If you are interested in practising fung shui, you need to consider what form your training will take. It is always better to serve an apprenticeship with a reputable and experienced master, rather than simply learn the craft from books. While books, especially the ancient texts, contain important information, other issues need to be taken into account. For those who can't read Chinese, for example, information may be misinterpreted, or even lost, during translation. Authors have been known to write books containing cryptic information that can only be clearly understood when you consult them personally. In addition, most ancient texts are written in poetic or classical form and require someone well versed in classical Chinese to decipher them. Fung shui is an oral tradi- tion as opposed to a literary one. In ancient China, fung shui masters preferred to pass on their secrets directly to their most trusted disciples rather than risk publishing them in books available to the entire population. So while fung shui books are useful for reference, it would be unwise to use them as the sole source of your fung shui knowledge and training. Indeed, conflicting information in different books may result in further confusion unless you are fortunate enough to have a fung shui teacher who is willing to sniff out the red herrings for you.