A little-known document almost a century old has shed new light on how the British colonial rulers of Hong Kong quickly accepted fung shui as a serious practice.
But the colonial government was also warned to expect to be mystified, according to a 1912 Legislative Council report on fung shui compensation.
'It is not surprising that in course of time the ideas of fung shui have been complicated and overlaid with numberless small observances and superstitions, employed by necromancers and geomancers and the whole host and fung shui professors in order to increase their own repute and mystify the people,' a Report On The New Territories 1899-1912, tabled in the Legislative Council, said.
The 29-page report gave 'a comprehensive overview of the land and people that the British had taken over in 1898' and covered many aspects of New Territories life, including general administration, public works and crime.
Three long paragraphs devoted to fung shui show that colonial officials had bought into the system of beliefs, even giving them a quasi-legal status.
