Chinese fortune telling, better known as Suan ming () has utilized many varying divination techniques throughout the dynastic periods. There are many methods still in practice in Mainland China, Taiwan, Hong Kong and other Chinese-speaking regions such as Malaysia, Indonesia and Singapore today. Over time, some of these concepts have moved into Korean, Japanese, and Vietnamese culture under other names. For example, "Saju" in Korea is the same as the Chinese four pillar (Chinese: 四柱八字) method.
History The oldest accounts about the practice of Chinese divination describe it as a measure for "solving doubts" (e.g. "Examination of doubts" 稽疑 part of the Great Plan :zh:洪範). Two well known methods of divination included bǔ 卜 (on the tortoise shells) and shì 筮 (on the stalks of milfoil shī 蓍). Those methods were sanctioned by the royal practice since Shang and Zhou dynasties. Divination of the xiang 相 type (by appearance – of the human body parts, animals etc.), however, was sometimes criticized (the Xunzi, "Against divination"). Apparently, the latter type was a part of the medical and veterinary practice, as well as a part necessary in match-making and marketing choices. A number of divination techniques developed around the astronomic observations and burial practices (see Feng shui, Guan Lu).
The dynastic chronicles preserve a number of reports when divination was manipulated to the end of achieving a political or personal goal.
Fortunetelling in the Ming Dynasty
A diverse culture of fortune telling that prevailed in the whole society came about during the Ming Dynasty. This article is going to mainly explore the occupation of fortune-tellers in Ming, including their professional skills, contact with clients, and social impact.
Appearances Some literary works in Ming time depicted the presence of various types of fortune-tellers. For instance, Story 13 in Stories to Caution the World by Feng Menglong illustrates the feature of a fortune-teller with "a bag on his back, a cap on his head, a black double-collar shirt with a silk waistband, a clean pair of shoes and socks on his feet, and a scroll of writing in his sleeves".Feng, Menglong, "Judge Bao Solves a Case Through a Ghost That Appeared Thrice" in Stories to Caution the World, translated by Shuhui Yang and Yunqin Yang (Seattle: University of Washington Press, 2005), p199 Fortune tellers in Ming time developed their business in a variety of ways. Some of them would travel on foot, walking street by street and holding a sign describing their specialization. Book six in Stories to Caution the World portrays a fortune teller who walked alone on the road. By keeping a banner with the phrase "Divine Foresight," the fortune teller could capture the client's attention. Other fortune tellers in the country areas would also set up booths at places with a high population density, such as the city entrance and temples.Gao Chang 高畅, "明清术士的工作内容与谋生之道--以安徽地方志为研究中心"(Warlocks' Work and Way of Making a Living in the Ming and Qing Dynasties—Based on a Study of the Local History of Anhui Province), 黄山学院学报(Journal of Huangshan University) 18.4(August 2016): 39–45, p42
Payments Usually there is no strict contract on the payment to the fortune teller. Therefore, the fortune tellers sometimes need to deal with the clients about the fee.Menglong, Feng, "Yuliang Writes Poems and Wins Recognitions" in Stories to Caution the World, translated by Shuhui Yang and Yunqin Yang (Seattle: University of Washington Press, 2005), p 87 The client could escape from paying the fortune teller, but he did not have a practical solution to that.Feng, "Yuliang Writes Poems and Wins Recognitions", p87 However, there are also cases where the clients would be willing to pay extra to the fortune-tellers when they were satisfied with the result.Feng, "Judge Bao Solves a Case Through a Ghost That Appeared Thrice", p199
Methods
Physiognomy General Practice A physiognomer carefully examined one's body such as facial structure, complexion, body shape, and bones. A physiognomer made his calculations mainly based on the structure and shapes of these characteristics of one's body, where an auspicious future usually manifested on an ideal body feature.Smith, Fortune-tellers and Philosophers: Divination in Traditional Chinese Society, p192
Techniques The first and the most basic technique that a physiognomer would use was to take a look at the facial structure and the general body shape of the client. Size was one factor, whereby a physiognomer not only made a conclusion based on the size of a specific body part, but also the areas around it.Smith, p188 The other method a physiognomer would use was to compare the facial structure of the client to animals, which possessed distinctive symbolism and meanings. Through this connection, the physiognomer was able to make a general extrapolation of one's personality and career path. For instance, as mentioned in Shenxiang Quanbian, "the look of a tiger suggests intelligence, ambition, and the position of a general".Smith, p189
A physiognomer could reference Shenxiang Quanbian, which introduced six ways to read specific facial parts; for instance, one way to divide facial structure was to use to the geomantic theory by classifying each part of the face into specific mountains, rivers, and planets.William A. Lessa, "Chinese Body Divination: Its Forms, Affinities, and Functions" (Los Angeles: United World, 1968), p38 Furthermore, the other commonly used analysis was based on the concept of "yearly fortune", where "it groups phases of life up to the age of ninety-nine under the twelve earthly branches, beginning in the general region of shen, near the top of the left ear, and ending at xu, on the left cheek".Smith, p192 On this account, a physiognomer would calculate one's fate based on the specific facial feature which represents his or her fortune at that particular age.Lessa, p52 "Shifu Meets a Friend at Tanque" by Feng Menglong tells a story between a physiognomer and Duke of Jin named Peidu at the beginning of the story, in which the physiognomer predicted Peidu's career path and wealth in few years based on the appearance of the region under Peidu's eyes.Menglong, Feng, "Shifu Meets a Friend at Tanque", in Stories to Awaken the World: A Ming Dynasty Collection, translated by Shuhui Yang and Yunqin Yang (Seattle: University of Washington Press, 2000), p373 In this story, the physiognomer was using the method of "yearly fortune", and his object of the technique is the pattern of Peidu's facial feature.
