What is the evidence for the incorporation of the principles of
feng shui in the ideational and conceptual landscape of the
Chinese camp in Bright, Victoria?
ARC3HAA
© Caroline Seawright
2013
http://www.thekeep.org/~kunoichi/kunoichi/themestream/ARC3HAA.html
© Caroline Seawright
Feng shui in the ideational and conceptual landscape: Bright Chinese camp
The remains of an 1859 Chinese camp site have been identified at Bright in north-east Victoria
(Bannear 1997; Kaufman & Swift 1997, p. 2). The layout of the archaeological and historic remains
of this Chinese site in Victoria suggests that the social practice of feng shui was implemented, as
found elsewhere in Australia (Stankowski 2000, p. 3; Smith 2006, p. i). The extent to which the site
conforms to the principles of feng shui will also be explored, focusing on culturally conceived,
conceptualised and ideational landscape use.
Feng shui 風水 (‘wind water’) is the 2,500 year old art of positioning human settlements on the
landscape in accordance with Chinese philosophy (Stankowski 2000, p. 10; Skinner 2011, pp. 1114). According to the Form School of feng shui, good locations are found on a gentle slope which
receives mild breezes, with a curving waterway to the south, and large hills to the north (Hardesty
2003, p. 91; Skinner 2011, pp. 42, 57-58 & 84; Figure 1). The Compass School is another feng shui
technique which uses the luo pan, a special compass, to calculate a favourable position based on
time and space (Skinner 2011, pp. 81, 137-140). In this report I investigate whether the Chinese
camp adhered to these principles.
Figure 1: (left) Topographic model of a good feng
shui location: high, protective hills to the north,
open land and a river to the south, with lower
medium hills to the east, and low hills to the west
(Skinner 2011, p. 59).
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Feng shui in the ideational and conceptual landscape: Bright Chinese camp
Landscape
People transform landscape from a natural setting into a cultural environment (Hardesty 2003 p.
81; Knapp & Ashmore 1999, pp. 10-13). The Chinese camp was a physical construction which
originally comprised miners’ huts, a bootmaker, cookshops, stores, a hotel, joss houses (folk
temples), a Presbyterian church, opium dens, gambling and lottery houses, and a Chinese circus
(Kaufman & Swift 1997, p. 2 & 5; Figures 2 & 3). The Form School provides a conceptualised
landscape for its Chinese inhabitants, whereby surrounding landforms are ascribed one of the four
celestial animals in Chinese astronomy (Skinner 2011, pp. 21 & 58). It also offers an ideational
landscape relating to the flow of qi 氣 (energy) which can be harnessed in various ways (Skinner
2011, pp. 26-31). Whilst feng shui utilisation is similar for living settlements and cemeteries, the
latter is outside the scope of this essay (Abraham & Wegars 2003, p. 61; Smith 2006, p. 61-62;
Wegars 2003, p. 77). Feng shui is thus a combination of physically, ideationally, and conceptuallycreated landscape types, appropriate for archaeological study.
Figure 2: An undated photograph of a Joss House at Bright Chinese camp (Bannear 1997, p. 11)
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Feng shui in the ideational and conceptual landscape: Bright Chinese camp
Figure 3: A 1900-1930s photograph of the Joss House on the left, with a shrine to the earth deity
on the right (Bagnall 2013, p. 9; Brunner 2013, pers. comm., 8 September)
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Feng shui in the ideational and conceptual landscape: Bright Chinese camp
One change to the cultural landscape was the way in which the Chinese mining sites were
patterned. These sites, worked by migrant labour forces, were organised into districts, each having
a centralised location which provided for the spiritual and physical needs of the miners (Lawrence
& Davies 2011, p. 231; Smith, 2006 pp. 1-2). Where the local environment has been shown to
restrict the application of this pattern, some traditional Chinese elements were retained (Hardesty
2003, p. 91), including the use of feng shui. As Bright was one of these major centres, a feng shui
master would have been hired by the wealthy merchant in charge of the area to ensure good qi
for the site (Chung 2005, p. 607; Teather & Chow 2000, p. 311). The master made the alien
Australian surroundings recognisable by providing the surrounding landscape with ideational and
conceptual aspects familiar to the miners (Chung 2005, p. 602).
Form School
Traditionally, a feng shui master would first have investigated the topographic layout of the area,
before suggesting the best location of a camp. However, historic records indicate that the location
at Bright had already been designated in July 1859 by Warden Dowling, who was then in charge of
the district, after the April 1859 anti-Chinese riots (Argus 29 April 1859, p. 6; Kaufman & Swift
1997, p. 2). The chosen location for the largest Chinese settlement in the district is situated in the
Ovens Valley in the Victorian Alps (Figures 4-8).
