Fayette County herald. [volume] (Washington [Washington Court House], Fayette County, O. [Ohio]) 1860-1???, 1876-04-20
Chinese Fortune TeIIers.
Sunday Magazine.

Sunday Magazine.
Intimately associated with the supersti-
uons of China is the art of fortune telling
or divination, an art which enters in
many matters of everyday life, and is
practlced openly and in various ways, the
following being the more noteworthy
methods pursued. The most common
branch of the fortune teller's art has ref
erence to the eight horary characters
which, taken in pairs, denote the year,
month, day and hour of a PERSONS birth.
The fortune teller makes his predictions
on these data, by the use of certain mys-
teal books pertaining to his art, and his
services are an indispensable preliminary
to the arrangement of a marriage for he
it is who decides whether the horoscopes
OF the man and the woman are sufficiently
in harmony to justify their becoming hus-
band and wife. Another professor of the
art, like the gypsy in our own country,
bases his vatfcinations on the physiogno-
my OF his client; he does not, however,
conhne his examination to the lines in the
palm of the hand, but extends them even
to the whiskers, if his customer chances
to have them, somewhat rare occurrence
in China. A third class of fortune-teller
processes to pry into the future by the aid
of bird and small sheet of paper. He
belongs to the peripatetic order, and is
commonly to be found in the streets and
tea gardens. In one hand he holds a piece
of iron and bamboo stick, by. striking
which together he attracts the attention
of the passers-by, and in the other hand
he carries cage containg the bird. When
customer applies to have his fortune
| told, he spreads out the little sheets of pa
per, usually sixty-four in number on
which are written some characters. The
cage is opened, the bird hops out, and, be-
/ ing trained to the business, picks up one
of the slips of paper. This the fortune
| teller unfolds, reads the mysterious in
scription ,and interprets it according to the
| eXigencies of the case. In some parts OF
| the country similar performance is gone
| through in a rather more elaborate man
ner with hen for the medium. This is
the most economical of all the ways OF
| haYings ones fortune told, for man may
thus, according to Chinese ideas, ascertain
the DEGREES of fate for the moderate charge
of one farthing. Another peripatetic for.
tune teller is of literary turn of mind
and applies himself to the dissection OF
those strange looking hierog1yphics in
which the Chinese language is written
| In addition to these, there are two othel
classes of fOrtune-tellers the one is tht
professor learned in the mysteries O
lJe1lgshui spoken of above in its relation t.
i superstition, who is consulted in regarC
to lucky spots for graves and times fo
burial, and often receives large fees; ant
the other operates by means of tortoise
shell and some ancient copper cash. Or
the whole, we suspect that fOrtune-teller
do better business in China than in mos
other countries, even where superstition
is still rife, for the Chinese always like tx
have lucky day chosen for everything
be it for opening a shop, marrying wife
burying a parent, starting on a journey
or any other matter of the least import
aOce.