Victoria, BC

According to Lai's article, it is strongly believed that there is an old Chinese cemetery within the city of Victoria, British Columbia. This cemetery has been relocated up to three times, and began its existence near Swan Lake. However, there are long-time residents of Swan Lake who insist that there has never been a Chinese cemetery located there. According to the minutes of a meeting held in 1902 there is proof that the Chinese Association did purchase property within the proximity of Swan Lake, but that the land remained vacant. Feng Shui, defined precisely means "wind and water," and contains all the elements of philosophy, religion, astrology, cosmology, mathematics, and geography.

Its main basis lies within the fear of forces of nature that cannot be understood or controlled. The Chinese believe that nature controls them. Thus, good Feng Shui means being in agreement with nature, and poor Feng Shui means the exact opposite. Furthermore, if the Chinese actually formed a cemetery near Swan Lake then the location would have to be accompanied by the elements of Feng Shui. There are four parameters involved in a perfect Feng Shui site. The first being that the tangible properties must be "smooth in forms and outlines." Secondly, complicated waterways, which are a symbol of fortune must be exposed, while unconnected rocks must be concealed by trees. The third of the parameters is connected to the idea that nature is a breathing organism. The two elements of Yang, the male energy, and Yin, the female energy, are also introduced within this parameter. The Yang is portrayed as a towering mountain and is represented as the "Azure Dragon." The Yin is portrayed as a depleted ridge, and is termed the "White Tiger." The final parameter is an incline where the male and female energies exist within their own particular high and low areas. Furthermore, these parameters were used within the search for the Chinese cemetery, which is believed to exist in a swamp-like area. This enabled the search to be concentrated within the northern part of Swan Lake. This also connected with the fact that in 1891 a portion of land was bought that included a part of land on the south side of Christmas Hill, which was within the points of Saanich Road and Douglas Street and thus was half a mile north of Swan Lake. Therefore, it is evident that the Chinese Association did purchase the land near Swan Lake with the intent of using it as a cemetery. However, it is obvious that this never occurred. Thus, there are two important suggestions that appeared during the search for the Chinese cemetery, which are the importance of Feng Shui in discovering the site, and secondly the usefulness of aerial photographs, both of which assisted in the search for the Victoria Chinese cemetery (Lai 506-513).

Works Cited

Lai, David. "A Feng Shui Model As A Location Index." Annals Of The Association Of

American Geographers 64 (December 1974):506-513.