'Feng shui' carried to grave

Crown Hill begins work on Asian area in cemetery

By Bill Scanlon, Rocky Mountain News
September 12, 2007

 

Feng shui (fung shway): The Chinese art or practice of positioning objects, especially graves, buildings and furniture, based on a belief in patterns of yin and yang and the flow of chi that have positive and negative effects.

WHEAT RIDGE - It's no easy task getting Chinese and Hmong Lao, Filipinos and Koreans, Christians and Buddhists to agree on much, said Jane Kong, community support specialist at Olinger Crown Hill Cemetery.

But nearly all Asian cultures believe that it's taboo to walk on graves and that it's important to keep ancestors close by.

So with that as a start, Kong approached Denver's Asian community two years ago and proposed creating a special resting place for their ancestors.

The place would follow the principles of feng shui, the ancient art of aligning human energy paths with Earth's energy paths to generate well-being.

Talks ensued, and on Tuesday, the cemetery broke ground on the Asian Paradise Garden.

It's the first time a section of a Colorado cemetery has been designed with feng shui elements in mind, said Crown Hill general manager Kevin Wolfe.

Feng shui draws from Tai Chi, the Yin and Yang and earthly and heavenly energies.

Followers believe that in a home, well-balanced feng shui promotes prosperity.

At a grave site, it improves the destiny of descendants.

Asian Paradise Garden was carved out of 240 acres in the southwest corner of the cemetery, with views of the Rocky Mountains.

There will be 5-foot walkways between rows of graves to ensure that the dead aren't trod upon.

Vincent Chung, representing the Korean-American community, said in his culture it's important to bury the grandfather farthest up the slope, with the sons and daughters below, and the grandchildren below that.

Chi Yung, representing the Hmong Lao community, pointed to the eastern edge of the cemetery and said, "I have my grandmother and nephew buried way over on the east side. I wish they'd lived long enough to be buried here, where we will join heart and hands and spirits and beliefs together. It's part of our history, part of our life, to be together."

The Asian garden will have such features as a large entry gate and a marble gazebo. There are spaces for 800 graves, plus room for cremains.