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Layout and composition of house-embracing trees in an island Feng Shui village in Okinawa, Japan
Abstract
A Feng Shui village landscape, which embodies the symbiosis of nature and man, might be re-evaluated as an ideal landscape model in East Asia. Ho:go is one essential word for a Feng Shui village in Ryukyu Islands. The literal meaning of Ho:go is to embrace and protect by forest planting in order to retain the living energy. Ho:go also refers to a forest belt that encircles a house, a village, several neighbouring villages, or the coastline, and is called House Ho:go (habitat-embracing forest), Village Ho:go, District Ho:go, and Coastline Ho:go, respectively. However, such Feng Shui village landscapes have disappeared rapidly since Word War II because of the changing life styles. In order to preserve the traditional Feng Shui village landscape, our primary research focus concerns the actual structure, management, and regeneration of house-embracing Garcinia subelliptica Merr. trees. We chose to survey the two best preserved villages of Tonaki Island and Bise village in northern Okinawa Island. We reproduced the actual distribution and sizes of house-embracing G. subelliptica trees by HO CAD software. We found tree lines were much thicker in the borderline of the village, in particular, those either facing the coast or standing in the north. In contrast, there was usually one tree line inside the village. The surveyed G. subelliptica trees on Tonaki Island were much smaller than those in Bise Village. More demand of G. subelliptica trees for timber use in this small isolated island and better maintenance might be assumed to be the reasons for the difference in tree height between the two surveyed villages. Thus, proper maintenance in terms of cutting and cleaning are necessary to preserve house-embracing G. subelliptica tree lines in a traditional Feng Shui village. A traditional village landscape might also serve purposes for forest tourism and environmental education.
... Whether Fengshui entails an understanding of natural phenomena remains a topic of debate because its rationale and reliability have been scientifically untested [23,24]. Nonetheless, it is important to note that this concept, as part of traditional ecological knowledge, affected forest management practices in ancient Northeast Asia [3,25,26]. The issues regarding Fengshui itself were not addressed, in order to focus on its relationship to ancient Northeast Asian forestry. ...
... Some community forests on the mountain behind villages fulfilled this role by reducing soil erosion and landslide from steep slopes [3,19]. Like Satoyama-implemented for protection purposes in Japan-and "Bibo" (help and improvement) forests in Korea, the forests for such protective purposes enclosed houses, villages, or coastlines [25,31,32]. These forests were important for livelihoods in ancient Northeast Asia because they [4,30]). ...
... Some community forests on the mountain behind villages fulfilled this role by reducing soil erosion and landslide from steep slopes [3,19]. Like Satoyama-implemented for protection purposes in Japan-and "Bibo" (help and improvement) forests in Korea, the forests for such protective purposes enclosed houses, villages, or coastlines [25,31,32]. These forests were important for livelihoods in ancient Northeast Asia because they controlled village microclimates by preventing flooding [3,26], acting as windbreaks [25,28,31], and connecting forest patches [32,33]. ...
This study aims to introduce the potential applicability of traditional ecological knowledge
and community forestry in Northeast Asia, including China, Japan, and South Korea. In ancient
Northeast Asia, forest policies and practices were based on Fengshui (an old Chinese concept
regarding the flow of vital forces), with which forests were managed under community forestry.
However, these traditional systems diminished in the twentieth century owing to the decline of
traditional livelihood systems and extreme deforestation. Recently, legacies from traditional ecological
knowledge and community forestry have been revisited and incorporated into forest policies, laws,
and management practices because of growing needs for sustainable forest use in China, Japan, and
Korea. This reevaluation of traditional ecological knowledge and community forestry has provided
empirical data to help improve forestry systems. Although traditional ecological knowledge and
community forestry in Northeast Asia have been scarcely theorized, they play a significant role in
modifying forest management practices in the face of socioeconomic changes.
... Chinese fengshui forests are culturally protected man-made or natural forest patches, having symbolic meanings related to good fortune, wealth and the health of local people (Yuan and Liu 2009;Hu et al. 2011;Juanwen et al. 2012). The application of fengshui forests to other countries shows different emphases, for example, the literature on fengshui forests in Korea emphasized its function in repairing a defective landscape, and in Japan, was more focused on its practical use in protecting against strong winds and tides in small islands (Whang and Lee 2006;Chen et al. 2008). The term 'bibo forest' is discussed along with village groves by villagers in Korea (see above), while the term 'ho:go' is used for Japanese fengshui forests, meaning a forest belt to protect and embrace a house, a village and coastline by planting trees (Chen et al. 2008). ...
