History of Feng Shui
According to some of the resources, the first references in writing to Feng Shui were done in 2700 BCE.
The practice developed over time as the practioners started making notes on how fortunes changed over time and environment.
According to the resources, King Wen first used Ba Gua for describing change patterns in the natural world in the Chou Dynasty times (1122-207 BCE). This practice caught on, and was in more popular use by the time of eight century BCE.
Development of Schools
By the time of the Han Dynasty (206 BCE - 219 CE), the principles of k'an-yu, or the study of energy carried in landforms, were laid out. The main developers were Taoists Huang-shih Kung and Ch'ing Wu, who claimed that particularly mountains and rivers were filled with vital energy.
This energy, it was believed, could decide the fortunes of a kingdom. If the capital was built on land with energy forces working for the kingdom, the fortunes were given a positive direction.
In the Feng Shui history, the geomantic compass, Lo-Pan, was first introduced in the T'ang Dynasty (618-906 CE). The Lo-Pan, which features twenty-four directions and seventeen rings, was incorporated into k'an-yu practice.
In 960-1279 CE the practice of Hsuan-k'ung school was founded. This practice includes the evaluations of buildings as well as landforms. The evaluation fo buildings incorporated the
Flying Stars System, which combines information about the direction of the building, the year it was built, and the use of pa-k'ua to find out the energies of a building.
Reported last phase in the history of Feng Shui development occurred during the Ch'ing dynasty (1644-1911) and the Republic China period (1911-1949).
During the Ch'ing Dynasty, Jo-kuan Tao-jen founded the Pa-chai (Eight Mansions) School. This school is applied exclusively to the Feng Shui of residences.
During the Republic years, the Hsuan-k'ung school added the principles of landform classification, to aid in the evaluation of the feng-shui of a building.
Today, these ancient practices are generally called the the Four Schools of traditional Chinese Feng Shui. The schools are known as San-yuan, San-ho, Hsu an-k'ung, and Pa-chai.