Feng-shui has a legal status in China. When there is anywhere in China a dispute between people on the ground of alleged interference with and disturbance of the Feng-shui aspects of a grave or house, the judicial tribunals of China will entertain the claim, examine into its merits and decide the case on the presumption that Feng-shui is a reality and a truth, not a fiction. Feng-shui has even a political status in China. When a rebellion breaks out in any of the eighteen provinces, the first step invariably taken by the Government is not to raise troops, but to dispatch messengers instructed to find out the ancestral tombs of the several leaders of the rebellion, to open the tombs, scatter their contents and desecrate the graves in all possible ways. For this is supposed to be the surest means of injuring the prospects and marring the possible success of the rebels.

Again, when land had to be ceded to the hated foreigner up and down the China Coast, as a so-called foreign concession, the Chinese Government would invariably select a spot condemned by the best experts in Feng-shui as one that combined a deadly breath with all those indications of the compass which imply dire calamities upon all that settle down there and their children’s children. If the spot had not to be ceded by treaty, it would be pointed out to the unsuspecting foreigner as the only one open for sale, and anyhow the ignorant barbarian sceptic would become the supposed dupe and laughing-stock of the astute Chinaman.

Witness, for instance, the views held by intelligent Chinese with regard to the island of Sha-meen, the foreign concession, so to say, of Canton. It was originally a mud flat in the Canton river in the very worst position Feng-shui knows of. It was conceded to the imperious demand of the foreign powers as the best available place of residence for foreigners, and when it was found that the Canton trade, once so prodigious, would not revive, would not flourish there, in spite of all the efforts of its supporters–when it was discovered that every house built on Sha-meen was overrun as soon as built with white ants, boldly defying coal tar, carbolic acid and all other foreign appliances–when it was noticed that the English Consul, though having a special residence built for him there, would rather live two miles off in the protecting shadow of a Pagoda,–it was a clear triumph of Feng-shui and of Chinese statesmanship.

Powerful, however, as Feng-shui is, it is by no means an insuperable barrier to the introduction of foreign civilisation in China. For it possesses an extraordinary amount of flexibility. It may be turned and twisted by skilful manipulation to suit almost any combination of circumstances. The most calamitous formation of country, the most portentous accumulation of deadly breath or ill-starred influences can be rectified by skill and unsparing exertion, so that all evil influences are either fended off or turned into instruments of blessing. Money, therefore, will go a long way to remove obstacles or collisions with Feng-shui. But it is a dangerous weapon, and will, if once employed, call forth an endless array of claims for money to compensate Feng-shui damages.

 Feng Shui, or the Rudiments of Natural Science in China by Ernest J. Eitel [b. 1839, d. 1908] Hong Kong: Trubner & Co., [1873]

This article provides useful, detailed information about Birth Control.

Birth control or \”Contraception\” is a measure to prevent pregnancy. There are many methods used for birth control. Some methods work better than others.

When a couple plans to use birth control, the method that they choose depends on factors such as the mother\’s overall health, frequency of biological intercourse, how well the method works in preventing pregnancy, any possible side effects and the mother\’s comfort level in using the method.

The most effective birth control method is continuous abstinence that is, not having any type of intercourse. The next best is periodic abstinence or fertility awareness. A woman who has a regular menstrual cycle has about seven or more fertile days every month. In these days her chances of getting pregnant are greater than normal. Periodic abstinence means that the partners do not have sex on these days.

Another birth control method prevents the male sperm from fertilizing the female egg. These methods involve the use of condoms, diaphragms, or cervical caps.

Oral Contraceptives, also known as the pill, are taken daily and contain two hormones called estrogen and progestin. They block the release of eggs from the ovaries. Oral contraceptives may add to a woman\’s risk of heart disease, high blood pressure, blood clots and blockage of the arteries.

Another birth control method is the IUD (intrauterine device). An IUD is a small T – shaped device that is placed inside the female uterus. The device stops fertilization by preventing sperm from entering the uterus. Even if fertilization occurs, the IUD prevents the fertilized egg from implanting in the lining of the uterus.

There are other methods such as IUS, Depo-Provera injections, contraceptive sponges, The Patch (Ortho Evra), Hormonal Vaginal Contraceptive Rings (NuvaRing), surgical sterilization (tubal-ligation or vasectomy) and non-surgical sterilization (Essure Permanent Birth Control).

