About

Fengshui, or “wind (and) water,” is a term for the ancient Chinese way of conceptualizing and regulating the flow of power through the landscape. Fengshui is a body of theory and practice that seeks to optimize the locations and site conditions of houses, temples, tombs, and settlements in order to harmonize the human realm with the natural and supernatural forces and agencies associated with nature and the cosmos (tian). Fengshui can be traced back to the early Han dynasty (202 BCE – 89 CE), when it was used in the construction of cities and palaces. Parallel with this “great” tradition are myriad rural folk practices that have both drawn from and informed fengshui doctrines passed down through texts. Because they are protected, fengshui groves are critical reservoirs for subtropical biological diversity.

While it is clear that fengshui forests are common in Hong Kong and in rural areas of Southeast China, there is a almost no research on the geographic distribution in southern and central China as a whole. This is largely because fengshui practices have long been questionable to the government. With the rise of the Chinese Communist Party, in 1949, official censure of fengshui became outright abolition; all practices encompassed within its broad fields of action were banned. In southwest Fujian (and in many other regions as well) fengshuilin were ruthlessly cleared simply so that timber could be extracted.

This documentary has three primary objectives: 1) to learn more about the general distribution of fengshuilin; 2) to gain a deeper understanding of the social and spatial relationships between village fengshui practice, other religious ritual practices, and fengshuilin management; and 3) to analyze why fengshui forests are located where they are in relation to the landscape and the built environment (houses, temples, earth god shrines, tombs, etc.), and how vegetation within the forests and groves is managed.

We will start the documentary in Hong Kong and southwest Fujian Province, with brief work in Jiangxi, and northern Guangdong. We will rely on interviews and field site visits to fengshuilin and other important sites with local peoples, forestry officials, and conservation workers. By interviewing elderly, middle-aged, and young people in both the “urban village” context of Hong Kong and the rural villages of interior southern China, we will learn as much as possible about generational differences in belief and practice; how fengshui and fengshuilin endured Maoist campaigns in China and industrial capitalist development in Hong Kong; how villages revived traditions during the Reform Period; and how fengshui is understood, represented, and even used in the name of nature conservation or economic profit in the present day.

The film will be shot on a Canon 60D. As of right now, our lenses include a Canon 50mm 1.4 and a Canon 28-135. The money will go to travel expenses, audio equipment, video equipment (tripod, etc.).

Thanks for all your help!