Joseph Yu 余若愚 thinking aloud

cross-examination

2009-07-11T18:49:00.000-07:00

There is some misunderstanding on reports by journalists that the judge abruptly ceased the cross-examination during my session of testimony. Here I hope that the situation can be clarified.

The work of an expert witness consists of two parts: to write a report based on the witness statements by various witnesses with reference to the field of expertise of the expert witness. In this case it is Feng Shui (known as Fung Shui in Hong Kong). The second part is to appear in court to be cross-examined by the barrister of the opposite side. Usually the cross-examination is focussed on the expert witness report. Most of the time, the barrister tries to find fault with what is written.

The first expert witness Mr. Szeto was cross-examined and it was pointed out that his report plagiarized a website and contained false information. It took over 3 hours and the barrister tried to impress the judge that his report is not trustworthy.

When it was my turn, the barrister did not mention anything from my report but instead began with my biography that is on my website. He asked whether my standpoint of vowing to destroy the superstitious part in Fung Shui. My answer was positive.

He then asked whether I considered Mao Shan and black magic Fung Shui practices. My answer was negative. He then asked whether I know Mao Shan and black magic and I admitted that I did not know and this topic was beyond my scope of expertise. He then asked whether I consider anything I did not know as not Fung Shui. I explained that even though I may not know certain practices, I could use common sense to tell that they were not Fung Shui.

At this point the judge took over to ask me whether my Fung Shui knowlege came from self-study. I said it was 90% from books and the other 10% was guided study by my master. When I asked the master something, there was no direct answer but he pointed to certain chapters of a certain book. When I thought I understood something, then I reported to my master. If he turned away without a comment, then I knew I was wrong and did further research until he was satisfied with my research work. That was the way I learned.

The judge then asked if I encountered something that I did not understand but made no sense to me, would I consider it not Fung Shui. I said I would not consider it Fung Shui as Fung Shui is a study that is based on logical development.

The judge then told the barrister there was no need to further cross-examine me. What I understood was that the judge had asked the questions on behalf of the barrister and he fully understood the point and therefore there was no need to carry on. He then asked whether the barrister who defends Tony Chan whether he had anything to supplement. He said not and the cross-examination was over.

JY

Xue Wen and Zhi Shi

2009-06-21T18:21:00.000-07:00

There are two terms in Chinese that people usually cannot distinguish. They are:

Xue Wen 學問 - learn and ask
Zhi Shi 知識 - know and understand.

The latter can be translated as knowledge but the former has no English equivalent. This term is also interesting in the order of the two words Xue 學 coming before Wen 問. That is to say, you have to learn before you ask. Isn't it the right order?

A lot of people ask questions before they learn. When they take a course and encounter difficulty in reading the course book, they ask immediately. This is not the right thing to do because they ask without first learning. The term is Xue Wen and not Du Wen 讀問 (read and ask). The reason why you should learn before you ask is because by doing so, you will understand the answer much better. Sometimes, you don't even have to ask because you will find the answer yourself even though it may not be explicitly given in the textbook. This is the way I learn and therefore also the way I teach.

The other term is Zhi Shi (know and understand). Knowledge is not just something you know. It must be something you understand. What you know is just information given to you. From books and the internet, you can get information but not knowledge. Information can be transformed into knowledge through learning and asking. Of course whether this is successful will depend on the information provider and the knowledge acquirer.

JY

Four Pillars 四柱

2009-06-16T10:49:00.000-07:00

"Bazi 八字" is the abbriviated term used to mean the more academic term "Si Zhu Tui Ming Shu 四柱推命術". The term "Four Pillars" is the translation of "Si Zhu 四柱" and is, in fact, more picturesque.

Each year, month, day and hour is represented by a binomial of Tian Gan 天干 and Di Zhi 地支 which is to be distinguished as their functions and implications are different. We can say that one is the more visible part while the other is the more important background. Each part can represent a person/people or a situation/event.

The natal chart tells us the spiritual structure of a person, his character and the likely limits of achievement. This is largely influenced by the 10 year Pillar and each 1 year Pillar that comes after the person's birth. This accounts for the new environment and people the person will meet.

It is quite obvious that the character of the person leads to the probable reaction to what he encounters. However, we must not forget that education and experience can change the character of a person. This is why there is a part of life that we can control. In Chinese, there is a saying "人定勝天" (Man can surely win over Heaven). This does not mean that Human force can beat Heavenly force. It tells us that we can change the outcome of a situation brought to us by Heaven through our determination and effort.

Heaven can decide what to give us but cannot determine how we react and thus the outcome.

