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Fengshui was introduced to Okinawa, Japan, then the Ryukyu Kingdom, at the end of the 14th Century by Chinese immigrants. Fengshui has had a profound influence on the settlement of the landscape, cemetery construction, landscape tree planting, and forestry management. The essential concept of fengshui in the Ryukyu Islands is hougo (抱護), literally meaning “embraced protection.” Consequently, fengshui practice, which is adaptive to the severe nature of winter winds and summer typhoons in the Ryukyu Islands, utilizes tree planting to achieve an ideal environment. This presentation highlights the conservation and maintenance of old-growth trees within a homestead, which depend on both natural and human factors.
Video of Bixia Chen's presentation on 01/15/19 at East-West Center:
Bixia Chen is an Associate Professor at the Faculty of Agriculture, University of the Ryukyus in Okinawa, Japan. She has been working on the fengshui village landscape and fengshui trees in Okinawa from a comparative perspective with the other regions in Asia. Prior to joining the University of the Ryukyus, she worked as lead researcher of Globally Important Agricultural Heritage Systems (GIAHS) initiated by the Food and Agriculture Organization. Her current work focuses on the inventory of remnant fengshui trees on small islands of the Ryukyu Archipelagos, and conservation strategy for traditional village landscapes and old growth trees on the islands.
Fengshui was introduced to Okinawa, Japan, then the Ryukyu Kingdom, at the end of the 14th Century by Chinese immigrants. Fengshui has had a profound influence on the settlement of the landscape, cemetery construction, landscape tree planting, and forestry management. The essential concept of fengshui in the Ryukyu Islands is hougo (抱護), literally meaning “embraced protection.” Consequently, fengshui practice, which is adaptive to the severe nature of winter winds and summer typhoons in the Ryukyu Islands, utilizes tree planting to achieve an ideal environment. This presentation highlights the conservation and maintenance of old-growth trees within a homestead, which depend on both natural and human factors.
Video of Bixia Chen's presentation on 01/15/19 at East-West Center:
Bixia Chen is an Associate Professor at the Faculty of Agriculture, University of the Ryukyus in Okinawa, Japan. She has been working on the fengshui village landscape and fengshui trees in Okinawa from a comparative perspective with the other regions in Asia. Prior to joining the University of the Ryukyus, she worked as lead researcher of Globally Important Agricultural Heritage Systems (GIAHS) initiated by the Food and Agriculture Organization. Her current work focuses on the inventory of remnant fengshui trees on small islands of the Ryukyu Archipelagos, and conservation strategy for traditional village landscapes and old growth trees on the islands.