... The application of fengshui forests to other countries shows different emphases, for example, the literature on fengshui forests in Korea emphasized its function in repairing a defective landscape, and in Japan, was more focused on its practical use in protecting against strong winds and tides in small islands (Whang and Lee 2006;Chen et al. 2008). The term 'bibo forest' is discussed along with village groves by villagers in Korea (see above), while the term 'ho:go' is used for Japanese fengshui forests, meaning a forest belt to protect and embrace a house, a village and coastline by planting trees (Chen et al. 2008). Compared to Chinese fengshui literature, 'bibo' and 'ho:go' were found more often in the studies of Korea and Japan respectively. ...
... Similar to Korea and China, fengshui woods and trees are planted in certain regions of Japan for the purpose of protecting houses and villages from summer typhoons and winter monsoons (Chen and Nakama 2010;Chen et al. 2008;Bixia et al. 2013). Large infrequent disturbances, including tsunamis and the nuclear power plant accidents caused by major earthquakes, were included in a recent study of satoyama calling for a radical reconsideration of the relationship between humans and nature (Katsura 2014). ...
This study investigated the indicators of adaptive capacity along with disturbances in community forest management systems in the East Asian countries, China, Japan and South Korea. Although these countries have centuries-old traditions of community-based forest management, they have been less researched in light of adaptive capacity for resilient social-ecological systems. Recent social and ecological disturbances bring about new challenges and/or opportunities to the capacity of forest related communities to adapt to rapidly changing conditions. Through a systematic review of the community forestry and related adaptive capacity literature in three East Asian countries, this study addressed the role of diverse knowledge systems, such as traditional and Western scientific knowledge, and civic traditions of self-organization in local communities that characterized adaptive capacity of this region. This study extends our understanding of community-based conservation efforts and traditions of this region, and adds to the understandings gleaned from studies of community forestry in the West and sacred forests in other parts of Asia and Africa. Further research on ways to increase adaptive capacity is needed in a site-specific context.
... Fukugi trees are a slow growing species that have played an important role in farmers' lives as windbreaks, firewood, and even green fertilizer. In terms of the features of Fukugi trees, please refer to previous research (Shigematsu 1979;Chen et al. 2008b). ...
... House-embracing Fukugi trees were functionally laid out with denser forests on the northern side of the houses and on the sides facing the sea (Chen et. al 2005;Chen et al. 2006;Chen et al. 2008b;Ando and Ono 2008). ...
... A case study in Bise village found that tree density in the coastal line and northern side of village was higher than the tree lines inside the village (Chen et al. 2006;Anto and Ono 2008). The authors studied the current layout and density of house-embracing Fukugi trees (Chen et al. 2008a;Chen and Nakama 2010) and the vegetation composition in the village ho:go and the preserved natural forest behind the village (Chen et al. 2008b). In previous studies, all Fukugi trees surrounding several houses in Tonaki, Bise and Aguni Island were surveyed. ...
A Feng Shui village landscape features Fukugi (Garcinia subelliptica) tree lines surrounding every house and orderly laid out roads. Such a green landscape, which is assumed to be planned or reformed during the modern Ryukyuan period around 300 years ago, is well preserved in Okinawa Island, Japan, and its nearby isolated islands. But it is still a mystery to the historians when and how these Fukugi trees were planted. In order to clarify the development process of the house-embracing Fukugi trees, all Fukugi trees that were assumed to be older than 100 years in Bise, Tonaki, Imadomari, and Aguni Island were measured. It was found that huge Fukugi trees older than 200 years, cluster around the core area kami-asagi or haisyo inside the village. Both the kami-asagi and haisyo are sacred places where guardian gods were summoned in order to hold ceremonies and rituals. The oldest trees were approximately 300, 268, 294, 296, and 28.1 years in Bise, Tonaki, Imadomari, Yae (East & West), and Hama in Aguni Island, respectively. These old trees might have been planted prior to the period from 1737 to 1750, when Sai On was a member of the Sanshikan, during which Fukugi trees were planned and recommended. While Fukugi trees might have been planted as windbreaks around the houses prior to the Sai On period, however, the current house-embracing Fukugi tree landscape came into being during the Sai On. period based on Feng Shui concepts.
