More Chinese parents turning to feng shui masters to name their children
Once banned as superstition, the practice is back in fashion with families who pay thousands of yuan for names that will bring their babies luck
In early April, Liang Shi, a native of Guangzhou, gave birth to a girl. Later that day, her husband called feng shui master Li Jun to tell him the exact time of the girl's birth and asked him to name her.
Li provided several names that suggested good fortune for the child by using feng shui principles to interpret the time of her birth. Liang and her husband chose one, "Zhiyi", Li charged them nearly 20,000 yuan (HK$25,000), and everyone was happy.
Feng shui is a system of laws that aim to bring harmony between people and their surrounding environment based on yin, passive energy, and yang, active energy. According to feng shui, people should have a balance between the metal, wood, water, fire and earth elements to achieve good fortune.
A growing number of parents on the mainland are turning to feng shui masters to find names for their newborn children.
Liang Chen, a new father from Guangzhou, carried out his own research into feng shui, before turning to a friend who was a practitioner.
He told his friend he wanted his son's name to be unique, lucky and sound nice. After much deliberation, his friend suggested a few names and Liang picked the one he thought most suitable.