The settlement spreads south-west of the Ovens River and Morses Creek, and was separated from
the European section of Bright to the west by the Creek, which flows southeast before eventually
heading to the south (Kaufman & Swift 1997, p. 3). To the north is Mount Porepunkah, the closest
mountain to the township (Figure 5). Despite the European layout and building style (Kaufman &
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Feng shui in the ideational and conceptual landscape: Bright Chinese camp
Swift 1997, p. 5), the landforms surrounding the camp would have been quite important to both
the Chinese merchants and miners of the area as waterways and mountains are important to the
Form School of feng shui, providing conceptualised landscape relating to the four celestial animals
of Chinese astronomy.
Figure 4: Topographic map of the Bright area (Digital Atlas 2012)
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Feng shui in the ideational and conceptual landscape: Bright Chinese camp
In the Form School, the landscape requires mountains of specific shape, along with gently flowing
water, in a specific pattern to be considered ideal (Figure 5). The feng shui “armchair” principle
involves have large ‘black tortoise’ mountains to the north, smaller ‘azure dragon’ mountains to
the east, low ‘white tiger’ mountains to the west, and an open ‘vermillion phoenix’ space with a
waterway to the south (Skinner 2011, p. 43; Figures 5 & 6). This pattern was believed to support a
site from behind, and provide an aesthetically pleasing area to the front (Skinner 2011, p. 50;
Teather & Chow, p. 321). Such auspicious patterns have been seen at a number of sites
throughout the Australian and New Zealand goldfields (Groves 2011, p. 65; Jack 1993, p. 135;
Lawrence & Davies 2011, p. 173).
NASA’s Shuttle Radar Topography Mission data (via Google Earth) has been used to provide a
three-dimensional topographic model of Bright. A ‘black tortoise’ mountain in the form of Mount
Porepunkah is present in the north (Figure 7). Mount Buffalo National Park forms an ‘azure
dragon’ to the west (Figure 8), and the Mount Bogong area a ‘white tiger’ to the east (Figure 9).
Morses Creek flows down from the Ovens River to create the ‘vermillion phoenix’ to the south of
the camp (Figure 10). Based on these features, the Bright Chinese camp conforms to the Form
School’s conceptual “armchair” patterning.
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Feng shui in the ideational and conceptual landscape: Bright Chinese camp
Figure 5: An ideal conceptual and topographic landscape of feng shui (Skinner 2011, p. 59)
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Feng shui in the ideational and conceptual landscape: Bright Chinese camp
Figure 6: Topographic map of the Bright area with the four celestial
animals (Brunner 2013 pers. comm., 8 September; Digital Atlas 2012)
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Feng shui in the ideational and conceptual landscape: Bright Chinese camp
Figure 7: Mount Porepunkah to the North of the site (Google Earth 7.1.1.1888 2013)
Figure 8: Mount Buffalo National Park to the West of the site (Google Earth 7.1.1.1888 2013)
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Feng shui in the ideational and conceptual landscape: Bright Chinese camp
Figure 9: Mount Bogong area to the East of the site (Google Earth 7.1.1.1888 2013)
Figure 10: Mount Selwyn area to the South of the site (Google Earth 7.1.1.1888 2013)
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Feng shui in the ideational and conceptual landscape: Bright Chinese camp
Compass School
After a good Form School location is identified, a feng shui master can identify the flow of qi, and
select the best method for harnessing positive energy, providing a site with an ideational map. An
accurate compass reading could provide the master with a representation of how qi could flow
through a landscape over time (Teather & Chow, p. 320). Andrew Lewis (2013 pers. comm., 17
September) of Geoscience Australia confirmed that the declination for Bright was +7.01 (BGS1850
model). Magnetic north has been adjusted to take this declination into account when considering
the orientation of the Chinese camp during its historic period (Figures 11-12).
Figure 11: The nucleus of the 1880s Bright Chinese camp, aligned along an east-west axis (after
Kaufman & Swift 1997, p. 3)
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Feng shui in the ideational and conceptual landscape: Bright Chinese camp
Figure 12: The layout of the 1880s Bright Chinese camp overlayed on a Google Map of Bright
(Google Maps 2013; after Kaufman & Swift 1997, p. 3)
The lo shu 洛書 diagram (Table 1), an algorithm relating to both time and space, can be used to
generate a numerical ideational map of the area. The nine numbers used have different symbolic
meanings relating to compass directions, the local qi and the five elements of Chinese philosophy
(Skinner 2011, p. 86). The diagram also takes the passage of time into account. A lo shu map is first
generated based on the year a settlement was established, using the nine cyclical 20 year periods
of the Chinese Calendar (Skinner 2011, p. 175). It is then calculated at the start of each period
thereafter.