Besides focusing on the structure and details of the face, another crucial technique for fortune tellers was to look at one's facial color to determine the potential success or failure a person might achieve. For example, a physiognomer might give warning to his client if he or she had a relatively dark face color. Based upon this fact, even though the way physiognomers judged a person's facial color was different from a doctor, he would still need to possess some basic medical knowledge to establish the ground for this calculation.Smith, p194
"Five Elements" Another important technique that a physiognomer would apply to tell the client's fate was to determine one's "five elements" by looking at his or her body shape.Smith, p188 Based on the writings of Shenxiang Quanbian, a physiognomer would pay attention to one's bones, eyes, shoulder, eyebrows, and other body features to determine one's own element, and then make the calculation of the client's fate based on their "five elements".Lessa, p38 For instance, a physiognomer would consider the client as a "water" person if "he had a round, heavy, and blackish appearance, with large eyes, thick eyebrows, hanging stomach, and erect shoulders."Lessa, p39 To read his client more deeply, he needed to go beyond the single quality of a specific element and to understand the complex relationship within the network of all five elements, and their various forms of manifestation in one's body.Smith, p189 Each of the elements can create a significant impact on the other, either negative or positive. The characteristic of the combination of any of these elements could differ from person to person, thus leading to a different result in the calculation of one's fate.Weipang, Chao, "The Chinese Science of Fate-Calculation" in Folklore Studies, Vol. 5 (1946), Nanzan University, p288 For example, "when a man of wood has some qualities of water he will enjoy honor and wealth, and will be above normal in scholarly undertakings". Lessa, p40
Hand Reading The other principal way in physiognomy is to determine one's fate through his or her hands, particularly palms. In general terms, a physiognomer first examines the shape and the skin of one's hand. For example, a physiognomer would consider those who have a large hand as fortunate people.Smith, p196 After looking at the shape of the hand, he will then carefully look at the pattern of his client's palm. A physiognomer would determine one's fate by reading the structure of the bumps and lines. A client's palm allowed the physiognomer to determine the client's health, wealth, and social status.Lessa, p90
Ziping Divination Fortune-tellers in Ming time vastly adopted the method of Ziping divination, which was first introduced by a famous fate-calculator named Xu Ziping.Chao, "The Chinese Science of Fate-Calculation", p 286
Techniques Ziping's method focused on the "ten stems" and "twelve branches" of a person's birth. This method is known for its application of "Four Pillars of Destiny," most commonly called "Ba-Zi" or "eight characters," to calculate one's fate, and what shaped this method was the components of a person's year, month, day, and hour of birth.Smith, p177 Through combining the stem-branches of one's birth and their five elements, fortune tellers calculated the client's fate through finding the mutual relationship between these two.Chao, p314
Geomancer (Fengshui) A geomancer examined the placement of homes and ancestral tombs. The principle was to seek a balance within the universe in order to secure a promising life or a particular event. Therefore, their object of technique is the house, tomb, time, and the cosmos.Smith, p131
Techniques One of the fundamental techniques for a geomancer was the use of a compass (luopan) as their tool for calculating location and time. A regular compass contained thirty-eight rings, which interconnect with "five elements", "twelve branches", "nine stars" and "ten stems"; therefore, a geomancer needs to figure out the particular symbol on the compass that can represent the nature of a location.Smith, p136 For example, "if the compass shows a certain spot to be associated with the planet Mars, and if the 'agent' wood is to the left of this point while 'water' is to the right of it, then the location will be inauspicious because water destroys fire and fire destroys wood."Smith, p137
Geomancers usually claimed expertise in "geology" because knowledge of geology enabled them to examine mountains, water, direction, and soil.Gao, p40
Face reading (面相) – This is the interpretation of facial features of the nose, eyes, mouth and other criteria within one's face and the conversion of those criteria into predictions for the future. This usually covers one phase of the client's life, and reveals the type of luck associated with a certain age range. A positions map also refers to different points on the face. This represents the person's luck at different ages. The upper region of the face represents youth, the middle region of the face represents middle age, and the lower region of the face represents old age. Palm reading (手相) – This analyzes the positioning of palm lines for love, personality, and other traits. It somewhat resembles Western palmistry in technique.