The color Red is auspicious, lucky and therefore it is used for happy occasions. Red is also the color with the most yang energy. It can prevent evil, inauspicious Chi or inauspicious events from occurring.

In China, there is a saying “Red Envelope Policy” which means that one has to offer a bribe to get what one wants.

Sometimes it happens that you tell someone something that they are not really able to, or are not supposed to know. Whoever hears this secret will need to give you a Red Envelope so that the negative or bad Chi will not transmit to you.

The power of Red will stop and prevent all the negative and bad Chi. In Feng Shui, an individual may ask a question, and the Feng Shui Practitioner will give the answer that the individual would not otherwise have knowledge of. Therefore the Practitioner will need a Red Envelope, or three, or nine, or even ninety-nine Red Envelopes. Now bear this in mind, when you ask a question of another who is in a position of knowledge that you don’t have privy to, you may well be putting that individual’s Chi in some sort of danger, so honor the Red Envelope Tradition.

Also in the Chinese culture, “year” (nian) is a type of animal which could hurt or even eat a human being. When one is lucky enough to be alive for another New Year celebration, afterward the elders will give the young people Red Envelops to restrain the sense of tenuous existence and give protection against evil or inauspicious Chi.

Copyright ã 1997 Edgar Sung, all rights reserved
Red Envelopes in the New Millennium

You will find Red Envelopes in most Asian stores and markets, as well as select gift and bookstores. The basic design is unchanging, however you will find a myriad of art or decoration on the envelopes themselves.

As a Feng Shui consultant, I request my payments for a consultation to be placed inside a Red Envelope. Additional uses for the Red Envelopes include:

Any exchange of Feng Shui information, whether cures, space clearing, site purification, ground breakings, astrological readings, design review or preparation services, even my own mother presents Red Envelopes, when appropriate.

· I place my Feng Shui business card in side them.
· Gift-wrap, the uses are unending.