Fengshui was originally a methodology for nurture of both spirit and fertility based on the relationship between water, wind, and qi, and was first used in the selection of sites of habitation on the loess plateau of northern China. An analysis of this methodology for nurture of the physical is the purpose of this paper. Its prism is the history and philosophy of science specifically in relation to the concept shi ([Chinese characters omitted]) or the configurational force of the topography and xing ([Chinese characters omitted]) the local landform, the topographical concepts thought to enable the flow and capture of qi, respectively; the interface between rationality and emotion; and the problems that are manifest with the ritualisation of knowledge. This analysis is then utilised to argue the importance of a non-linear, globally based history and philosophy of science in science education.