Predicting the future is a popular topic all over the world. This is because no one really knows what lies ahead in life. While others rely on their instincts, hard work and perseverance, there are still a number of people who highly appreciate and believe in the effectiveness of fortune telling in their lives.
This is especially true in Chinese culture. The Chinese, as well as other cultures, use Chinese methods of divination to determine future events. Since historical times, the art of Chinese divination, known as “Suan Ming” in Chinese, has been practiced to know one’s future.
As in many Western cultures where various divination methods are used to predict the future, Suan Ming also has numerous forms of divination. In 1683, the official government manual published by the Board of Rites and later updated in 1741, contained thirty-six books entitled Hsieh Chi Pien Fang Shu. In modern days, Hsuan tse is the best known divination manual listing all the essential formulas, regulations, and methods of divination in combination with the many techniques used in different parts of China.
Face reading is a popular method of Suan Ming. Also known as physiognomy, the history of this process could go back to ancient times with the Chinese. Facial features such as the nose, eyes, and mouth are analyzed and interpreted in Face Reading. These facial features are believed to match the five Sacred Mountains, the four Great Rivers, the five Planets, and the six Stars. 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. The reader or physiognomist can calculate the relationships or oppositions of these features to predict good and bad luck. Probable lifespan, marriage, and child-bearing fortunes are also predicted in Face Reading.
Palm Reading or Palmistry in the West, is another way of predicting one’s future. It involves the analysis of appropriate palm lines for love, personality, and other individual qualities.
“Kau Cim”, also a Chinese method of divination that involves waving a bamboo cylinder containing divination rods. These sticks that resemble flat incense sticks are inscribed with Chinese numbers. The querent asks or whispers her question to the deity and then shakes the tube with the sticks. The first stick to fall will have a corresponding piece of paper on which the answer to the queries will be written. The interpretation of what is written on the paper is done by a temple priest or volunteers after offering incense, fruits, cakes, a roasted pig or bird, or monetary donations.
“Zi wei dou shu”, also known as “Purple Star Astrology” or “Emperor/Purple (Star) Astrology”, is also among the forms of divination. The client is looking for an advisor with command and knowledge of the Chinese calendar. The combination of Astrology, Chinese Constellation, Four Pillars of Destiny and the Five Elements is used in this divination method. Thus resulting in the translation of the destination path and the default destination. This method can also check for single events that have already occurred.