Imperial Yi Jing has developed from the specialised study of Chue Style Six Kinships Hexagram Yi Jing. This is one of the component skills of a respected feng shui lineage that can be traced back to the early Chinese Imperial Courts. Taoist Great Grand Master Chue Yen and his only student, Grand Master Chue Yan Chan Kun Wah, were introduced in the previous article in this series, The Indoor Student. Here you can read more about Grand Master Chan’s experiences under the guidance of his extraordinarily powerful master, and about Grand Master Chan’s commitment to research and teaching.

• Traditional Teaching, Modern Teenager
• Bamboo Wine
• Catching Water
• Meeting the Grand Masters
• New Shoes

Traditional Teaching, Modern Teenager

Great Grand Master Chue Yen trained his student using his own Taoist master’s traditional methods of teaching feng shui and Taoist philosophy. For seven or eight years, practical experience replaced textbooks and lectures. Great Grand Master Chue Yen and Grand Master Chan spent much of their time together in the mountains, observing the landscape, elements, seasons and heavens. Like his Master before him, the young man learned to relate his understanding of nature and the flow of chi to the lives and concerns of human beings. In this way he absorbed the wisdom and skill that had been passed down through the centuries.

Of course, learning from the natural environment usually meant being out-of-doors. One day when he was already cold, wet and exhausted, the boy trudged behind his Master up a hill on Ping Chau Island. It was a rainy day, the trail was muddy and Grand Master Chan was feeling disgruntled. Rather than continue, he paused in the shelter of a rock and waited impatiently for Great Grand Master Chue Yen to return. Nothing happened. Eventually he had to emerge from cover and climb up after his Master, shame-faced.

The best time for learning to sense the chi is during the quiet period between one and five in the morning. The chi then is pure, everything is still and there are no distractions. It was at this early hour that Grand Master Chan followed Great Grand Master Chue Yen into the mountains, pursuing the ‘Dragon Chi’. With dew soaking his clothing and a full day at school ahead of him, the teenager bemoaned his situation. While most boys of his age were chasing girls or footballs, he was chasing nothing but drenched trousers!

Under these circumstances, young Grand Master Chan sometimes let his attention wander. Once when Great Grand Master Chue Yen was instructing him in horoscope calculations, he missed the explanation of a technical point. His master refused to repeat what he’d said. Studying in the traditional manner meant a pupil must listen carefully, not take notes, demonstrate his understanding and earn the right to progress. Appropriately, the character ‘Chue’, like the character ‘Chan’, contains the symbol for an ear.

Bamboo Wine

For all his extraordinary abilities, Great Grand Master Chue Yen loved his food. One day he gave his student some money to fetch him a bottle of wine. Now, young Grand Master Chan loved sweets as much as his master loved bamboo wine, so he gave in to temptation and used some of the money for himself. Having satisfied his sweet tooth, he was horrified to find that he hadn’t enough money left to buy a full bottle of wine. He bought as much as he could, then topped up the wine with water and presented his purchase to the older man. Receiving the bottle, Great Grand Master Chue looked at his student’s face, and immediately he knew what had happened. ‘Never, ever do this again!’ he shouted. ‘If you want sweets, I’ll give you the money. You should have given the small amount of wine to me -- mixed energy can be poisonous!’ Grand Master Chan was shame-faced, but he learned his lesson.

Catching Water

Great Grand Master Chue Yen’s teachings could be both metaphorical and practical. One evening he sat with his student by a mountain stream. He told young Grand Master Chan to be still, pay attention and listen carefully to the water. After awhile Grand Master Chan grew bored, and asked why they were bothering with this. Great Grand Master Chue Yen replied, ‘Don’t ask me, just listen and watch. Then you’ll know.’ This went on for quite awhile, with the teenager becoming more and more restless. Finally his master said, ‘If you listen to the stream, you’ll notice the sound isn’t always the same. The movement can change, too, and the wind can be strong or gentle. You can learn from these things if you give them your attention.’

Patiently, Great Grand Master Chue Yen taught Grand Master Chan how to listen, how to communicate with the water, and how to see its energy in the different seasons. To investigate seasonal variation, pupil and master sat at the same spot during summer, autumn, winter and spring. Listening and watching for hours at a time, Grand Master Chan began to realise how different were the level, movement, colour and sound of the water from visit to visit.

This exercise was one way of conveying a subtle point about Chue Style Yuen Hom Feng Shui. Great Grand Master Chue Yen said, ‘If you don’t understand it, how can you catch it? How can you benefit from it? You know how to catch chi [universal energy], and now you know how to catch water. Listen, watch and understand, then you’ll know how to deal with water. When you meet a person, do the same: be still, pay attention and listen carefully. Once you understand them, you’ll know how to communicate and be friends with them.’

On a later occasion, Great Grand Master Chue Yen again stood with his student beside the stream. He explained that this time he was listening to the water tell him where it came from. ‘You should learn where to find its ancestor,’ he said to Grand Master Chan. ‘The source is present throughout the river; you only need to know how to listen.’ Grand Master Chan accused the older man of talking nonsense. In reply Great Grand Master Chue Yen simply asked him, ‘How will you know if it’s pure or poisonous, if you don’t know its source?’ He then set Grand Master Chan the task of tracing the stream back to its origin.

