看房看风水
看房看风水
You Need to Understand a Bit of Feng Shui When Buying a Home
经纪手记之二十三
Zane Cai
朋友看到一平房很喜欢，叫我看看。那房三房两卫带地下室，近两千尺，一万多尺的地，房子照片很漂亮。那房小区很好，一公里外是绵延几十里的森林保护区，內有人行道、玩乐处，附近有本州最好的餐馆。那一带我太熟悉了，读书时就到那边上的林中公园聚餐过，后来常到那附近餐馆吃饭。房子对面就是一小学，边上是一公园，该安全、安静。从卫星图看，车库与房子连体，位于东北角，还算不错；叫价比市场价低，值得一看，便约好第二天去看。
首先得看小区地势。本州平原，地势细微高低卫星图上看不出，得实地查看。开车临近那儿发现有的小区略高，有的低下去；但到那房子小区后发现小区地势不低；房前草地和房基都高出街面。但一看南面房子，顿时心凉：南边房为两层楼，与要看的房子南墙相距五米左右。这一状况卫星图上看不出。我若早知这个会告诉朋友这房子不值一看：东南闭塞，此为枯地。
既然来了，只得看看。房子很宽敞，整体状态不错，地下室小，但结实干燥，墙无裂纹；后院方正，南北西都有围栏，草地四周矮树构成的天然篱笆造就私人空间；西沿有两株参天大树，一株腰围数丈，数十米高，树枝伸张，盖过草地，夏天为草地支伞。房子四周墙壁光亮结实，只是屋顶老朽该换。房子该是一老头的，打理不错。看了三十分钟，在两主要空间呆了半天，感觉不佳。出得门来，细想后觉得此房不宜买。朋友问我这房子风水如何，我只得说不是很好。
这房子的最大问题是那南边两层楼高的房子挡在房子主体之南，如相距数十米也无妨，但相距五、六米！也不知美国建房人是怎么想的，在这地盘宽阔的郊区这么搞！邻居房子把这房东西向主体房的东南阳光全部挡住；这是一；其次是这房为两厢构成，横竖交叉：竖为南北向，横为东西向；横竖交角于东南，开抱西北，此为最糟抱向，而最糟的是东南为邻居楼房挡严；三间卧房都位于南侧之西（平房內卧房于北为佳）；还有就是屋瓦延伸出墙一米多，虽有挡雨护墙之功，但于三季皆冷的芝加哥北郊有遮阳挡气之弊。此房大门朝东，进屋左边就是主厅，餐厅也在其中，唯东有一凸出大窗，西端饭厅有一小窗，下午两点，室内阴晦：大窗为下垂屋檐所遮，小窗为邻居墙壁封挡，西端为卧房墙壁。此间夏日早上可能阳光充足。另一主体空间为带壁炉的客厅，南北向，东为车库，北为壁炉，唯西有玻璃门，此时（下午两点）室内阴沉，因东西横向延伸的卧房挡住南来光线，垂伸屋檐又挡住西阳。厨房有天窗，但只亮一块。整个房子没一间东西通畅、南北顺流，没一间给人明快通透之感。而这一切都缘自那南边房子阻塞东南。
只能说这房子风水不佳。风随阳动，水在高低；风水之学奥妙无穷，我们不必把风水弄成玄学。人都生活在阳光之下，行走于地面之上，人有不同，但有共性，正常人身处一室就能感受那气场。在房屋中自觉愉悦最为重要，这在于空间、光线、色彩、时间。买房一定要去实地感受。决定我们健康和寿命的第一要素是心情。风水不佳、晦暗闭塞的房子让人抑郁，无由生病；风畅水顺的房子让人通泰愉悦，通泰愉悦利于健康长寿。
Zane Cai
11/15/25
You Need to Understand a Bit of Feng Shui When Buying a Home
By Cai Zheng
I work as a real-estate agent in the Greater Chicago Area, and I often feel regret on behalf of fellow Chinese who buy the wrong houses—or even ruin the feng shui of their homes—simply because they don’t understand it. Many Chinese buyers put school districts above everything else and will buy a house as long as the district looks decent. But one must know: our state’s terrain is mostly flat, sudden heavy rains are common, and low-lying areas often cannot drain in time. Roads frequently flood, and whole neighborhoods can turn into lakes. Although the U.S. designates flood zones, many streets that flood occasionally are not included. Flooding can last for days, leaving people unable to return home after a storm. Some houses sit in narrow, low, damp valleys and feel gloomy. Some homes are located at the bottom of a slope, with a two-lane roadway tens of meters above them. Some houses share a single hilltop, yet buyers choose the ones in the unfavorable northwest corner. Some yards have trees taller than the roof—natural protective umbrellas for the house—yet homeowners dislike them for blocking grass growth or dropping leaves, and so they cut them down without hesitation.
How can one not understand feng shui? Even birds choose the right branches to build their nests, and rabbits choose the right soil for their burrows. Humans must be even more selective about where we live. Our Chinese ancestors developed a unique system—feng shui—by summarizing long experience in choosing land and building homes. But a century of urbanization pushed people into high-rises, far from the earth and water humans once lived close to, and apartment dwellers had little choice, making feng shui seem irrelevant. However, over the past fifty years, the U.S. has moved away from dense urban living, and most middle-class Americans now live in suburban single-family homes. Under these conditions, feng shui once again has real, practical value. In America, people move frequently, and houses are rarely occupied by generations of the same family, so there is no need to be bound by traditional feng-shui doctrines. Instead, we should discard the metaphysical parts and make good use of the scientific principles within.
What is feng shui? Put simply, it refers to the movement of wind and water—the positioning of the home, its orientation, and the configuration inside and out. Feng shui for a home involves major and minor elements. Major feng shui includes the home’s large-scale surroundings: mountains, forests, terrain, the direction of roads, and public facilities. Minor feng shui concerns the home’s elevation, its facing direction, the surrounding trees and plants, the distance from neighbors, window orientation, garage location, and the arrangement of the living room, kitchen, dining room, master bedroom, secondary bedrooms, and bathrooms and how they connect.
Major feng shui can be roughly assessed from maps; minor feng shui can be partially seen from satellite images, but must be inspected in person. Feng shui refers to subtle information beyond a house’s obvious features—its ability to harmonize yin and yang and gather the natural energies needed for healthy living.
In the northern United States, where winters are long and summers short, natural lighting is extremely important. During the long, cold winter months, a home filled with bright sunlight keeps people refreshed and uplifted; insufficient natural light, by contrast, can easily lead to depression. For one- or two-story houses, it’s best to have the garage on the northwest side, and long, rectangular houses are best stretched east–west. Homes built for American middle-class buyers are usually mass-produced from standardized plans, often without regard to orientation. Some houses have good feng shui—the garage, house orientation, and windows all positioned well, allowing ample natural light. Others have the garage occupying the southeast side and very few south-facing windows, making them dim inside. Since most of us buy existing homes and cannot choose the land or design a house embraced by mountains and water, we should at least choose among available homes the ones with better feng shui. That’s why I always recommend viewing houses in person on sunny days to truly observe and feel the space.
Good feng shui supports physical and mental health and a happy family—so when buying a home, one really should understand at least a little feng shui.
March 5, 2024
