The Supernatural

Destiny and Divination

The narratives of the YWCT point out that each individual can influence his predestined fate to a certain degree through his character, behaviour, and deeds for better or worse. Every human action is rewarded or punished by supernatural retribution and thus has an impact on success or failure in a person's life. Therefore, it is advantageous to know about one's fate in order to actively influence it for the necessary better, or, as Richard J. Smith writes, "to establish fate (li ming) – that is, devise a moral strategy".[1]

Unsurprisingly, there are various divining techniques that have been very popular during the Qing dynasty. The stories of the YWCT mention physiognomy (xiangren, xiangmian 相人, 相面), word analysis (cezi 測字), and geomancy (fengshui 風水); as well as different kinds of horoscopic calculations (bazi 八字). The latter can be used in addition to astrology (xingming or zhanxing 星命, 占星), the five elements and activities (wuxing 五行), or in combination with the ten heavenly stems and twelve earthly branches (ganzhi 干支). Most of all among the mantic arts, the planchette or spirit-writing (fuji 扶乩) is referred to.[2] In the YWCT, of main interest to the protagonists is their professional career or mortality.

Obviously, knowledge about ones' fate is an important issue for the elite, who make up over 80 per cent of the protagonists. Most of these are officials, whose main interests lies with their professional career, whereas family matters are clearly subordinated. The few men from a lower class mentioned are servants, whereas the two female protagonists have prophetic dreams concerning their children. Interestingly, no scholars and individuals from the middle class figure in the stories about prediction. Nevertheless, persons from the middle class do appear in the narratives about fortune-telling, but solely to inquire about family matters.

1 Fate 命

It is said that everything happening during an individual's life has its indications beforehand, which can be recognise as signs of fate, if one knows how to interpret them correctly. In the given stories about predictions in the YWCT, the protagonists, mainly officials, receive these signs unexpectedly. They often only later turn out as being of prophetic significance for the individual.

12 reports are about prognostic dreams, even though Ji Yun warns, that one should always consider the possibility of a dream being merely wishful-thinking, becoming true later on. Other dreams are unintelligible, as the one Dong Yuandu 董元度 (b. 1709) had about a prophetic poem given to him. After waking up, he can remember the complicated poem word for word, but throughout his whole life the meaning never revealed itself to him (LY I.5). Next to dreams, poems can contain indications of individual portents, as turned out to be the case with two poems Ji Yun wrote prior to his exile.

Another widely accepted belief was that of predicted success or failure in the highly competitive civil examinations. Ji Yun concurs with this in telling how he had been a main examiner for the provincial examination in Shanxi in 1759. Due to a mistake of his colleague with the paperwork, two successful candidates, Fan Xuefu 范學敷 and Li Tengjiao 李騰蛟 (1731−1800), were not listed as having passed. In the following year, both scholars repeated the provincial examination and this time they passed with nearly identical results as in the previous examination. Ji Yun dryly remarks that the incident had been seen as a deserved punishment of fate, since 'it is known that honours gained at the civil examinations are destiny' ["乃知科名有命". LY II.31]. Another example is the one Wang Shouhe 汪守和 (1764-1836) tells Ji Yun about a dream he had as a young boy. In this dream his grandfather is introducing him to a stranger, saying that this is his tongnian 同年 Ji Xiaolan 紀曉嵐, who will be Wang Shouhe's future examiner. Later, Ji Yun indeed became Wang Shouhe's examiner and not only did he look like the man in the dream, but he even wore the same clothes (LX III.21).

Next to the results in the civil examinations, there are also narratives about the prediction of the official career, as in the story told by Zhuang Peiyin 莊培因 (1723−1759).[3] As a young boy he made a journey by boat together with his father, Zhuang Zhu 莊柱 (1690−1759). During the layover at night, Zhuang Peiyin stumbles and falls into the river. While swimming, he suddenly hears a voice saying to him that one day, he can be of importance for the education system in the province and therefore should not be careless. Later on, Mr. Zhuang indeed becomes an official and supervises the administration of education. When he tells Ji Yun of his experience as a boy, he mentions doubts about being able to return to the capital after his term of office in the province. Ji Yun tries to encourage him, but in fact, Zhuang Peiyin dies prematurely during his appointment; whereas his elder brother, Zhuang Cunyu 莊存與 (1719−1788) mysteriously survives an earthquake in Beijing in 1730, and becomes Vice Minister of the Ministry of Rites in 1784 (LY III.39). On the other hand, Ji Yun's teacher, He Xiu 何琇 (fl. 1733), cannot accept his fate of being unsuccessful in his official career. One day, he writes a melancholy poem on a fan for Ji Yun, which is interpreted as a bad portent. In the same year Mr. He dies of an illness and in poverty (LX I.20).