None of the above methods except abstinence are 100% effective. Doctors and nurses are the best professionals to consult on an appropriate birth control measure.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

In Feng-shui we have what may be called, from a Chinese point of view, a complete amalgamation of religion and science. Unfortunately, however, the religious element in Feng-shui was through the early disappearance of the ancient theism distorted into a form of gross superstition, half Tauistic, half Buddhistic, and what I have hitherto, by a stretch of charity, called Chinese physical science is, from a scientific point of view, but a conglomeration of rough guesses at nature, sublimated by fanciful play with puerile diagrams.

But however that may be, the fact remains nevertheless, that Feng-shui is at present a power in China. It is an essential part of ancestral worship, which national religion, neither Tauism nor Buddhism managed to deprive of its all-pervading influence. Feng-shui is, moreover, so engrafted upon Chinese social life, it has become so firmly intertwined with every possible event of domestic life (birth, marriage, housebuilding, funerals, etc.) that it cannot be uprooted without a complete overthrow and consequent re-organisation of all social forms and habits. The pious reverence which every Chinaman accords to whatever can claim the prestige of antiquity, is another element explaining the wide-spread influence of Feng-shui. Its origin can indeed be traced back, as I have shewn, to remote ages, but popular opinion connects the origin of Feng-shui with the ancient Hwang-ti, and looks upon this system as being as ancient as China itself. Another consideration gains for Feng-shui the respect and sympathy even of many educated and learned men. This is the fundamental connection in which Feng-shui boasts to stand with the scheme of diagrams, as laid down in the Yih-king, and the fact that the whole system of Feng-shui is in perfect unity with the vagaries of Tauists and Buddhists on the one hand and Choo-he’s modern philosophy on the other. Feng-shui is indeed the refined quintessence of Tauistic mysticism, Buddhistic fatalism and Choo-he’s materialism, and as such it commands if not the distinct approval yet the secret sympathy of every Chinaman, high or low.

Of course highly educated and particularly intelligent Confucianists will not acknowledge that they believe in the crude apocalyptic utterances of an ordinary geomancer, but within their own walls these same intellectual Confucianists will after all regulate every single domestic affair in strict accordance with the most approved canons of Feng-shui. Of course the Chinese Government, as such, will not acknowledge the catholicity and orthodoxy of Feng-shui, and yet it publishes year after year, with expressedly Imperial sanction, an almanac containing all the tables and data, references and diagrams, that a geomancer requires as a daily vade-mecum.

Feng Shui, or the Rudiments of Natural Science in China by Ernest J. Eitel [b. 1839, d. 1908] Hong Kong: Trubner & Co., [1873]

This article provides useful, detailed information about Birth Announcement.

When a baby is born, it\’s a matter of joy to the parents, grandparents and all their near and dear ones. A Birth announcement is one way of sharing the joy with the community.

Birth announcements come in many forms — printed text messages, photo messages, web pages or interactive blogs.

People who are conservative and traditional literally write their announcements by using pens or felt pens on glossy high quality paper. Some of them use hand drawn gorgeous and unique designs and a few photographs to go with the message. They fit this arrangement inside hand painted frames. Some prefer varnished wooden or gold plated metal frames. Others like colored ribbons to enhance the beauty of the announcement cards.

Some people develop their announcements using MS Word and computer graphics such as Word Art for message text. Lucida Console, Comic Sans and Monotype Corsiva are some of the popular fonts used. An increasing number of people prefer computer aided designs, multimedia web pages and blogs to tell the world that there infant has arrived.

It was not to long ago parents spent a lot of time preparing birth announcement cards. Today, birth announcement companies can help with all the preparations. Most of these companies have their own web site and parent and well wisher can go to the webpage, click the relevant link, get all the necessary information need to make an announcement card and place an order. The company will do the rest from design to hosting.

Birthday announcements can make the baby\’s special day a most memorable and cherished event.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