For many evenings Grand Master Chan walked upstream, covering quite a distance. Sometimes the stream disappeared underground, and he struggled to find where it surfaced again. As he followed the stream to its source, he began to learn about earth acupuncture. Eventually the young man returned to his master, who reproached rather than praised him. ‘Why did it take you so many nights to complete this task? One night should have been enough!’

‘Sometimes the stream was hidden,’ Grand Master Chan complained. ‘It’s not easy to follow, when you don’t know where it’s going to come up again!’

His master retorted, ‘Try using your head! Use your common sense! You can see your surroundings, and if you apply what you’ve learned then the water underneath will guide you. So just follow that!’ This was Great Grand Master Chue Yen’s teaching style: sometimes tough but always effective. He wanted his pupil to find the method for himself and not just copy a technique.

Meeting the Grand Masters

The time came when Grand Master Chan was able to meet Great Grand Master Chue Yen’s Taoist master. Great Grand Master Chan was an elderly man by then, but still extremely powerful. A former Qing Dynasty government official, it was he who’d taught Yuen Hom Feng Shui to Great Grand Master Chue Yen, and who’d asked that his teachings be passed on to a member of the Chan family.

On another occasion Great Grand Master Chue Yen was visited by his Buddhist master, the good-humoured Abbot. This prominent monk remembered advising his former student to give the bulk of his money to charity. Very casually he asked Great Grand Master Chue Yen a trick question about how he was faring financially. Great Grand Master Chue Yen answered that he was doing well enough. He had an adequate amount to spend and he was never hungry. The Abbot pressed him further, saying that he suspected there was more than enough, so where was the rest? Great Grand Master Chue Yen told him that he’d put it somewhere safe. Asked to explain what he meant by ‘safe’, he said he’d put the money where it would benefit people.

Young Grand Master Chan spoke up, and told the Abbot that each week many people came to Great Grand Master Chue Yen’s apartment to ask for funds for hospitals, temples and so forth. The teenager suspected that most of the ‘good causes’ were fraudsters. He said that now and then he’d peeped into the red envelopes containing Great Grand Master Chue Yen’s money, and he’d seen that some of the donations had been substantial. Concerned for his master’s welfare in his old age, he’d offered to look after the money for him. However, Great Grand Master Chue Yen wouldn’t let him do this, because he felt Grand Master Chan should concentrate on his studies and not be tempted by the money to ‘do stupid things’. Changing the subject, the young man cheekily asked the Abbot if he could touch his shiny, bald head. ‘Of course! Help yourself!’ laughed the monk.

The Abbot was a very spiritual man who lived a fortunate life with many blessings. He had escaped to Taiwan during the Cultural Revolution and had become very famous, travelling widely in Taiwan, China and America. Among his blessings were wealth and honourable power: from the numerous donations he received in Taiwan he was able to build a large temple. As he grew older he was surrounded by many devoted students.

New Shoes

Studying Great Grand Master Chue Yen’s appearance one day, Grand Master Chan decided it was time his shoes were replaced with a new pair. He took his pocket money and went to the shop where his master bought his footwear. Because Great Grand Master Chue Yen gave away most of his money and always dressed very simply, his student had no idea that the master’s garments and shoes were made from the finest silk. When he entered the shop, the teenager was surprised to find he’d nowhere near enough money to buy shoes of the type his master wore.

The cicada is an ancient symbol of immortality.
It can also signify an honest, highly-principled man.

Grand Master Chan searched among the shoes to find a cheap pair that looked similar to his master’s. He asked the shopkeeper how much they were, and found he still hadn’t enough money. Even twenty pairs in this inexpensive design would cost less than one pair of Great Grand Master Chue Yen’s usual shoes. At this point the shopkeeper made Grand Master Chan an offer. ‘I can see you respect your master, so take this pair of shoes. Leave me your pocket money as a deposit, and I’ll let you pay me the balance little by little each month, with no interest charged.’

The sale was agreed, and Grand Master Chan returned with the new shoes, which he put on his master’s bed to surprise him. When Great Grand Master Chue Yen saw the gift, he spoke very angrily. ‘You stupid boy! You shouldn’t have done that!’ Great Grand Master Chue Yen gave him the full price of the shoes, and told him to take the payment to the shopkeeper. Although he was unwilling to disobey his master, the teenager stood his ground. ‘I made a promise to the shopkeeper, and I have to keep my promise. I mustn’t accept your money, and I mustn’t take it to the shop. This gift is from my heart.’

Relenting, Great Grand Master Chue Yen explained that a feng shui practitioner should wear only well-fitting, high quality shoes. Footwear must be comfortable and long-lasting because there’s so much walking to be done among mountains and other rough terrain. Poor quality shoes feel hard and uncomfortable, and can damage the feet.

From the horoscope of his pupil, Great Grand Master Chue Yen knew the year in which destiny would take him out of China to bring Chue Style Yuen Hom Feng Shui to the Western world. True to his own horoscope, the Grand Master had never married and Grand Master Chan had become like a son to him. The older man was doubly sad, therefore, when it was time for his pupil to leave Hong Kong for the UK. The two men parted company with a hug. This was a great wrench for them both, and it was the only time that Grand Master Chan had ever seen his master cry.