Disregarding taboos can further inauspiciously influence personal fate. As Ji Yun reports, the middle gate of the Hanlin Academy is not to be opened, since this would prove disadvantageous for the chancellor of the Academy. In 1773, Jueluo Fengkuan 覺羅奉寬 (1722–1774) came for an inspection and the gate was opened for him. Shortly thereafter the Chancellor of the Academy, Liu Tongxun 劉統勳 (1699–1773), died. Comparably, a sandy dike in front of the Academy's gate was to be preserved. When it was damaged by a heavy rainstorm and following that broken by a playing child, Ji Yun's colleague, Wu Hong 吳鴻 (1725–1763) died. One of the chief editors of the Siku quanshu, Lu Xixiong 陸錫熊 (1734–1792) ignored the taboo for officials of the Hanlin Academy to sit in a certain pavilion and promptly his father died. As Ji Yun remarks, other government departments have their own taboos and beliefs. For example, Qian Zai 錢載 (1708−1793) disregarded the superstition not to put a ramp on the gate of the Ministry of Rites and let carriages drive through. Subsequently, there was a problem with the lanterns in the Temple of Heaven and the consequences of this stayed with him.[4] Ji Yun concludes that the underlying principle (li 理) behind all these occurrences is incomprehensible to him (LX II.22). The reason for unexpected deaths, as well as problems with carrying out official duties, can thus well lie in the fateful breach of taboos.

Descendants are also a matter of destiny, as the Vice Minister of the Ministry of War, Shi Yi'ang 史抑堂 (1712–1791)[5], reports:

One day, when Shi Yitang [Shi Yi'ang] was at home, he suddenly felt dizzy without reason and fainted. He felt how he went outside in the shape of his hun 魂 [soul]. In front of the entrance door, a man with a sedan-chair was waiting for him, to carry him away. After they had been on their way for a few li 里, they were followed by another sedan-chair from which someone was shouting for Shi Yitang. Accordingly, they stopped and it turned out that this was [his father] Wenjing gong 文靖公 [Shi Yizhi 史貽直, 1682–1763]. When Yitang descended from the sedan-chair to respectfully greet him, the honourable Wenjing said: "You still have to procreate descendants and therefore cannot leave this world now. Tell the servant, that you will return for the time being." Shi Yitang did what he was told and suddenly woke up again in his home. This occurred when Shi Yitang was 74 years old. In the following year his wife gave birth to a son and two years later to another one. As could be expected, it happened as Wenjing gong had said. When Yitang was 78 years old and came to Beijing, he told me [Ji Yun] so himself (LY V.54).

Here, either Shi Yi'ang's father is so resolute in his wish to have male grandchildren that he can order his son to return from his journey to the underworld, or the fate to produce descendants is stronger than that of death.

2 Fortune-Telling 看命[6]

Signs of fate reveal themselves passively and unexpectedly to the protagonist. Whereas fortune-telling is an active search of the protagonist to gain knowledge of his destiny, living conditions, or an answer to a certain problem. The divining techniques usually demand the help of specialists, or an individual who has the ability to function as a medium for communication with ghosts or immortals. Interestingly, the fortune-telling itself is frequently a topic in the accounts as are questions concerning the official career of the protagonist. The latter is the main theme in over 10 stories, whereas domestic matters, illness and death seem to be of little relevance.

The planchette (fuji 扶乩), which was very popular during the Qing dynasty, is described in about 70 per cent of these notes. Here, the quality of the immortal's poem as well as his character or authenticity, is more important than the predicted fate. One reason is that instead of a real immortal, a cheating ghost might appear during the fuji 扶乩, and has to be found out first. Since ghosts are usually less educated than real immortals, this can often be archived by analysing the quality of his poem and asking questions concerning the apparition's identity. Furthermore, ghosts appearing during a fuji get easily agitated about being treated disrespectful and tease or annoy people in return. Other spirits become sulky because a scholar dares to correct their poems. Moreover, an appearing ghost can have a very shy and insecure character, or stubbornly refuse to give the expectant audience an answer. Officials are the protagonists in 16 stories about planchettes and eight times they discuss the ghost's poem or personality for entertainment. The stories are often told in retrospect and the predictions have been proven right. Whereas scholars consult a fuji mainly for social amusement. In only one story does the questions asked at spirit-writing concern the professional career of the protagonist. More than half of 34 accounts about fuji are on the subject of cultivated or amusing entertainment and the display of individual scholarship.

How flexibly the outcome of fortune-telling has to be interpreted becomes clear in the following examples: At the time when Dong Bangda 董邦達 (1699–1769) was still a student, he met an old man who was visiting with his neighbours. The old man calculated Dong Bangda’s future career in great detail by way of horoscope calculations in combination with the heavenly stems and earthly branches (bazi ganzhi 八字干支). Thereafter, Dong Bangda watched carefully to see if the prediction would come true. Eventually, the official positions did not match, but the foretold chronology of the ranks he archived always came true in the year the old man had said. Ji Yun remarks, that after some pondering about this divining method he came to the conclusion, that even though the calculations might be wrong, the horoscope itself would nevertheless outline the predicted social success quite accurately.

As a further example, Ji Yun mentions Zou Yigui’s 鄒一桂 (1685−1772) and Chen Derong’s 陳德榮 (d. 1747) wives. Even though both had the same bazi ganzhi 八字干支, their husbands held different position as officials. Despite that, they had the same official rank and if one had a post held in higher esteem, the other one would have a higher income. Mr. Chen's wife became a widow early, but she was healthy and happy until old age. Mr. Zhou and his wife became old together, but their son died early and the family did not have much money. Thus a balance was always archived and the inequality was compensated. Even so, if one looks closely, Ji Yun comments, their date of birth was slightly different, since one woman was born in the South and the other in the North. Another illustration for the right interpretation of fate prediction, is the one Ji Yun gives of his nephew, who was born at the same time and place as the son of a servant. Whereas his nephew died at the age of 59, the servant's son had a very long life. Due to their horoscope both should have lived equally long, and have the same quantity of luck and wealth. The inequality is explained with Ji Yun's nephew being born into wealthy circumstances and therefore, contrary to the servant's son, had used up his amount of good fortune first (LY II.1). Ji Yun's remark about the two given examples additionally provides an answer to the well-known argument of critics of divination, that people who are born at the same time, nevertheless often have a very different destiny.[7] On the other hand, considering the various possibilities of interpretation given, it is not surprising that fortune-telling is said to be reliable. Further evidence for the reliability of fuji-predictions are, that the career of Ji Yun's father, to become prefect of Yao'an 姚安 in the province of Yunnan, had been prophesied in a rather complicated poem (LY IV.2);[8] and that Ji Yun's colleague, Wen Min 溫敏 (1707–1769) had been told his life span correctly. The Governor of Shandong, on the other hand, is refused an answer to the same question. Instead, the immortal tells him that he cannot give an answer, since his life expectancy depends on his future good and bad deeds. As even the gods cannot foretell this, how should he as an immortal be able to do so? Consequently, the Governor should rather ask himself (LX IV.13).

Only two examples tell of definitely false predictions. One is that of a pregnant woman, who, shortly before giving birth to a son, dreams of the official Gao Shiqi 高士奇 (1645−1703). Taking this as a fortunate prediction, she names her son after him. As expected, the son turns out to be a diligent student and is additionally told by a fortune-teller that he will become an official. Nevertheless, he repeatedly fails the civil examinations and is unsuccessful throughout his life. Likewise, Tian Zhongyi 田中義 (d. c 1761) reports how the Grand Secretary Zhang Tingyu 張廷玉 (1672−1755) had been falsely told that according to astrology and physiognomy he would only pass the provincial examinations. Ji Yun comments on these accounts, that the fortune-tellers should be more aware of their responsibility and realise that physiognomy and cosmological calculations alone do not suffice in making a precise prediction (GW IV.34).

3 Summary

In accordance with contemporary belief, the narrators of the YWCT are of the opinion that everything in life is predestined. Since humans can influence their individual destiny to a certain degree, it is understood as being of great relevance to know about ones' fate. In the collection, this is a topic of the educated elite, who make up more than three-quarters of the protagonists. 

Fortune-telling does help the protagonists to cope with their fears of an inexplicable destiny. By means of mantic devices, the individuals not only receive knowledge about their fate, but help to accept the unchangeable and prepare for the future. The protagonists express their anxieties, receive an answer, and share the experience in an often humorous and entertaining way with others.[10] Like fate, the divination itself is not questioned, but depends on the right interpretation by humans. Often the difficulties of understanding the literary style of prophetic poems point out the importance of a profound classical education.

The stories legitimise the given social differences by emphasising that they are predestined. Apart from all individuals being interested in knowing about their personal life span, the protagonists are concerned with topics related to their social class. The few men from the middle class, lower class, and women are primarily worried about family matters, which, in these entries, is not a public topic for members of the elite. Instead, a frequent topic is the highly competitive examination system, displaying the high level of social pressure for candidates and their families. Here, the belief in fate did not only support the institutional system itself, but was a psychological help to cope better with anxiety and failure.[11] The narratives further on make clear that the social pressure continues during the official career, which is most often made known to the protagonists through a sign of predestination, as in poems or dreams. As compared to officials, scholars mainly use fortune-telling for intellectual social entertainment. For the elite, the style and quality of the poem written during a fuji is of utmost importance, since it reveals if the otherworldly being is indeed an immortal. Next to the answers in the form of complicated poems, which even scholars and officials sometimes fail to understand, the collective exposure of a cheating ghost or fortune-teller adds to the entertainment of persons of the elite; as does the possibility of intellectually competing with a ghost, or to meet and communicate with a real immortal.

NOTES

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[1]   Smith 1993, 145.

[2]   During the fuji ritual, a person orally asks a question, after which a medium transmits the answer given by a ghost or immortal by stick writing. Thereafter the medium or the petitioners try to interpret the usually not easy to understand otherworldly characters. On the different mantic devices, see also Doré 1911–1918, 217–264.

[3]   See also Chan 1998, 58–59 and Elman 2000, 255, 317. Benjamin Elman calls the Zhuang family a 'super-lineage', since they produced 27 jinshi and altogether 97 degree-holders during the Qing dynasty. Elman 2000, 255.

[4]   It is not told what kind of consequences Qian Zai had to suffer.

[5]   Actually, Shi Yi’ang could hold the post of junior vice president of the Ministry of War for only a few months, before he was dismissed on grounds of his 'impertinent character' in 1766. ECCP, 651.

[6]   There is no well-established main term for fortune-telling and different expressions are also used in the YWCT.

[7] See also Smith 1993, 160.

[8] Moreover, Ji Yun's own fate concerning the outcome of the highest civil examination has also been told to him correctly by a specialist, whom he had met in the house of his teacher Dong Bangda (1699–1769). See Biography of Ji Yun (1724–1805), Family and Examinations.

[9] Smith 1993, 143.

[10] Ibid., 165–166

[11] See also Elman 2000, 295–326 and Yang 1961, 265–268. Interestingly, even in the Liaozhai zhiyi, Pu Songling, who himself was deeply disappointed in the civil examination system, does not criticise the system itself, but rather depicts the widespread belief that a candidate's success or failure is predestined. Barr 1986, 88, 105–109.

Examples

灤陽消夏錄 (LY)

LY I.5           Dong Yuandu 董元度  (b. 1709) has prophetic dream concerning his official career; unintelligible poem.

LY I.28        Li Jique 李基塙 (fl. 1714) has prophetic dream concerning his official career; poem.

LY I.35        Ji Yun writes poem for painting which turns out to be prophetic for his later banishment to Xinjiang.

LY I.44        Examples for and against the believe in geomantic 風水; Cao Xuemin 曹學閩 (1719–1787), Shao Dasheng 邵大生 (1723 進士).

