Got Feng Sui?
The Times reports that California Assemblyman Leland Yee has introduced a resolution in Sacramento to urge the Building Codes Commission to revise the building codes to include provisions that address feng sui. I have mixed feelings about this; I’m slightly superstitious in that Chinese way and a believe that feng sui is really just a collection of practical things meant to bring light and air into one’s physical space. However, I have a feeling that this would get political approval only if it was seen as something that was politically correct; essentially kowtowing to cultural sensitivity.
When reading this article, however, I started to think about the intersection of a building code with feng sui with the legal doctrine of negligence per se. In certain jurisdictions, for example, you can sue someone for a construction defect that has injured you, and use a building code violation as proof of his/her negligence. It would be interesting to see someone sue another person for “bad luck” caused by bad feng sui based on practices that did not conform to the building code. I just imagine a lot of Chinese people in court.
david bang
February 1, 2004 @ 12:38 pm
So would a lawsuit for feng sui be considered environmental law?? I wonder…
echan
February 1, 2004 @ 1:32 pm
Hm, I’m not quite sure if it would be environmental law. It could perhaps come under the tort doctrine of nuisance. Bad luck from the house next door causes injury like a bad odor. Or, if the contractor on your own new home violated the code, that would be an old fashioned construction defect case.