1 part Ongoing The profession of fortune-telling originated in the pre-Qin period, developed during the Sui and Tang dynasties, and flourished during the Ming and Qing dynasties. Figures like Zhang Liang of the Han dynasty, Zhuge Liang of the Three Kingdoms, and Liu Bowen of the Ming dynasty were prominent representatives of this art, using palmistry, physiognomy, astrology, and the I Ching to interpret human fate.
My great-grandfather, born in 1902 and whose date of death remains unknown, was the leader of the "Jiangxiang School," a renowned fortune-telling group in the Republic of China. The "Shanghai News" referred to him as one of the "Four Great Fortune-Telling Masters of the Republic," alongside Yuan Shushan, Wei Qianli, and Xu Le Wu. It was said, "South Yuan, North Wei, East Le Wu, and the three immortals return to seek the Grandmaster."
At the age of 15, my great-grandfather began telling fortunes, and his predictions were famously accurate, astounding all who encountered him. He went on to dominate the fortune-telling world for over 30 years, leaving behind countless astonishing and mysterious legendary predictions. Even before the Central Plains War, the Shanxi warlord Yan Xishan visited him three times to seek a divination.
My great-grandfather often said that what he read was the face, what he calculated were the birth charts, and what he captured was the ever-changing desires on the face of the person asking for a reading-greed, vanity, jealousy, fear, and arrogance. A person's fate is indeed written on their face. Throughout his life, my great-grandfather almost never missed a prediction. The only thing he couldn't foresee was his own fate. Facing his lonely old age, he believed it was because he had revealed too many secrets of the heavens.
Open the book I Am a Fortune Teller, and let an 82-year-old fortune teller guide you through the ancient wisdom and the shady dealings behind the world of fortune-telling.