... Thus, it is an urgent issue to preserve the existing house-embracing trees and record the local knowledge of forest management and regeneration in small island topography. We have previously published our research results on the house-embracing Fukugi trees on Tonaki Island and in Bise village on the northern part of Okinawa Island (Chen et al., 2008). This study continues to clarify the actual forest structure, e.g., forest layout, composition, and density, and further discusses the regeneration and management of woodland in another small island of Aguni Island. ...
... Fukugi is still little studied. The layout of house-embracing Fukugi trees on Tonaki Island and Bise village on the northern part of Okinawa have been surveyed (Chen et al., 2008). We continued to survey on Aguni Island, which also has well-preserved house-embracing trees. ...
Forest landscape based on Feng Shui concepts in East Asia deserves research focus for its cultural and ecological contexts. How to contain the wind is the primary principle of Feng Shui practice in small island villages. To protect from strong wind, house-embracing Fukugi (Garcinia subelliptica Merr.) tree lines have been planted around the hamlets and along the coastline in small islands. After Tonaki and Bise villages, we continued to study the actual forest structure, e.g., the forest layout, composition, and density, and further discussed the regeneration and management of Feng Shui trees on small islands. Another objective of this study was to compare the features of the house-embracing Fukugi trees in Aguni Island to those in the two former survey sites of Tonaki Island and Bise village.
... The community-based assessment of coastal forests found out that local people in all study sites have long made efforts to establish plantation forests and to con- 30 at places facing the coast or the north to cope with frequent and strong winds in Okinawa (Chen, et al 2008). ...
... Recent years have witnessed an increase in publications pertinent to fengshui woods and related village sacred forests in international jour- nals, although these still comprise a small number with diverse foci and no systematic attempts to delineate the full geographic range of fengshui forests within one country or throughout East Asia as a whole. The case studies represent different regions, including Hong Kong (Jim, 2003;), Mainland China ( ), Japan ( Chen et al., 2008a;Chen and Nakama, 2010), and Korea ( Koh et al., 2010). These publications tend to treat fengshui woods as cultural relics or as valuable repositories of native biodiversity (e.g., ). ...
Fengshui forests, also known as fengshui woods or fengshui woodlands, are culturally preserved remnant groves of natural forest or small plantations that are common in southern China. Similar forests known by other names are prevalent in many parts of East Asia, including Korea and Japan, where they have long helped sustain rural livelihoods and ecosystems. However, as is the case with research on the origins of fengshui philosophy, research on the origin, diffusion, present-day distribution, and conservation status of fengshui forests remains relatively sparse. Much of the research into fengshui forests has been published in Chinese, and is not accessible to a global scientific audience because the manuscripts are not easily discoverable or because of language barriers. This paper provides a quantitative review of 57 original papers on fengshui woods written in Chinese since the 1990s. Content analysis of Chinese-language papers on fengshui forests demonstrates a geographic bias towards case studies from southern China, and a predominance of methodologies representing vegetation surveys conducted by forestry specialists. Published field results and previously published research on fengshui forests report very high floristic diversity. Our own field research in 57 villages in five provinces shows that these locally protected woodlands are components of common property regimes (CPRs) that have been better preserved than the other forests in southern China and usually represent the only forest remnants adjacent to villages and other settlements. However, fengshui forests face threats from industrial pollution, urbanization, and other forms of economic development. We briefly report on our own preliminary field results and suggest that more research is required to develop interdisciplinary and comparative perspectives on the historical and cultural factors that support the persistence of fengshui forests across China and East Asia as a whole, and to integrate these woodlands within sustainable rural development strategies. These remnants of southern China’s subtropical broadleaf evergreen forests are especially important in light of current efforts by the national government to promote urban forestry, ecosystem conservation, cultural heritage protection, and ecotourism, and to increase the capacity of natural carbon sinks within the country’s borders.
