Of the many China CCTV awards given to Master Yun, one was to commend Lotus on Water as an outstanding enterprise.
Lotus on Water is the only jewelry enterprise to receive this award in 2019, and the only fengshui enterprise to receive this award, ever. Couldn't have done it without your support, THANK YOU!
Of course, whatever achievements Lotus on Water has, it is through the spirit and direction of Master Yun. I am sure you are familiar with the history of Lotus on Water, that it started from Master Yun's house back then, how the 1st Lotus Guan Yin (the one carved of green and lavender jadeite) blessed Master Yun with 21 overseas clients, how we started the first Lotus gallery...and so on.
You also know about the Lotus standards, how we inherited and innovated, how we kept pushing the frontiers of fengshui jewelry, how we through more than a decade of endeavor brought "fengshui" to a glorious height...these are evident from the many awards presented to Master Yun.
The significance of the "Outstanding Enterprise" award, I think, first got to do with turning the art and practice of fengshui into an enterprise.
This might sound...redundant. After all, hasn't the enterprise Lotus on Water being around for a very long time?
Yes, to most of us, buying and paying a stated price for Lotus collections for the benefit of our own future and fortune, can't be simpler, can't be more common.
But there are still some who stubbornly and rather illogically feel that fengshui should not be practiced as a business. They feel that it should be based totally (or randomly, ironically) on affinity 缘分, or they weirdly feel that if the fengshui really works and brings prosperity, the people practicing it don't even need to do business (because they should be wealthy enough...?). Or, they feel that one shouldn't monetize or profit from culture, heritage, arts. Or, maybe they just want fengshui free of charge.
Whatever the assumptions and excuses might be, after decades in the fengshui industry, and dealing with various arts and culture circles, I have come to understand the importance of practicing fengshui as a business, as an enterprise.
A China client once asked me:
I said:风水对你来讲是作为爱好去做，还是作为一门生意去做？(Fengshui for you, are you doing it as an interest, or doing it as a business?)
我认为我庆幸的是，风水肯定是我的爱好，从小便是。如今又能把它运营成一门生意。所以每天的工作，也没怎么感觉是在工作似的。(I think I am lucky. Fengshui is definitely my interest, since young. And now I can operate it as a business. So I don't really feel like I am working.)
因为是爱好，所以有无穷尽的好奇感。但也因为是生意，所以不再只是为了自己的喜好而已，而是成了一种纪律、一种要对他人和传承的责任。(Because it is an interest, so there is insatiable curiosity to discover more about this art. But since it is also a business, you are not just doing it solely because of fancy; it becomes a discipline, and you must be responsible to others, and on how to let this art be passed down to future generations.)
When fengshui is practiced as a business, there are standards to follow. No longer can one do fengshui as they feel like it, there has got to be some kind of system -- that is, if one aspires to be a good businessman!
No longer is it just about one's own pleasure when studying and practicing fengshui; it's not just a hobby. You can't afford to be whimsical about it anymore! You have to answer to your paying clients, provide value, and be responsible.
For instance, there is a process to buying your Lotus collections, and I am sure you familiar with it: Lotus advisories prescribe the fengshui jewelry according to your needs, you choose and pay the clearly stated price (明码标价), the collection be blessed by Master Yun personally, then we arrange a date for wearing it.
And I am sure you know, since there should be standards and systems, before a piece of Lotus collection appears in the gallery, there's a huge process behind the scene, from harvesting raw materials, to carving, to seven rounds of inspection...all to ensure the "gold standard" quality.
If fengshui is practiced based purely on affinity or as a mere self-absorbed hobby, none of these tedious processes matter. And if there were to be no enterprise, one would not have the capacity to persevere in upholding the rules.
By the way, Lotus on Water is the first fengshui and jadeite company to insist on having clearly stated prices (明码标价). We disagree with quoting prices based on how a client dresses. We despise the swindling trick of quoting a high price but only to cut 50% because of "affinity". Whatever prices you see in the Lotus gallery, that's the amount you are paying, regardless of your wealth status, and that's the exact piece of jadeite or agarwood you are getting.
And there are rules and charts to the pricing of a Lotus collection. The size, quality, clarity, what kind of inclusions, intensity of color...are some of the factors. The system is so clear that some clients could roughly guess the price of a Lotus collection just by its photo on Facebook! "Errr, I think it's about 50k", "this should be in the range of 100k-120k"...how wonderful it would be if they were on the game show "The Price Is Right"!
-- Kan, Executive Director
[Continue to PART 2]
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