JY

What we face and our reaction

2009-06-07T09:14:00.000-07:00

The link brings you to an insightful pps file:

http://www.sendspace.com/file/t6xvht

The author is Stephen Covey.

No matter whether it is life reading or divination, what is revealed is the 10% - things that are going to happen to you. The outcome depends on the other 90% - how you react to the things happening to you.

If we know the 10% that is beyond our control, we can plan the best reaction to get the most favourable outcome. This is the value of life reading and divination.

If you are the coach of a football team, divination about the game will give you the analysis of what your team is facing. Whether your team will win depends on how your team reacts. If you are just an onlooker, since you do not know how the team reacts, your divination will not tell you the outcome. If Qi Men Dun Jia is used, then it also reveals whether the coach is doing the right thing as well. However, QMDJ is not really divination treated as communication between the diviner and Heaven. It is the analysis of the multi-dimensional field of qi. It may cover much more than 10% as the probable reaction is also revealed in the study.

JY

Over the Rainbow

2009-05-29T19:55:00.001-07:00

A double rainbow

Yin and Yang and Life

2009-05-20T04:51:00.000-07:00

In Feng Shui, we do not deal with "dead" yin and yang. We are interested in how yin and yang intercourse 陰陽交媾 to generate life. It is inappropriate to try to create a rigid definition even when we compare two parts of a picture to see which part is yin and which part is yang. Rather, we can use models to help appreciate the concept.

The flower and the bee - which is yin, which is yang?

The bee is the one in action to make pollination a success. Therefore, the bee is yang while the flower is yin, right?

However, the flower sends out the message to attract the bee and is actually the one that initiates the action. The bee only responds to the message to come over. Therefore, the flower is yang while the bee is yin, right?

This is an example illustrating the teaching in

Qing Nang Jing:
Yang originates from yin. Yin breeds yang. Heaven follows form. Earth is attached to qi. This is what is known as the origin of transformation.

陽本陰陰育陽天依形地附氣此之謂化始 — 青囊經

JY

No movement, no divination 不动不占

2009-05-10T19:48:00.000-07:00

The word "movement" points at the movement of the mind (heart). When nothing bothers one's mind, there is to be no divination.

When someone is bothered by something, his mind sends a strong message to the Universe, which is considered an "intelligent entity" in metaphysics. The Universe will send back a reply of guidance. A diviner is someone who can pick up the message and is versed in interpreting the message. It is, however, not fortune-telling.

A journalist asked me whether I have divined for the outcome of the lawsuit over Nina Wang's estate. As I am not interested in who will win the lawsuit, there is no movement in my mind. Therefore, I cannot do the divination. If either party requests me to do the divination, then the message is strong as there is movement of the mind of the enquirer. However, as I am an expert witness in this litigation, I cannot be the diviner because an expert witness is not supposed to do anything in favour of any party. To divine on behalf of someone is to ask the Universe to give guidance to the enquirer. Therefore, an expert witness cannot divine for any party.

It is a common mistake to view divination as disclosing the outcome. It is, in fact, not a game to satisfy one's curiosity. Divination is to ask for guidance from the Universe to obtain a favourable outcome.

JY

Teaching in Moscow

2009-05-07T07:31:00.000-07:00

Here are some photos taken during my recent teaching tour in Moscow.

Litigation of the Century

2009-04-11T19:57:00.000-07:00

I am glad to be invited to be an Expert Witness in the lawsuit over the multi-billion dollar assets left by Asia's richest woman Nina Wang (Little Sweetie).

The duties of an expert witness are to provide independent assistance to the court by way of objective unbiased opinion in relation to matters within his expertise. An expert witness has an overriding duty to the court and is not an advocate to any party.

The media wrongly assumed that because I was retained by the lawyers of the Defendant, I would be fighting a battle with the expert witness (about Fung Shui issues) retained by the lawyers of the Plaintiff. I don't blame them as their intention is to make it dramatic to attract more readership.

This case is the first one that involves the practice of Feng Shui (Fung Shui). When the case is over, I will share my experience with my friends in this blog.

JY

My Name: 大智若愚

2009-04-10T19:12:00.000-07:00

Back in 2000, when I gave a seminar in UK, I got a temporary library card to visit the British Library. After the seminar, I went to the library. The librarian in charge of the Chinese reference books section was an old English gentleman. He asked me what particular books I wanted to read. I told him I wanted to do a little research on Shao Yong’s work. He took my business card and asked me to write my name in Chinese on it. I wrote:

余
若
愚

He put his thumbs up, “What a good name!” He then wrote with beautiful calligraphy:

若大
愚智
道山
長人

and asked, “Which way do you like me to address you?”
I looked into his eyes, which was blinking with wisdom and humor. We burst into silent laughter together.