With the rise of the Tang dynasty (A.D. 618-905), which is famous for its revival of literature generally and of poetical literature especially, which had hundreds of Buddhistic works translated from Sanskrit into Chinese, a new era opened, particularly favourable to the propagation of mystic and fanciful doctrines assuming, as geomancy had learned to do, the garb of national as well as Tauistic and Buddhistic philosophy. The notion of five planets (Venus, Jupiter, Mercury, Mars, and Saturn) influencing the earth and every living being, made its first appearance about this time, and was eagerly taken hold of by the professors of Feng-shui. The above-mentioned “book of interment” became now a popular handbook, and various other books, among which the Han-lung-king (the canon on the art of rousing the dragon), the Ts’ing-nang-king (the canon of the green bag) and the E-lung-king (the canon on the doubtful dragon), are the most important. The Han-lung-king mentions also, in addition to the five planets, the above-mentioned nine stars, which some commentators refer to the constellation called bushel, whilst others explain them to be the seven stars of the Great Bear with two neighbouring stars, others again declaring them to be floating about in space. But the Han-lung-king bases on the influence of these stars a whole theory of selecting propitious sites for houses or tombs. The Ts’ing-nang-king opens with an exposition of the mystic properties of the combination of even and uneven numbers (1-6, 2-7, 3-8, 4-9, 5-10), and proceeds to lay down the rule, that everything in heaven has its counterpart (in corresponding numbers) on earth. The E-lung-king refers especially to those forms and outlines of nature where dragon and tiger do not prominently stand forth and are as it were concealed. The authorship of these three books is ascribed to Yang-kwan-tsung, who professed to be a disciple of Ko-po and who developed especially that part of the Feng-shui system which refers to the signs of dragon and tiger, to the direction and shape of watersheds and the influence of water-courses.

But it was not till the rise of the Sung dynasty (A.D. 960) that all the above-mentioned elements of the geomantic art gathered into one grand system, built up on a philosophical basis and developed methodically, so as to combine every form of influence which heaven may be said to exercise on earth and which both heaven and earth were supposed to have on human affairs. This system is in fact but a practical application of the materialistic speculations for which Chow-leen-k’e, Chang-ming-taou, the two brothers Ch’ing, and most especially the illustrious Choo-he gained such general acceptation, that their cosmogonic theory of the universe, their speculations concerning the Great Absolute, the male and female principles and the two-fold breath of nature as the prime agents of all physical phenomena, became the national faith of China. No wonder then the devotees of Feng-shui, wisely adopting all that was popular and attractive in this grand scheme of natural philosophy, and promulgating their fantastic geomantic speculations in accordance with the favourite terminology of Choo-he, came in for a share in that national favour and national popularity which the great philosophers of the Sung dynasty so justly obtained. A scholar called Wang-k’e was the chief representative of the Feng-shui profession at this time. He is assumed to be a disciple of Ko-po, and claims the credit of having invented the theory of the mutual production and destruction of the five elements. It was he that systematized, in the phraseology of the new philosophy, all the traditional ideas on geomancy and reorganized the Feng-shui art on the basis of Choo-he’s materialism.

At the present day the adherents of Feng-shui are divided into two classes or schools, the Tsung-miau (ancestral temple) school, which took its rise in Foh-kien, and the Kwang-si school. In the preceding chapters I have explained the more prominent theories which these schools have in common, and I have therefore merely to add, that these two schools are chiefly distinguished by the comparative prominence each gives to one or other of four divisions of the Feng-shui system. The Foh-kien school of geomancers, claiming Wang-k’e as their founder, attribute the greatest importance to the doctrines of the order of nature (Li) and of the numerical proportions of nature (Su). They are therefore specially attached to the use of the compass. The second school, called the Kwang-si school of geomancers, because it took its rise in the Kwang-si province, claim Yang-kwan-tsung as their founder, and lay the greatest stress on the doctrines of the breath (K’e) and outlines (Ying) of nature. They use the compass too, but only as a subordinate help in prospecting the country, for their principle is, first to look for the visible symptoms of dragon and tiger and of a good breath, and then to judge of the surrounding influences by consulting the compass.

These two schools have produced a very voluminous literature, which is, however, but an expansion of the above-mentioned ideas on the basis of the philosophy of Choo-he.

Having thus traced the history and literature of Feng-shui down to the present, it only remains for me to add a few words as to the extent of influence which this strange medley of superstition, ignorance and philosophy possesses at the present day.
Feng Shui, or the Rudiments of Natural Science in China by Ernest J. Eitel [b. 1839, d. 1908] Hong Kong: Trubner & Co., [1873] 

This article provides useful, detailed information about Birth.

The birth of an infant is a wonderful process. The process takes place in stages as described below.