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Feng shui in the ideational and conceptual landscape: Bright Chinese camp
south
4 9 2
e 3 5 7 w
8 1 6
north
Table 1: The original lo shu map of Chinese philosophy - note that in traditional feng shui, north is
at the bottom of the map (Brunner, J 2013, pers. comm., 2 September)
According to Kaufman and Swift (1997, p. 2), the important periods for the camp were:
•
Period 9 (1844-1864; Table 2), covering the year 1864 in which the Chinese camp was laid
out by Dowling;
•
Period 1 (1864-1884; Table 3; Figure 13), which follows Period 9 due to the calendar’s
cyclical nature, shows the camp’s greatest growth in population density and prosperity;
•
Period 2 (1884-1904; Table 4), the period in which the settlement was declining; and
•
Period 3 (1904-1924; Table 5), during which the license for the Quon Kee Hotel was
revoked (Argus 18 October 1910, p. 8).
e
south
8 4 6
7 9 2
3 5 1
north
w
E
south
1 6 8
9 2 4
5 7 3
north
w
Table 2: The Period 9 (1844-1864) map
(Brunner, J 2013, pers. comm., 2 September)
Table 4: The Period 2 (1884-1904) map
(Brunner, J 2013, pers. comm., 2 September)
south
9 5 7
8 1 3
4 6 2
north
south
2 7 9
1 3 5
6 8 4
north
e
w
e
Table 3: The Period 1 (1864-1884) map
(Brunner, J 2013, pers. comm., 2 September)
w
Table 5: The Period 3 (1904-1924) map
(Brunner, J 2013, pers. comm., 2 September)
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Feng shui in the ideational and conceptual landscape: Bright Chinese camp
Figure 13: The Period 1 map as depicted on the landscape, with north being at the bottom of the
map as per traditional feng shui conceptualisation (Google Maps 2013)
Master Brunner (2013, pers. comm., 2 September), an Australian feng shui master, advised that to
meet the Compass School requirements for a positive flow of qi:
•
In Period 9, the ideational map indicates that the site needs a supporting mountain in the
south, and gently running water in the north;
•
In Period 1, the requirements swapped, so there should be a mountain to be in the north,
and the water in the south; and
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Feng shui in the ideational and conceptual landscape: Bright Chinese camp
•
In Period 2, there should be a mountain in the southwest, and water in the northeast; and
•
In Period 3, there should be a mountain in the east, and water in the west.
As previously detailed, mountains completely surround the Bright Chinese camp (Figure 4), the
Ovens River is to the north, and Morses Creek flows from the northwest around to the southeast,
with the water in the northeast and southeast becoming more distant from the site (Figures 14). In
Period 9, the site was considered to have reasonably abundant qi, due to its surrounding
landforms. During Period 1, these forms matched the ‘armchair’ model, so the qi was considered
to be very prosperous. However, during Period 2, whilst the surrounding mountains supported the
qi, the water was not well placed in the northeast, as it was further from the camp, flowing off to
the east. During this cycle, the fortunes of the camp fell, and many Chinese miners left the
settlement. By Period 3, despite the supporting mountain and water forms providing positive qi,
the site continued to decline. The camp thus also conforms to Compass School ideational model.
Conclusion
Both Lindsay Smith (2006) and Katrina Stankowski (2000) have investigated Chinese goldfield
camps within Australia, and analysed their archaeological remains in relation to the principles of
feng shui. Their results indicate that the landscape was imprinted with this symbolism, both
ideational and conceptual. This was a pattern that they found repeated throughout not only
Australia, but also at Chinese mining settlements around the world. Despite European influence,
the Bright Chinese camp also follows this patterning.
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Feng shui in the ideational and conceptual landscape: Bright Chinese camp
Figure 14: Map of Bright showing the eight compass points in comparison with Ovens River and
Morses Creek (Google Maps 2013)
Future research at this site should be undertaken as it is a unique opportunity to investigate a rare
1800s Chinese camp (Bannear 1997, p. 1). The currently undeveloped site shows little signs of
disturbance, with clear mounds and depressions indicative of buried features (Bannear 1997, p. 1;
Kaufman R 2013 pers. comm., 14 Oct; Figure 15). Potential research should examine the physical
layout of the camp, including the facing of each building, and determining what sort of building
occupied each allotment. Should this site be investigated further, the principles of feng shui can be
tested further in relation to this new information, to understand the individual buildings and how
they were utilised by the Chinese who lived there. It would also further answer whether a feng
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Feng shui in the ideational and conceptual landscape: Bright Chinese camp
shui master had been hired to adjust the European-style buildings at Bright to better conform to
feng shui ideologies, such as at Kiandra in NSW (Smith 2003, pp. 23-24, 27). The site layout could
be compared to the European part of Bright to understand the role ethnicity played in landscape
use.
Figure 15: A 1997 photograph of the location of the Bright Chinese camp (Bannear 1997, p. 3)
This auspicious site may not have been an accident, as the Morses Creek area had 2500-3000
Chinese already mining in the area during the 1850s (Kaufman & Swift 1997, p. 2). The positive
feng shui forms of the area may have influenced the powerful merchants who chose Bright as a
mining site prior to the 1859 camp layout. The ever-changing ideational aspects of the qi flow
would have influenced those who understood their symbolism. The Chinese people at these camp
sites changed, identified with, and marked their landscape through the use of feng shui.
Understanding the landscape of feng shui is crucial for archaeologists seeking to learn about the
human use of space at 19th Century Chinese mining camps.
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Feng shui in the ideational and conceptual landscape: Bright Chinese camp
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