Tainted China court fights graft with feng shui

BEIJING, May 14 (Reuters) A court in southern China, tainted by a corruption scandal involving crooked judges, hired a Hong Kong feng shui master to help purge bad luck from the court building, a newspaper reported today.

In March, three judges from Shenzhen Intermediate People's Court in southern Guangdong province were prosecuted for taking bribes after being investigated for corruption last year, local media reported.

In recent days, the court had renovated its eastern and western doors under the instruction of a feng shui master ''to correct the misfortune of the previous year'', the Beijing News said, citing an unnamed source.

''The feng shui master told the court's leaders that last year's incidents were due to bad feng shui and identified three harmful influences,'' the paper said.

The eastern side of the court building was facing a factory with an inauspicious smokestack, while the western side's ''yin'' was too strong and needed a pair of stone lions to ward off ''misfortune'', according to the advice given the court's leaders.

The master also found the eastern entrance had an unlucky number of stairs, the paper said.

Planning officials had deemed the court's renovations illegal and Fan Zhongxin, a legal professor, described them as ''too ridiculous,'' the paper added.

''Relying on feng shui to fight corruption is like saying corruption is due to unknowable factors,'' the paper quoted Fan as saying.

''To summarise -- believe in ghosts. Don't believe in the system,'' Fan said.

REUTERS SM SSC1129