“You must be a sinologist.” I said.
“No,” he shook his head with his grey hair almost dancing, “I am just a lover of Chinese culture. Sinologists are westerners who do research work on ancient Chinese the western way. I don’t like the flavor and that is why I am not one.”
“I love to enjoy Chinese culture through books, visiting China and communicate with Chinese scholars.” He added.

He then showed me my seat and asked me to visit other places of the library, “Come back in 1 hour, and the books you want will be on your desk. We have the complete Si Ku Quan Shu 四庫全書 and Shao Yong’s work is in the Zi section Shu Shu Category子部術數類.”

I was impressed as he did not have to go through any catalogue or computer. It was all in his mind.

JY

Happy Mother and Daughter

2009-03-28T16:05:00.000-07:00

Special Design - a follow-up

2009-03-20T07:56:00.000-07:00

A design according to Feng Shui principles must integrate the concept of San Cai 三才 - Heaven, Man and Earth 天人地. The part San Cai takes in Feng Shui is Time, Activities and Space. The part San Cai takes in design is Truth, Virtue and Beauty 真善美.

The design must also cater for the special purpose of what the space is for. The concept of yin and yang for a debate is undoubtedly appropriate. The design, however, is too artificial. The Heaven part is represented by a hanging Taiji symbol. This is eye-catching but as Howard Choy pointed out, it is something calling "Look at me, look at me". In Chinese, it is called "the noisy guest overshadows the host 喧賓奪主".

The Man part consists of a structure inspired by the Taiji Tu 太極圖. The male seated in the white section while the female seated at the black section is not the right seating. In the Taiji diagram, there is a white dot in the black part and a black dot in the white part indicating there is yin contained in yang and yang contained in yin. Therefore, the male should be seated in the yin part while the female in the yang part. As a matter of fact, during the show, the man (黃毓民) talked loudly all the time and the woman (葉劉淑儀) had to plead for a chance to speak. It was chaotic and lacked harmony.

The Earth part is also represented by a large taiji symbol painted on the floor where the seats are placed above. Well, the Earth part should be a square conforming to 天圓地方 (round Heaven square Earth). This will help the speakers to talk with solid foundation. Now, what they say are superficial because there is no firm grounds to support them.

The Heaven part must be true 真 meaning that the taiji symbol hanging there should be replaced by light and shadow on the ceiling to be real. The Earth part must be beautiful 美 meaning that the design must be natural symbolizing solid grounds. Although this is a face-to-face heated debate, the atmosphere must be harmonious and the two participants must have constructive ideas for the benefit of the public. The Man part must show harmony and virtue 善.

JY

Special Design

2009-03-16T11:46:00.000-07:00

This is a TV show of two famous political commentators in Hong Kong debating over certain issues. Note the design of the room where the heated debate takes place. Do you think it serves the purpose?

World market

2009-03-07T20:53:00.001-08:00

stock market info

Tai Sui 太歲

2009-03-04T20:04:00.000-08:00

Some students argue among themselves whether Tai Sui of the year covers 30 degrees or 15 degrees of the luopan.

Qing Nang Xu 青囊序 says:

先天羅經十二支後天再用干與維

In the luopan, the Xian Tian divisions are the twelve branches.
In Hou Tian, the stems and the corner trigrams are also used.

This means that the Heavenly bodies occupy and define the twelve palaces along the yellow path. When it is mapped onto the earth, in addition to the twelve branches, the eight stems (Wu and Ji go to the center to become the Huang Ji 皇極) are added to assist the branches. Moreover, the four trigrams Qian, Gen, Xun and Kun are also added to make it up to 24 paths occupying 15 degrees each.

Xian Tian is the body while Hou Tian is the application. Fundamentally, Tai Sui covers 30 degrees but in Feng Shui practices, we use the branches of the 24 mountains to define the location of the Tai Sui. 7.5 degrees from each side of the branch will be occupied by assisting forces of the Tai Sui.

JY

My Granddaughter

2009-02-25T22:33:00.000-08:00

She's so content!

She's so happy!

Rebecca, Mark and their 1 day old daughter

Fish and Bear's Palm

2009-02-14T21:24:00.000-08:00

Watch the two videos:

http://www.josephyu.com/Bear%20and%20Fish.html

They both show that the bear has powerful paws to help catching a fish with ease.

If you search for videos "bear catching fish", you will see a salmon swimming upstreams flying into the mouth of a bear waiting there. In comparison, you can see how important it is to do something at the right place and time.

Mecius could have meant that to have the instrument to catch fish is better than to be given the fish.