On his arrival in the UK, Grand Master Chan made his first home in Chelmsford, Essex. Thereafter he lived in a number of places in England before moving to Scotland, where he settled near Edinburgh. He chose Scotland because more of the environment there is natural and unspoiled, and the energy is comparatively pure. Grand Master Chan has referred to feng shui as a way of using the natural energy source and protecting the environment, objectives which also were close to the heart of his own master. Scotland provides an excellent base for Grand Master Chan’s teaching and ongoing research.

Before he’d left Hong Kong, Grand Master Chan had listened to his master explain what he must do to build on his skills. He should begin by concentrating on research and further study, including analysis of the Forms that were so unlike those in China. Then, to improve his knowledge and extend his experience, he must follow a particular programme of feng shui consultations each year, without setting a fee. His clients should pay what they chose, however little or much that might be. There were other conditions attached to these consultations, and the pattern was to be followed for a specific number of years. At the end of that time, Great Grand Master Chue Yen’s only pupil would have earned the title of Master. He could then accept Western students and develop Chue Style Yuen Hom Feng Shui through his own research.

When all of this had taken place, and on the day that Great Grand Master Chue Yen had foreseen, Grand Master Chan closed down his Edinburgh restaurant business. The following day he was interviewed by a national paper for an article on feng shui. He founded The Imperial School of Feng Shui and Chinese Horoscopes, and began training an ever-growing number of practitioners and teachers. Together with its recent affiliates, the Imperial School brings the benefits of Chue Style Yuen Hom Feng Shui to people in Britain and abroad.

Grand Master Chan has adapted Taoist Great Grand Master Chue Yen’s traditional teaching style to the needs of his Western students. During his own training, when he asked his master ‘Why … ?’, he often was told, ‘Find out for yourself. If I tell you why, you won’t really learn it and you won’t remember it.’ Great Grand Master Chue Yen would teach him nothing more until he’d worked out the answer on his own, however long it took. Grand Master Chan’s students are treated rather more gently, though we do hear echoes of Great Grand Master Chue Yen when Grand Master Chan answers our questions with, ‘Do your research!’

Certainly not an arrogant man, Grand Master Chan makes time to visit Temple Street on each trip to Hong Kong. There he studies the face readers and astrologers, to learn from their methods. He pays particular attention to those who are skilful but not famous, and he asks them many questions so that he can understand the techniques that are personal to them.

In Taiwan, Great Grand Master Chue Yen and a number of other well-known masters had founded the Feng Shui Research Association. Great Grand Master Chue Yen had been selected as Chairman, and he’d readily given his energy and money in order to help establish the Association on a firm footing. As time went by he’d become very concerned about certain matters to do with the Association, and he’d asked his student to introduce it to the West as the Overseas Chinese Horoscope and Feng Shui Research Association (OCHFSRA). Now known as The Chue Foundation, it is seen by Grand Master Chan as a means of bringing genuine feng shui to the West and promoting research to benefit future generations.

A thousand years earlier, Imperial Grand Master Chan Hai Yee had foretold the continuation of his lineage. Grand Master Chan’s title, ‘Chue Yan’, means ‘Follow the Reason’. It implies the heart-felt gratitude with which he upholds and expands the teachings of preceding generations. Great Grand Master Chue Yen gave Grand Master Chan the titles of the next twelve masters who will succeed him, and Grand Master Chan has released these to Chue Foundation members.

Beginning with his first two students in Hong Kong, Grand Master Chan has spread the knowledge of Chue Style Yuen Hom Feng Shui across the continents, symbolically building a bridge linking two cultures. Imperial Yi Jing is just one of his many students’ projects to bring the benefits of 'Chue Style' to the general public.

You can read more of Grand Master Chan’s reminiscences about Great Grand Master Chue Yen in the next article from the series, More ‘Chue Style’ Stories.

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I'm indebted to the following for their help in providing information, illustrations and general assistance for the articles in this series, History of Chue Style Six Kinships Hexagram Yi Jing:

• Anecdotes:
  • Grand Master Chue Yan Chan Kun Wah
  • Lana Cook
  • Tom Coxon
  • Marianne Druant
  • Aine McCaffrey
  • Kajal Sheth
  • Kaiser Shroff
  • Jillian Stott
  • Ian Wallace
  • Jared Westcott
  • Oliver Winkler
• Editorial Assistance:
  • Ivy Morgan (Qing Zhao)
• General Assistance:
  • Mike Chester
  • Pamela Forsyth
  • Maria Green
  • David Knowles
  • Arthur Tatchell
  • Kay Tom
  • Ian Wallace
  • Michael Warden
  • Linda Watt
• Calligraphy:
  • Grand Master Chue Yan Chan Kun Wah
• Illustrations:
  • Grand Master Chue Yan Chan Kun Wah
  • Val Burnham
  • Bernard Cloutier
  • Pamela Forsyth
  • Kaiser Shroff
• Ambient Music:
  • David Knowles