Before airplanes became main stream, the primary mode of transport to bring people across vast distances is by sea.
And for the reasons of commerce and trade, cargo and merchant ships were synonymous with business and the transfer of wealth.
Trade was booming, especially with the western demand for Chinese tea leaves. Trading ships were carrying such a diverse variety of cargo that the sight of one is a representation of success since the products of so many successful businesses were sailing in them.
This positive perception of merchant ships are so embedded in Chinese culture that even today, offices and homes often display them to call on wealth luck.
That’s not all.
Sailing ships depicted to be carrying all types of stuff is a common element used in the design of logos.
Because of the export economy of China in those days, these merchant ships are often observed leave the docks loaded with cargo, and returning filled with gold and treasures.
No wonder they symbolize wealth in abundance!
Feng shui wealth ship
As symbolism plays such a huge part in Chinese culture and feng shui, it is no surprise that Chinese metaphysics practitioners started to incorporate sailing trading ships into the art of symbolic display.
But the design of the wealth ship in feng shui has taken on a form that is familiar today.
In the past, ships can take on various shapes and sizes.
But for feng shui display and placement, it is always a merchant ship with tall sails catching wind in full flight, while laden with items with wealth connotations such as gold ingots, gold coins, jade, etc.
Sometimes fully made with gold or precious gemstones like jade, and sometimes built with wood and cloth like a real ship.
While they can come in various sizes, the most common is about 8 inches in length. And sometimes even as big as a 32-inch television set.
If you are getting a mega-sized ship, do practice the judgment of proportions to determine whether your ship is too big for the living space.
Configuration and design
If you intend to have a wealth ship at home or in the office, you might have seen them available in moulded form of plastic, resin, brass, or other materials.
This is often one item in itself with not one part that can be detached.
You can also buy your own ship and decorate it as your own wealth feng shui ship.
When buying your own ship to customize it to your ideas, do be mindful that it has to be a trading cargo ship.
This means that it should not have cannons or guns as that would make it a war ship or pirate ship.
I personally like those that are designed to look like a real ship during those historic times with a wooden body.
You could go for one with a metal body if you like. This can be especially ideal if metal represents your wealth element according to your bazi. Or when you are placing it at the northwest area of the house.
Once you have decided on a merchant ship that you love, it’s time to fill it up with wealth items.
Here are some wealth items which you can consider.
- Gold ingots
- Real gold
- Precious stones like jade
- Jewelry
- Chinese coins
- Red packets filled with money
- Currency
- etc
You are also not limited to wealth items. Other auspicious items can also be “loaded” onto your personal ship.
It would also be good of the ship is captained by someone.
Sometimes feng shui wealth ships are already crafted with merchants and sailors on the deck of the ship.
But if no people are depicted, then you should appoint at least one person to lead the way.
For reasons of wealth and money luck, a natural captain to appoint would be one of the gods of wealth.
Just purchase a figurine of the one you decided on (in a suitable size) and have him/her to oversee the ship of wealth along on it’s journey.
Also. The sails give you an extra opportunity to add symbols to the whole artifact. So if you decide to have symbols here, do choose wisely.
In some circumstances, celestial creatures can be depicted on these ships as well.
They are most often found as carvings on the bow of the ship.
The most common one being the dragon.
If you plan this properly, you should be able to buy everything you need to set up your own wealth ship from one visit to the store. Or order online.
Placement of wealth ship
When it comes to landscape feng shui, we are sometimes met with external and environmental factors that are out of our control.
But when it comes to feng shui display items, we have total control in how to orientate them and how to placement them.
This is why I always advocate that if you can’t get a placement right, for one reason or another, then don’t place it in the first place.
Wrong or bad placement would render any efforts you’ve made to get right to this stage redundant.
There are some places to locate your wealth ship.
The most obvious places are any of your wealth locations at home or at work. And never above eye-level.
If you have judged that it is not excessive, you could of course choose to have many of these ships at home.
But if I have to choose only one wealth location (assuming all of them have spaces available to place this), then I would go with the primary wealth location.
Firstly because it would benefit all residents in the household. Secondly, it does not need to make annual adjustments to keep in like with flying star movements. Thirdly, this is the easiest wealth area to find with the least possibility of making mistakes.
Another good location for it’s placement is the sheng chi sector of the house identified by 8 mansions feng shui.
If none of the suggested areas are available, an area near the main door would do.
Lastly, something you must absolutely avoid getting wrong is the direction in which the feng shui ship is sailing.
It should be sailing into the house instead of cruising out.
This signifies that the ship would be bringing wealth to the house.
If it is orientated to sail away from the premises, then it is taking money away from you.
It would be a very bad feng shui mistake if the ship is facing the main door of the house.