However, it is important to read the entire chapter before drawing our conclusion. Mencius continued to say, "To survive is what I want. To be righteous is also what I want. If I cannot have them both, I will give up survival and choose righteousness. 生我所欲也義亦我所欲也二者不可得兼捨生而取義者也"

For survival, food is essential. It is to be righteous if food is the result of hardwork. If a bear is to choose between being fed with fish but sacrificing his paws, the bear would rather choose to die of starvation.

Giving up survival for righteousness 捨生取義 is what Mencius wanted to teach.

JY

Fish and Bear's Palm

2009-02-13T18:55:00.000-08:00

Mencius said, "Fish is what I want. The bear's palm is also what I want. If I cannot have both, then I will give up the fish and take the bear's palm. 魚我所欲也熊掌亦我所欲也二者不可得兼捨魚而取熊掌者也"

Because of the above writing, people have been thinking that the bear's palm must be very delicious. I remember one year when I was in Hong Kong, a group of very wealthy people bought a pair of bear's palm from China and shared them in a very special banquet. They arranged the banquet in a famous restaurant with the best cook. A lot of reporters were attracted there to interview everyone in this event. When asked about the taste of the bear's palm, here were some of the remarks:

(1) It is good, like beef but a little difficult to bite through.
(2) It is a rare opportunity. The flavour? Well, to tell you the truth, not as good a beef.
(3) Not worth the money.

I tried hard to understand why Mencius said he preferred the bear's palm to fish. One day, I got the answer. I will tell you in the next moment when I think aloud.

JY

Cao Chong Weighing the Elephant

2009-02-09T14:41:00.000-08:00

The story about Newton sitting under an apple tree may be just a made-up story. Whether it took Newton 20 years of hard work to make his theory credible or whether the apple cleared what blocks his mind and inspired him to receive the idea of the Law of Gravity leaves much room for imagination.

Another story that is equally inspiring is about Archimedes (287 BC – 212 BC). He stepped into a bath tub and noticed that the water level rose as his body submerged into the water. He exclaimed “Eureka!” as this inspired him to discover what is now known as Archimedes' Principle – the weight of water displaced is equal to the weight of object submerged in water.

Now I will tell another story. This one is about Han Prime Minister Cao Cao's young son Cao Chong 漢丞相曹操之子曹沖(196 – 208).

One day Cao Cao received an elephant as a gift. Cao Cao ordered the officers to find a way to weigh the elephant. No one could find a solution until Cao Cao's five year old son Cao Chong said he could find accurately the weight of the elephant.

He told the people to bring the elephant to the river and led it to board a boat. Then he told the people to mark on the boat the water level. The elephant was led back to the shore and stones were placed in the boat until the water reaches the same level as when the elephant was on board. It remains an easy job to weigh the stones separately and add up the total. The weight of the elephant was simply the same as the weight of all the stones placed in the boat.

Could and should Cao Chong quote Archimedes to support his method? Can we accuse the young boy for plagiarism because he could not quote from a reliable source? I would rather say that he has wonderful ability to receive messages floating in the Universe.

Most of the time, the gifted people have to work very hard to polish his invisible antenna to keep it functional. Unfortunately this clever boy died at the age of 12.

The modern format of presenting academic papers makes it easy to trace the line of thought but it also makes writing academic papers mechanical and lack of poetry. If you compare Newton's Principia and some modern research papers, you will know what I mean.

JY

Nothing is New Under the Sun

2009-02-05T15:46:00.000-08:00

In my Plum Blossom Divination course, I wrote:

Before the Yijing was written, the concept of Yi already existed. It might not exist in the minds of people. It might just be floating in the Universe waiting to be picked up by someone living on earth.

However, when one picks up an idea floating in the Universe and writes it down as his discovery, it is considered his idea. Obviously he cannot quote the source of the idea.

Yes, nothing is new under the sun. But if you are the first one to discover something, how can you quote an "authoritative source"? Note that you do not create anything. You just discover something that already exists but is unknown to people before your discovery.

JY

Huai Nan Zi 淮南子 and Bai Hu Tong 白虎通

2009-01-18T11:26:00.000-08:00

These are two books some westerners are fond of quoting. Sinologists are addicted to these two books as if they were the most authoritative books in ancient China. In a way, it is true. These are very comprehensive books compiled in a very rigorous way. However, they are both of encyclopedic nature.

