A FENG SHUI MODEL AS A LOCATION INDEX∗

∗ The financial support provided by the University of Victoria, and the help extended by the Chinese Consolidated Benevolent Association in Victoria are acknowledged. Thanks are also due to the staff of the Land Registry Office and Provincial Archives in Victoria for their generous assistance, and to the old residents of the Swan Lake area for responding to interviews.

ABSTRACT

Oral tradition states that the first Chinese cemetery in Victoria, Canada, was possibly west of Swan Lake, but its precise location and history are unknown. The application of an ideal Feng Shui topographic model and the use of aerial photographs, cadastral and topographic maps, material in Chinese archives, and records of the Land Registry Office, show that the Chinese Association in Victoria purchased a plot of land north of Swan Lake in 1891. The site could not be used as a cemetery because of objection by residents in the vicinity.

Key Words:

• Cemetery
• China
• Feng Shui
• Swan Lake
• Victoria

Notes

∗ The financial support provided by the University of Victoria, and the help extended by the Chinese Consolidated Benevolent Association in Victoria are acknowledged. Thanks are also due to the staff of the Land Registry Office and Provincial Archives in Victoria for their generous assistance, and to the old residents of the Swan Lake area for responding to interviews.