By nature, the male organ ejects sperms and the female organ produces eggs. Ovulation is the release of an egg from the ovaries. Normally, in women who haven\’t reached menopause, ovaries release an egg once a month. This is known as ovulation. This egg travels through the fallopian tube toward the uterus. When the male sperm reaches the egg in the fallopian tube, fertilization occurs. The fertilized egg continues its movement towards the uterus, implants itself in the uterine wall and begins to develop into an embryo. Embryo is the earliest manifestation of all humans. The woman becomes pregnant, and it takes nearly 9 months, that is, three trimesters of 12 weeks, for the infant to be born.

Pregnancy causes a number of changes in a woman\’s body in the first trimester (0 to 12 weeks). The very first change is the absence of menstruation. Other symptoms include fatigue, nausea and vomiting and enlarging breasts. However, a woman having these symptoms isn\’t necessarily pregnant. The surest way to confirm pregnancy is a pregnancy test.

In the second (weeks 13 to 24) and third trimesters (weeks 25 to delivery), a woman may experience additional symptoms including an expanding abdomen, leg cramps, heartburn and hemorrhoids. These symptoms and changes are due to pregnancy hormones and the fetal growth. Although pregnancy involves a number of symptoms and changes in a woman, there is no way to predict which symptoms a woman will experience. Each pregnancy is different, even in the same woman.

By the end of the first trimester, the fetus is about three inches long and weighs about half an ounce. By the end of the third trimester, the fetus is about 20 inches long and weighs about seven pounds.

The best person to discuss the changes and symptoms associated with pregnancy is an obstetrician. The best source for further information on pregnancy is Planned Parenthood Federation of America. Its web address is www.plannedparenthood.org.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

The next period in the history of Feng-shui includes the time of the Three Kingdoms (A.D. 221-277) and that of the so-called Six Dynasties (A.D. 265-618). The influence which geomantic ideas obtained at the very beginning of this period is sufficiently illustrated by an incident related in the records of the first of those Three Kingdoms, the so-called Posterior Han dynasty (A.D. 221-263). It is reported, as a matter beyond dispute, that one Yuen-ngan, desirous to find, on the occasion of his father’s death, a suitable burial ground, went out to look for a place and happened to fall in with three learned men (adepts in the geomantic art), who pointed out a spot which, as they assured him, would secure for his family the highest official distinction and emoluments. He followed their advice, buried his father there, and, strange to say, soon after he was raised to a high office in the state, and his descendants continued for many generations to fill the highest and most remunerative posts in the service of the government. In that historical romance called the “Memoirs of the Three Kingdoms” occurs also a passage, which shows that in those early times geomancers had already learned to apply the four quadrants of the starry heavens, the azure dragon in the East, the sable warrior in the North, the white tiger in the West and the vermilion bird in the South, in order to express the varied influences which the twenty-eight constellations were supposed to exercise on the earth. Kwan-lu, it is said, approached the grave of Wu-k’iu-kien and exclaimed, “Behold the white tiger holding a corpse in his mouth, and the vermilion bird dissolved in grief.”

This reference to the twenty-eight constellations, which the Chinese, dropping the several names of the Nakchatras, borrowed from Hindoo astronomy, betrays already the rising influence of Buddhism. This foreign religion, officially recognized in China by one of the Han Emperors (A.D. 62), had been propagated for several centuries in different parts of China and slowly gained a foothold. But during the reign of the above-mentioned Six Dynasties, and especially in the course of the Tsin dynasty (A.D. 265-419), Buddhism became a power in the state, and gradually saturated the whole nation with its atheistic and fatalistic ideas. These doctrines naturally stimulated the progress and development of those geomantic vagaries, which had hitherto been wanting a centre and a rational basis on which they might be formed into a system. Buddhism, with its atheism, fatalism and its doctrine of the ceaseless rotation of cosmic destructions and re-constructions (Kalpas), supplied this want. Accordingly we find that Feng-shui received during this period, and especially under the Tsin dynasty, a new impetus, new allies, new expositors. A famous but somewhat mythical personage, Ko-po, is said to have collected all the ancient traditions concerning Feng-shui and published them in a book, still extant, the Tsang-shoo (book of interment), which is to the present day one of the principal sources of reference for the student of Feng-shui. Many geomancers call Ko-po the founder of modern Feng-shui, but they have no evidence to show in favour of this assertion beyond the simple fact, recorded in history, that Ko-po was an adept in geomancy and lived under the Tsin dynasty. Even the Tsang-shoo classic itself, which treats Feng-shui with special reference to the forms and outlines of nature, cannot be satisfactorily proved to have been written by Ko-po. For it is not mentioned in the catalogues of the literature produced during this period. The Tsang-shoo is first mentioned in the catalogue of the Tang dynasty (A.D. 618-905); but even here no author is assigned to it, no mention of Ko-po, to whom only the catalogue of the Sung dynasty (A.D. 960-1126) ascribes the authorship of this classic.