Huai Nan Zi was compiled by Liu An 劉安, the King of Huai Nan 淮南王 (179-121 BCE). The work was mostly done by his guests and was divided into 21 Inner and 33 Outer Chapters. The Inner Chapters were about the Dao. The Outer Chapters were about other philosophies. What remain today are the 21 Inner Chapters. These chapters are about the Dao of Nature. It is an integration of Daoism 道家, Moism 墨家, Yinyangism 陰陽家, Faism 法家 and Confucianism 儒家 with an inclination towards Daoism.

Bai Hu Tong was compiled during the reign of Han Zhang Di 漢章帝 (58－88 AD). The work started in the year 79 AD when he summoned his officers to hold a conference. The results were recorded and compiled by Ban Gu 班固, a famous scholar. This becomes the standard answers to questions about the study of Jing Xue 經學. It is interesting to find that this book even included a section on sex education.

Anyway, because of the encyclopedic nature of the books, they are not really reliable at the expert level. To call someone a walking encyclopedia is actually calling him someone who knows superficially almost anything you can name but expert in nothing.

I remember I started trading in gum rosin in China in 1982. I looked up the Encyclopedia Brintanica about gum rosin before I went to negotiate a deal. Armed with the detailed information from the authoritative source I was confident that my knowledge was at the expert level. Fortunately I was a good listener and not a big talker. I was surprised that even the categorization of different grades of the product was not the same from the book and as used in the insdustry.

There is always a danger to rely on reputable source of information.

JY

Attitude towards quoting

2009-01-07T08:15:00.000-08:00

There are different scenarios when we quote from an established source.

(1) To share something we find useful. In this case, if the reader does not agree with the idea, he is disagreeing with the source, not the one who shares what he finds. This will be valuable as the writer will view the materials he wants to share from a different angle and thus broadens his vision. Of course he can also defend the idea to further explain it to the reader. A fruitful debate will spark off.

(2) To support his idea. In this case, he must have his own idea and what he quotes is just to show that his idea is supported by (not copied from) an authoritative source. Such quotes are necessary as a new idea has to be hatched from an egg and not burst from a rock.

Having said this, I want to comment on some people's attitude. When you present an idea, they would demand that you quote the source from an authority. When you say it is your idea , they are not satisfied. They will not accept your idea even if it is logical. They will rather accept a false idea when it is directly quoted from an ancient book. They will not be satisfied even if you quote from an authoritative book to support your idea. This is a very wrong attitude.

JY

Wu Jing and Wu Xing 五经与五行

2008-12-23T20:53:00.000-08:00

The Five Canons 五经:

Shi Jing 诗经 (Canon of Poetry)
Shang Shu尚书 (Supreme Book)
Yi Jing 易经 (Canon of Changes)
Li Ji 礼记 (Propriety Narration)
Yue Jing 乐经 (Canon of Music)

are also classified under Wu Xing:

Shi Jing is classified as Earth because poetry expresses the feeling of people in the most trustful way.

Shang Shu is classified as Metal because history events show the path of righteousness.

Yi Jing is classified as Water as it is the product of human wisdom.

Li Ji is classified as Fire as propriety is the display of human dignity.

Yue Jing is classified as Wood because music is soothing and kind.

If we try to apply the Sheng Cycle and Ke Cycle to the above, we will have a better understanding of these two cycles. Sheng and Ke are both like a sword with two edges. They are not all good and not all bad. It only depends on how they are used.

JY

Wu Xing

2008-12-18T08:50:00.000-08:00

The five elements (Wu Xing 五行) correspond to the five norms (Wu Chang 五常) or the five principles of virtues:

Wood - Benevolence 木為仁
Metal - Righteousness 金為義
Fire - Propriety 火為禮
Water - Wisdom 水為智
Earth - Trust 土為信

These are supposed to be the five norms of human behaviour. In other words, what is normal is already virtuous.

It is interesting that the five norms are quoted in the reverse controlling sequence. It will be a very interesting exercise to read into the generating and controlling cycles to see how these five normal human behaviours interact.

Note that you must give up the false notion of what is commonly called a "destroying cycle". Ke 剋, in most situations, has a positive meaning.

Sheng 生, Ke 剋; Ji 吉, Xiong 凶 - This fundamental notion is so simple and yet so simply misunderstood.

JY

Playing with the Five Elements

2008-12-07T11:12:00.000-08:00

Let us use the Wu Xing principle to understand the saying:

一命
二運
三風水
四積陰德
五讀書

The translation is:
(1) Destiny
(2) Cycle
(3) Feng Shui
(4) Accumulation of hidden virtuous deeds
(5) Study books

The five element assignment is:
(1) Earth
(2) Metal
(3) Water
(4) Wood
(5) Fire

If you know the five element properties, you will see how aptly they can be integrated into the saying. You will also note that they are in the generating cycle beginning with Earth - the basics.

JY