... Examples include the 'Eight Trigram Field' in Hangzhou (set out between 1127 and 1279 AD) and the 'Eight Trigram Village' in Lanzxi (planned and built around 1340 AD) (see Chen and Wu 2009). Outside China, evidence of Feng Shui's urban and rural influence abounds (Hong, Song, and Wu 2007);Feng Shui (or Pungsu) was instrumental in the siting and planning of Seoul in 1395 (Yoon 2006) whilst Feng Shui (or Fusui) forests are also found in Japan, with good examples located around the Ho:go villages (Ho:go meaning to 'embrace' or 'protect') on Ryukyu Island (Chen, Nakama, and Kurima 2008) (Figure 7). ...
This paper examines the influence of Feng Shui on urban form and spatial design at multiple levels, from the domestic spaces of the home, through commercial development projects, to the planning and building of cities. It contrasts the ancient power of China’s emperors to directly plan cities according to Feng Shui principles with its indirect influence today, underpinned by cultural and commercial drivers rather than the direct influence of regulation. Although ‘official’ adherence to Feng Shui seems less explicit than it once was, there are signs that it retains a place in the decision-making environment. The paper concludes by advancing a research agenda around the embeddedness of Feng Shui within the cultures of planning regulation and decision making.
... In Okinawa Prefecture, traditional village tree landscapes that have been established and maintained over a long period played a significant role in earlier agricultural life and have protected the settlements from typhoons and strong seasonal winds (Chen, Nakama, & Kurima, 2008). Since the end of WWII, however, the old growth Fukugi (Garcinia subelliptica) tree lines in many villages have been facing destruction owing to rapid urbanization, economic and societal change, and transformations in lifestyles (Ishimura, 1997;Inagaki, Osawa, Onozaki, Fujisaki, & Katsuno, 2004). ...
h i g h l i g h t s Contributes to research on tourists' assessments of traditional village landscapes. Proposes traditional forest landscape be used to attract repeat tourists. Those under 40 years of age and with their family were more supportive of traditional forest conservation. Those with higher household income/education level were unwilling to pay more. A donation or entrance fee can be used to collect village forest conservation funds. a b s t r a c t This study examines a traditional village tree landscape on the Ryukyu Islands that provides tourists with an integrated experience of local culture, history, and nature. Using data derived from a sample of 417 respondents collected over a two-year period, it found that respondents under 40 years of age, or who were travelling with their family, were likely to give more to the tree landscape conservation fund, while respondents with a higher household income or higher education level tended not to donate more to the conservation of the village tree landscape. This study suggests that requests for a donation or entrance ticket can be used to collect conservation funds for natural resources.
... Nakamatsu 1977), comprehensive research on architecture (e.g. Sakamoto 1989), and some recent works on the forest belt planted surrounding the houses (Chen et al. 2008b;Anto et al. 2010). Previous studies also mention the conceptual context of a Feng Shui village landscape (Yoon 2006;Chen et al. 2008a). ...
Traditional village landscapes that were planned with a combination of local traditional beliefs and the Feng Shui concepts of 'ho:go', featured in remaining patches of flourishing planted forest on Ryukyu Islands, were estimated to have been built about 300 years ago. This study sought to clarify the actual landscape composition and map the layout and distribution of landscape elements, with a focus on understanding the dimension of the widespread Feng Shui woods. The cultural landscape combines shapes of patches of greening, corridors of planted forest belts and intersecting roads, scattered areas of water and clustered human settlements. On the relatively flat islands, a forest belt about 15 m wide was planted to curve in front of the village and be connected with the preserved natural forest on the low hills behind the settlements to shape a green protective circle with a radius of about 400 m. The grounds of each house were surrounded by one row of trees. Thousands of big Fukugi trees were found surrounding the settlements and sacred sites. These forest belts are almost completely connected and shape green corridors providing habitat for flora and fauna. Inside the village, roads have been designed to meander, and thus function to mitigate damage from strong winds. In Okinawa, utaki (sacred places dedicated to a guardian deity of hamlets) and the remains of old springs also consist of important landscape units. Such a traditional aesthetic village landscape embodies the harmony of man and nature, or 'people living in the forests'. A cultural landscape with ecological context needs to be reevaluated as a rural planning style in island topography, and promoted as a tourist attraction in order to better conserve it.