Still it remains more than probable that the Feng-shui superstitions received great attention and encouragement under the reign of the Six Dynasties. It is a significant fact that all the imperial annals of these several dynasties contain, among other subjects, separate chapters on felicitous geomantic influences. And history reports as a remarkable circumstance, that Wen-ti, the first Emperor of the Sui dynasty (A.D. 589) considered it worth his while to start an argument against the truth of Feng-shui. When he raised his standard, his enemies desecrated the tombs of his ancestors in order to bring upon him the calamities which Feng-shui teaches to be the natural consequence of a destroyed tomb; but notwithstanding this he succeeded in his endeavour to gain the throne, though he lost a brother on the battle-field. The words put into his mouth by the imperial historiographer of his dynasty are: “If the tombs of my ancestors are not in a felicitous (geomantic) position, why did I attain to the throne? but if their position is felicitous, why was my brother killed?” It was probably in consequence of this imperial dictum, that in after times the expositors of Feng-shui invented subtle theories, to explain how one and the same grave (or dwelling) might cause misfortunes to overtake one and showers of blessings to descend upon another member of the same family.

Feng Shui, or the Rudiments of Natural Science in China by Ernest J. Eitel [b. 1839, d. 1908] Hong Kong: Trubner & Co., [1873]

My husband and I had just begun to enjoy the freedom of an “empty nest” when my son moved back home with his Maltese. We greeted the little newcomer with a bit of skepticism–but in a very short time “P.J” took over not only our home, but our hearts.

When our son announced that he was moving back home to further his education, and that he was bringing P.J., his Maltese with him, my husband and I were somewhat apprehensive to say the least. First of all, we had never even seen a Maltese, and weren’t entirely sure that we even wanted to. Secondly, we thoroughly enjoyed our life as it was with the flexibility of coming and going whenever we wanted to. We also enjoyed the fact that we could have quiet time or go out for entertainment if and when we desired.

We knew things would change somewhat just by having our son home again, but between his working full time and going to school, we weren’t expecting to see much of him. So, what about the dog? If we didn’t see much of our son, neither would the dog see much of our son, which meant that my husband and I were soon to become a “threesome”. We decided we would tolerate the situation, knowing it was only temporary, but we were both already longing for assurance that we would have our previous flexible life back real soon.

Moving day soon arrived, and as the furniture and boxes were being moved in to the house, this inquisitive little fuzzy white dog with huge black eyes suddenly appeared, bounding in the door. She didn’t even acknowlege the fact that my husband and I were sitting on the couch, and instead began scurrying from room to room as if taking inventory of everything in site. She displayed absolutely no fear and one would never have suspected that this was her first trip to a house belonging to virtual strangers. When she completed her investigation, it was as if she gave everything her stamp of approval, jumped up into my lap, curled up, and promptly went to sleep. Little did I know that this was just the beginning of many curling up in the lap sessions.

That day, which was a little over three years ago, has certainly changed our lives, to say the least. Our car now has a doggie car seat prominately displayed in the backseat, and the car seldom leaves the driveway without P.J. happily perched inside. Our once orderly living room now has a large basket sitting there to hold the numerous dog toys and rawhide chews which are instead always scattered all over the house. There’s no such thing as an empty lap. P.J. not only thinks that all laps are “created equal”, but also that all laps are created for her. Both my husband and myself often find ourselves having complete conversations with….the dog. She’ll attentively sit there with her ears perked up listening to every word. She also loves to perch up on the back of the sofa and proudly announce the arrival of every bird, squirrel, dog, or person that does or does not come up to the door.

Yes, our lives have certainly changed. We no longer have the flexibility of coming and going whenever we want to. Our quiet haven is no more. In exchange we now have an adorable whimsical little companion who excitedly barks and wags her tail anytime either of us walks through the door. Our entertainment now consists of taking P.J. to the park or playing fetch, and our quiet time is holding this little ball of fur while she naps.

Our son has completed his schooling and is now moving on to a new phase of his life, but leaving P.J. with us. We of course are thrilled with this arrangement, and actually couldn’t imagine life without P.J. anymore. She has truly stolen our hearts with her Maltese Magic.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR