Arboriculture & Urban Forestry 37(1): January 2011 Arboriculture & Urban Forestry 2011. 37(1): 19–26 19 On the Establishment of Feng Shui Villages from the Perspective of Old Fukugi Trees in Okinawa, Japan Bixia Chen and Yuei Nakama Abstract. 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 Oki- nawa 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 281 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, dur- ing 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. Key Words: Feng Shui Village; Fukugi; Garcinia subelliptica; Isolated Islands; Old Trees; Sacred Sites. Feng Shui practice is based on empirical observation of the sur- rounding landform. Its ultimate goal is to achieve harmony be- tween man and nature. Feng Shui originated in mainland China and then expanded to other regions in East Asia. Feng Shui was first introduced to the Ryukyu Kingdom (Figure 1) in Okinawa at the end of the 14th Century with the earliest Chinese immigrants. Historical literature related to Feng Shui villages in Okinawa is very limited. However, a complete record of Feng Shui village inspections over a period of 30 years, from 1857 to 1888, ex- ists in the old Haneji District of mainland Okinawa (Ono 2006). Tree planting has been highlighted in these Feng Shui diaries. Dense forests were required to be planted on the Feng Shui sites which are tightly linked to the Feng Shui of the entire village. Fukugi (Garcinia subelliptica Merr.) tree lines were planted to surround the entire hamlet, called Village Ho:go, and even every house (Chen and Nakama 2011). A brief record of village Feng Shui inspection in the Yaeyama Islands in the south of Okinawa Prefecture by a Feng Shui master named Tei Ryosa (C. Zheng Li- angzuo), from 1863 to 1864, was titled Hokubokusan Feng Shui Diary (1864). A hand written copy of Hokubokusan Feng Shui Diary by Hanayama Soni (花山孫位) was found in 1965 (Ma- chida and Tsuzuki 1993). From these limited records, it is evident that Feng Shui masters assisted in the settlement of a new vil- lage and the improvement of village landscapes. These Feng Shui villages are located on small islands or sandy land close to the coast. Houses are clustered and laid out mostly in orderly fash- ion, with Fukugi tree lines surrounding each house. Tree lines were also called yashiki ho:go. Ho:go is a Feng Shui term, liter- ally meaning to embrace and protect. Trees are laid out in a line around the house to protect it from strong typhoons in summer, and monsoon winds in winter. In his famous work concerning Map of Ryukyu Islands and survey sites. Source: Ryukyu Islands (1953) by United States Civil Administration. ©2011 International Society of Arboriculture
January 2011
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