... In the study area the Archang gardens in the front of cave center should be protected as a first strategy. A traditional landscape might also serve purposes for ecotourism and environmental education (Chen et al, 2008). On the other hand it is necessary to prevention of spatial development at the back of cave center which is reached to mountains and it must be forbidden to residential settlement in this elevated area. ...
Landscape evaluation has an important role in developing and maintaining sustainability on local, regional and global scales. For this purpose different mathematical, empirical and traditional approaches were applied including Feng-shui theory. The basis of this theory refers to the Chinese traditional knowledge, examination and evaluation of the intrinsic energies of people and places. At the present study the site analysis and the landscape evaluation with Feng-shui theory were applied using the shapes and imaginaries of the landforms in the Shandiz urban region, northeast of Iran. The unsustainable development plans along the land use changes in this region has resulted in land degradations and natural hazards. Therefore, it is necessary to explain the traditional or ecological landscape evaluation at the study area. Based on the Feng-shui method we investigated the assigning nine-lattice zones map of the study area to achieve the ecological landscape evaluation. We think this method is a useful fresh traditional method for application in Middle East area. Our results exhibited that the central cave spot and four directions at the study area had spatially adaptation on the Lo-shu tablet in the nine landscape zones. These zones revealed that the new optimal strategies based on Feng-shui variant characteristics which are the brief research outcomes of landscape evaluation.
... A Feng Shui village landscape, which embodies the symbiosis of nature and man, might be re-evaluated as an ideal landscape model in East Asia. One key point of the theory is a forest belt, also called House Ho:go (habitatembracing forest), that encircles a house [30]. ...
Urban reforestation is advocated as an efficient countermeasure to the intensification of urban heat islands. The greening and beautification of residential quarters is one of the main concerns of residents, while lighting and ventilation are two main energy-consuming building services. Hence, the tree layout in green space between buildings is important, and it is necessary to determine the relationships between trees and buildings. This study takes Shanghai as a case study to optimize tree design between residential buildings and meet good daylighting requirements. Models were made using software such as AutoCAD and SketchUp. The relationships between maximum tree height and building separation were determined. For the same building layout, there were different tree height limits according to crown shape; the order of decreasing height limits was cylindrical, conical, spherical, and inverted conical crowns. Three cases having different green space between building layouts were studied. Their maximum tree heights differed. Overall, our model helps us realize good daylighting of a building environment. The formula allows us to determine which trees to plant between buildings in that we can predict the effects of future tree growth on building daylighting.
This study investigates the Fukugi (Garcinia subelliptica) windbreak landscapes on Iriomote Island through case studies in two of its oldest villages, Sonai and Hoshitate. These windbreak forests, integral to the cultural landscape of Okinawa, offer both ecological and socioeconomic benefits. Using field measurements and surveys, the research analyzes the distribution, growth patterns, and historical significance of Fukugi groves within the village setting and compares naturally regenerated forests with those planted by humans. The findings underscore the importance of Fukugi trees in promoting sustainable rural landscapes, where they dominate the local ecosystem of rural settlements. Fukugi windbreak landscapes in Okinawa are characterized by trees encircling homes on all four sides, distinguishing them from homestead windbreaks found in other regions of Japan. Surveys from the two villages suggest that the original homestead windbreak forests in the Yaeyama region contain a diverse mix of tree species, with Fukugi and Calophyllum inophyllum being predominant, along with other useful species like Diospyros ferrea and Podocarpus macrophyllus. These species were selected not only for their windbreak capabilities but also for timber and home furniture production. The study's findings on naturally regenerated Fukugi groups support the hypothesis that the cultivation of Fukugi as a windbreak species originated in the Yaeyama region and likely spread to other parts of Okinawa, influencing both the ecological and cultural evolution of the region's landscapes.
Greening in urban areas and forests can provide people with valuable environmental and social benefits. Active involvement by local stakeholders is crucial for effective tree conservation. Our study focused on the past and current uses, management, and conservation of old-growth fukugi (Garcinia subelliptica) trees from the perspective of local stakeholders in rural homesteads on a small island archipelago in Japan. We conducted semi-structured interviews with local communities, hamlet heads, and village headmen on five small islands and in two hamlets on mainland Okinawa. We found that residents highly valued fukugi homestead trees as windbreaks. Other benefits derived from these trees included traditional dyeing material and green manure. Problems associated with these trees, such as fallen leaves and fruits, and the potential risk of injury caused by strong winds have jeopardized tree conservation. Our results indicate that the value of trees to human wellbeing and society has changed dramatically from 1 largely providing provisioning services to meeting local people's basic needs to regulating and cultural services. Opinions in terms of services and disservices differed among islands and stakeholders. Accordingly, decision-makers should consider these changes/differences when developing conservation policies. We highlight several alternative uses for old-growth trees, such as tourist attractions, and propose a multi-stakeholder conservation strategy, which will be important for the sustainable management of fukugi trees.
Chinese lineage villages are social-ecological systems (SESs) designed according to principles of fengshui ("wind-water"). Fengshui is a composite of cosmological beliefs and landscape management strategies, including the protection of sacred groves, aimed at optimizing the collective, long-term wellbeing of lineage groups by enhancing long-term natural and social resilience. Along with other adaptive management features, village fengshui forests promote social-ecological vigor by conserving plant, soil, and water resources, enhancing social memory, and serving as living models of resilience in the face of social, economic, and political changes. Modern programs to transform rural communities through state-led agricultural production systems included bans on fengshui practice and the destruction of forests. Many communities protected their fengshui forests, providing contemporary opportunities for local, regional, national, and international conservation initiatives incorporating locally preserved forests.
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This study explored the role of community place attachment on heritage forest (feng shui woodland) conservation awareness in the peri-urban areas of Guangzhou. Questionnaire surveys were administered to glean the views of the local residents living near heritage forests. The results suggested that residents’ place attachment was significantly associated with positive perceptions, attitudes and ecologically responsible behaviours towards the heritage forests in their community. The findings revealed that traditional and cultural aspects can be an important focus of attention for local residents with higher levels of place attachment, as heritage forests offer not only ecosystem services but also feng shui value—a traditional vernacular belief in South China. This study clearly demonstrated that cultural bonding can be an important element in facilitating the environmental awareness of the local residents regarding heritage forest conservation.
This study examines areas of weakness in environmental impact assessment (ElA) systems due to uncertainty and risk. It then introduces the Oriental concepts of feng shui and wu xing to systematic interventions of fair utility and equitable allocation in response to the identified weaknesses with the goal of improving the practical implementation of EIA systems. Following this concentric logic, we developed a concept similar to the wave image of neutrons, which consists of three concentric circles: an interior circle known as the environmental element circle, a middle circle known as the integrated circle, and an exterior circle known as the academic tool circle. A legislative backup system underpins the entire theoretical framework, including regulations, follow-up assessments, and public consultation processes. This paper also examines Taiwanese efforts to promote concepts of EIA systems through dialogue between Western and Eastern science (geomancy) forums. Similar efforts can be seen in ancient Chinese, Korean, and Japanese cultures, as well as in Vaishnavism and Hinduism, which developed an understanding of the relationship between geography and physics and the balance between various components of the universe. These concepts are equally applicable today. Furthermore, we optimized an EIA methodology using a linear development process and locating system elements and tools. Finally, we attempted to complete an ideal and effective EIA system with comprehensive assessment technology. © 2013, Locke Science Publishing Company, Inc. Chicago, IL, USA All Rights Reserved.
The authors introduce the reader to traditional island villages built based on Feng Shui concepts around 300 years ago. The traditional village landscape embodies the harmony between man and nature with a scene of "people living in the forest." As well as a scenic landscape, Ryukyu Feng Shui landscape also provides with regulating ecosystem services to prevent from natural disasters. This study includes extensive field survey results on more than forty outlying islands in the southernmost part of Japan. This study includes the actual structure of traditional villages and vegetation composition of forests in the villages. It further explores the distribution of huge trees in traditional villages. This book provides understanding in regard to an integrated landscape with ecological significance, local religion and cultural context for landscape designers and urban planners.
Feng Shui is based on empirical observations of the surrounding landform. Majority of researches on Feng Shui in Okinawa concern the historical study, or analyze village layout from perspectives of history, folklore, and architecture. However, a comparative study of Feng Shui in Okinawa with that in mainland topography is little reported. This study aims to clarify a Ryukyu village’s features, focusing on Feng Shui trees and village landscape. (1) In China, and Korea, Feng Shui trees are commonly symbolical separated patches. Some major species include Cinnamomum camphora, Ficus microphylla,and Acer buergerianm(Mainland China, and Hong Kong) and Pinus densiflora (Korea). In Okinawa, forests are functionally used to embrace the house, the village, and the coastline to contain the strong wind. Feng Shui trees include Fukugi, Calophyllum inophyllum, Pinus luchuensis, Pandanus odoratissimus, and Hibiscus tiliaceus in Okinawa. (2) A Feng Shui village landscape highlights the surrounding landform to “contain the wind” and “accumulate the water” in China and Korea. In Okinawa, village houses are encircled by multilayer forest belts of house-embracing trees, Kusatimui in the rear and Village Ho:go together to embrace the village, and coastline Ho:go. Such a layout, designed to protect the village from the winter wind and typhoons, is attributed to the environmental difference between mainland and island topographies. (3) Fukugi trees that embrace all sides of the house are not found in Korea, or China. House-embracing trees and interlaced road network are the features of a Ryukyu Feng Shui village. In Okinawa, there are always one to four houses embraced by Fukugi. (4) Distribution layout of house-embracing Fukugi was reproduced with HO CAD software. Along with houses mostly backing north and facing south, forest belts in the north, east, and along the coastline are thick in Okinawa. Such layout of Fukugi is assumed as countermeasure to winter wind and typhoons. (5) House-embracing Fukugi trees are under routine care and management to maintain Feng Shui’s function. Tree number in every meter of the woodlands was 3.1 in Tonaki, and 2.7 in Bise, respectively. The estimated mean and oldest tree ages were 40 and 179 in Tonaki, and 46 and 266 in Bise. The mixture of diverse ages of trees, and proper density might be assumed as the result of proper management. (6) All village roads are not straight, but courteous in Okinawa. No intersections are perfect right angle. Fukugi tree lines are laid out along the roads which decline from the north-south or east-west axes. Such a layout has been planned to contain the wind according to Feng Shui principle of “to contain the wind and to accumulate the water”. The curvous roads are able to channel and reduce the damage of the strong winds coming to the village. In summary, Feng Shui in Okinawa, which was adapted to the severe nature of winter wind and typhoons in summer, utilizes tree planting to achieve an ideal Feng Shui environment. Comparing with mountainous Feng Shui practice in China and Korea which highlights the landform and symbolically use Feng Shui trees, Feng Shui in Okinawa is functionally practiced, thus, an “Island Ryukyu model of Feng Shui” is argued in this study.
There is much we can learn about conservation from native peoples, says Gene Anderson. While the advanced nations of the West have failed to control overfishing, deforestation, soil erosion, pollution, and a host of other environmental problems, many traditional peoples manage their natural resources quite successfully. And if some traditional peoples mismanage the environment--the irrational value some place on rhino horn, for instance, has left this species endangered--the fact remains that most have found ways to introduce sound ecological management into their daily lives. Why have they succeeded while we have failed? In Ecologies of the Heart, Gene Anderson reveals how religion and other folk beliefs help pre-industrial peoples control and protect their resources. Equally important, he offers much insight into why our own environmental policies have failed and what we can do to better manage our resources. A cultural ecologist, Gene Anderson has spent his life exploring the ways in which different groups of people manage the environment, and he has lived for years in fishing communities in Hong Kong, Malaysia, Singapore, Tahiti, and British Columbia--as well as in a Mayan farmtown in south Mexico--where he has studied fisheries, farming, and forest management. He has concluded that all traditional societies that have managed resources well over time have done so in part through religion--by the use of emotionally powerful cultural symbols that reinforce particular resource management strategies. Moreover, he argues that these religious beliefs, while seeming unscientific, if not irrational, at first glance, are actually based on long observation of nature. To illustrate this insight, he includes many fascinating portraits of native life. He offers, for instance, an intriguing discussion of the Chinese belief system known as Feng-Shui (wind and water) and tells of meeting villagers in remote areas of Hong Kong's New Territories who assert that dragons live in the mountains, and that to disturb them by cutting too sharply into the rock surface would cause floods and landslides (which in fact it does). He describes the Tlingit Indians of the Pacific Northwest, who, before they strip bark from the great cedar trees, make elaborate apologies to spirits they believe live inside the trees, assuring the spirits that they take only what is necessary. And we read of the Maya of southern Mexico, who speak of the lords of the Forest and the Animals, who punish those who take more from the land or the rivers than they need. These beliefs work in part because they are based on long observation of nature, but also, and equally important, because they are incorporated into a larger cosmology, so that people have a strong emotional investment in them. And conversely, Anderson argues that our environmental programs often fail because we have not found a way to engage our emotions in conservation practices. Folk beliefs are often dismissed as irrational superstitions. Yet as Anderson shows, these beliefs do more to protect the environment than modern science does in the West. Full of insights, Ecologies of the Heart mixes anthropology with ecology and psychology, traditional myth and folklore with informed discussions of conservation efforts in industrial society, to reveal a strikingly new approach to our current environmental crises.
