,
Taiwan.
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.
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. 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". 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. 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". 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. "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. 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.
"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. 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". 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." 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. 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. 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".
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. 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.
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.
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. 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.
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.
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. 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." Geomancers usually claimed expertise in "geology" because knowledge of geology enabled them to examine mountains, water, direction, and soil. •
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. •
Kau Cim (求籤) – This requires the shaking of a
bamboo cylinder, which results in at least one modified
incense stick leaving the cylinder. The
Chinese characters inscribed on the stick are analyzed by an interpreter. The prediction is short range, as it covers one
Chinese calendar year. In the West, this method has been popularized under the trade-name "Chi-Chi sticks." •
Zi wei dou shu (紫微斗數) – This procedure, sometimes loosely called (Chinese: 批命, pik meng) or Purple Star Astrology or Emperor/Purple (Star) Astrology, involves the client seeking an advisor with a mastery of the
Chinese calendar.
Astrology is used in combination with the
Chinese constellations,
four pillars of destiny and the
five elements methods of divination. The result is a translation of one's destiny path, an interpretation of a predetermined fate. The result of the details vary depending on the accuracy of the original four pillars information the client provides to the fortune-teller. This method can also verify unique events that have already happened in one's life. •
Bazi (八字) – This method is undoubtedly the most popular of Chinese Fortune Telling methods, and the most accessible one. It has many variants in practice the most simple one called: "Ziping Bazi" 子平八字, invented by Master Ziping. Generally it involves taking four components of time, the hour of birth, day, month and year. Each a pillar from the Sixty Jiazi and arranging them into Four Pillars. The Four Pillars are then analyzed against the Daymaster, the Heavenly Stem for the Day pillar. It is a form of Astrology as opposed to Fortune Telling or Divination, and tells one about his or her destiny in life, current situation and area for most successful occupation. Originally Bazi was read against the Year Earthly Branch, then focus shifted to the Month Pillar, then finally Master
Xu Ziping refined and remade the system to use the Heavenly Stem of the Day Pillar as the emphasis and focus in reading. The practice for reading against the Year Branch is the origin of the popular Chinese Horoscopes for your Year of Birth. •
Wen Wang Gua or
Man Wong Gua (文王卦) -, also known as
Liu Yao (六爻) or
Wu Xing Yi (五行易) sometimes called
Wu Xing Yi Shu – based on the
Wu Xing. •
Mei Hua Yi Shu or
Mui Fa Yik Sou (梅花易數) – Figuratively "Plum flower calculation", sometimes called Mei Hua Xin Yi. \Mui Fa Yik Sou, Zi wei dou shu, Tik Pan San Sou
:zh:鉄版神數, North Pole calculation, South Pole calculation are five main calculation. •
Qi Men Dun Jia (奇門遁甲) also known as Kei Mun Tun Kap, Dun Jia or just Dunjia/DunJia or sometimes Qi Men or Qimen/QiMen – Strange Doors and the Hidden
Jia, The Hidden
Jia escaping through the Strange Doors,
Jia is given priority or importance. It is called Dun Jia because the objective of this
Divination is to protect the Jia stem and move it to a safe place, wherever it may be found in the
Qi Men Dun Jia chart or paipan. The second highest form of Chinese divination, according to Jack Sweeney. Used by Liu Bo Wen to help the Ming capture the throne. •
Yik Lam (易林) •
Yin Kam (演禽) •
Yin and Yang Bowl (陰陽杯) – based on
Yin and yang •
Tik Pan San Sou (鐵板神數) •
Wong Kek Yin Sou (皇極易數) •
Seven Major and Four Minor Stars (七政四餘) •
Three Generation Life (三世書) •
Yin Kam Fa (演禽法) •
Chin Ting Sou (前定數) •
Leung Tou Kam (兩頭鉗) – Figuratively "dual headed suppress" •
Da Liu Ren (大六壬) also known as Liu Ren Shen Ke, or just Liu Ren, sometimes called Xiao Liu Ren – The Six Large
Rens (Heavenly Stem),
Ren in this case is given priority or importance. It is called Da Liu Ren because in the Sexegenary cycle there are Six Rens each with a different branch. The highest and most accurate form of Chinese divination, and after the Song Dynasty, the most popular in imperial China, based on texts found in the caves of Dun Huang. References to Da Liu Ren are found in dynastic histories and in the Romance of Three Kingdoms. •
Tai Yi Shen Shu (太乙神數) also known as Taiyi or TaiYi or Tai Yi – The Great
Yi God Calculating, Calculating the God of the Great
Yi,
Yi is given priority or importance. Primarily used to launch wars or other major imperial activities, with a fortune telling component. •
Cheng Gu Ge (称骨歌) – Songs on Weighing Bones, fortune telling method by Yuan Tian Gang (
袁天罡), involves adding up the "astrological weight" of the four time components and reading the total weight against a certain poem, thus revealing your life fate. Another method was by
Zhang Zhong (Taoist). •
Zhou Yi (周易) – also known as Yi Jing or I Ching, divination according to the book of changes. Methods include: Computer casting, Yarrow stalk casting, coin casting, paper casting, manual casting involves the yarrow stalks or coins. •
Yi Jing Numerology •
Date and Time Yi Jing •
Visual Yi Jing •
Huang Ji Jing Shi (皇極經世)- Fortune telling method based on the book by Shao Yong, the "Huang Ji Jing Shi" •
He Luo Li Shu – Fortune telling type numerology in accordance with the He Tu/Hetu/HeTu Diagram or the Yellow River Diagram •
Di Li Feng Shui – A geomancy based art of divination. Similar to Qi Men Dun Jia. •
Jiu Gong Ming Li (九宮命理) – Aka "
9 Star Ki" or "Chi"/"Qi", also called "White and Purple Star Astrology" • Name Analysis (姓名学) – Analysis of the name in Chinese traditional characters on its impact to the person. This is often used in conjunction with
Bazi. There were a great variety of techniques fortune tellers were using, and those methods can be divided into six categories: astrology, calendars, bone-reading, five elements ("五行"), dream analysis, and analysis of physical objects. One interesting fact is that Chinese almanacs were refined significantly by Jesuits. Having witnessed a more accurate prediction of astronomical phenomena, the Ming government welcomed the Jesuits' modification of Chinese calendars and maintained the original way of predicting if a day was auspicious or inauspicious in the new calendars that were improved by the Jesuits. ==Sociology==