This original and wide-ranging work examines historical perceptions of nature in China and the relationship between insider and outsider, state and village, top-down conservation policy and community autonomy. After an introduction to the history of wildlife conservation and nature reserve management in China, the book places recent tiger conservation efforts in the context of a two-thousand-year gazetteer of tiger attacks - the longest running documentation of human-wildlife encounters for any region in the world. This record offers a unique perspective on the history of the tiger as a dynamic force in the political culture of China. While the tiger has long been identified with political authority, the Chinese pangolin and its eathly magic have exerted a powerful influence in the everyday lives of those working and living in the fields and forests. Today the tiger and the pangolin, government officials and village communities; must work together closely if wildlife habitat conservation programs are to succeed. Extensive fieldwork in the Meihuashan Nature Reserve and other protected areas of western Fujian have led the author to advocate a landscape ecological approach to habitat conservation. By linking economic development to land use practices, he makes a strong case for integrating nature conservation efforts with land tenure and other socio-ecological issues in China and beyond.
The purpose of this study is to suggest practical planning principles, which are absent in landscape ecology planning, according to which the spatial completeness of the watershed is derived from native Korean Feng-Shui (
). Landscape ecology planning principles are used widely in contemporary planning projects in terms of patch, corridor, matrix and network of landscape pattern. However, landscape indices for planning principles are complicated and constrained, and so are limited to applications for site and eco-village plannings. Native Korean Feng-Shui is different from Chinese Feng-Shui in that it is aimed at theoretical completeness in terms of aspect and topographical shape, based on the concept of ideal Myung-dang (
) to complete the space, according to local conditions in the physiognomy of the watershed. The complementary method is called Bi-bo (
) in native Korean Feng-Shui. These principles have been applied in traditional Korean villages, leading to consistent location choices and fractal patterns in land use. Furthermore, Bi-bo woodlands and ponds have been introduced to achieve spatial completeness in the landscape structure of the village.
Thesis (D. Sc.)--University of Joensuu, 1999. Errata slip inserted. Includes bibliographical references (p. 150-172).
An explicit understanding of past landscapes is a basic and important issue, which enables deeper understanding of current landscapes in a longer context and gives useful suggestion to today's landscape planning. In this paper, transition of the traditional Japanese agricultural landscape (satoyama landscape) over a relatively long temporal scale (1880-2001), and its inherent dynamics in each of four socioeconomically based time periods in two topographically different areas around the Tokyo metropolitan area was studied. Information derived from historical records and interviews was used to differentiate four socioeconomic periods, and to support and explain the results of the analysis. Old maps and aerial photographs were used to create land use maps, which were analyzed using GIS. The results illustrated drastic landscape change from agricultural to urban landscape, with unique land use and transition patterns in each study area. A large part of both study areas was affected by bi-directional conversion between woodlands and crop fields in the early part of the study period, in the form of shifting agriculture. Our results also showed that the landscapes are becoming less dynamic and it may suggest reconsideration for land use planning, which will lead to more stabilized landscapes.
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