LY II.1        Horoscopic calculations 八字, in combination with ten heavenly stems and twelve earthly branches 干支; prophecy for Dong Bangda’s 董邦達 (1699–1769) official career; further examples.

LY II.5       Planchette 扶乩 exposes disloyal official at the beginning of the Qing dynasty.

LY II.31       Fan Xuefu 范學敷 and Li Tengjiao 李騰蛟 (1731–1800) become victims of the believe in fate concerning the civil examinations, xiangshi 1759 in Shanxi 山西鄉試.

LY III.39     A strange voice admonishes Zhuang Peiyin 莊培因 (1723–1759) as a young boy and makes prophecy.

LY IV.1 Planchette 扶乩 ghost at Tian Zhongyi’s 田中義 (d. c 1761) home frightens annoying man.

LY IV.2     The official career of Ji Rongshu 紀容舒 (1686–1764) is prophesied in a complicated poem; further examples for the reliability of predictions.

LY V.34     Diviner produces skilful paintings and poems; very fitting poem for Dong Yuandu 董元度 (b. 1709).

LY V.38     Ji Yun's ill daughter predicts her exact time of death in 1790.

LY V.54     Shi Yi’ang’s 史奕昂 (1712–1791) father personally makes his son return from his journey to the Underworld to ensure descendants.

LY VI.11 Immortal writes humorous answers at Sun Ying’s 孫英 (1745 進士) home during a planchette 扶乩.

如是我聞 (RS)

RS I.15        Ji Yun's professional future is predicted through word analysis 测字 by fortune-teller he meets in Dong Bangda’s 董邦達 (1699–1769) house.

RS I.29        Fortune-teller is fraudster and plagiarises poem by Li Jique 李基塙 (fl. 1714).

RS I.38        Ghost is mocking arrogant scholar during planchette 扶乩 in Zhu Chengxu’s 朱承煦 (b. 1675) home.

RS II.29        Ji Yun's ill servant predicts his time of death.

RS II.56    Yang Hu's 楊頀 (1744–1828) horoscope turns out to be correct.

RS III.13    Ji Rubei 紀汝備 (1729–1748) dreams of an inauspicious poem and dies early.

RS III.19    Colleagues of Ji Yun in Beijing lived in ill-omened residences.

RS IV.15    Planchette 扶乩 ghost of Li Guangdi 李光地 (1642–1718) writes down good advise for Chen Shiguan 陳世倌 (1680–1758).

RS IV.35    Example of Wenfu’s 温福 (1710–1773) life and fateful death during military expedition in 1773.

RS IV.49    Planchette 扶乩 ghost pretends to be immortal and writes mediocre poems at Ge Tao’s 戈濤 (1717–1768) house.

槐西雜志 (HX)

HX I.10        Planchette 扶乩 immortal refuses to appear in front of inadequate characters at Tian Zhongyi’s 田中義 (d. c 1761) house.

HX I.20        Planchette 扶乩 ghost pretends to be an immortal, but loses chess game in Wu Huishu's 吳惠叔 (d. 1800) house.

HX I.23        Gao Fenghan 高鳳翰 (1683–1743) has prophetic dream concerning Sima Xiangru 司馬相如 (BCE 179–118).

HX I.48        Ji Yun’s poem becomes prophetic through comment made by Liu Yong 劉墉 (1719–1805); death of Lu Xixiong 陸錫熊 (1734–1792).

HX I.52        Ji Tianshen 紀天申 (1665–1732) relocates main entrance of family home because of geomantic superstition.

HX II.11        Poem and geomantic search for a proper burial ground for Ji Rongshu 紀容舒 (1686–1764).

HX II.53    Xu Liqiong’s 許立瓊  (fl. c 1722) father's friend is gifted at telling his own fortune.

HX II.54    Pang Kai 龐塏 (b. 1640) has prophetic dream of his future wife.

HX II.65    Lu Qian 盧謙 (1713–1785) is good at astrological fortune-telling and predicts Ji Yun's concubine's untimely death.

HX III.9    Li Zaiying's 李再瀛 bride accidentally brakes mirror on wedding day, which is a bad omen and predicts Mr. Li's early death.

HX IV.48    Planchette 扶乩 immortal predicts Fang Kuidian's 方夔典 (18th c) future, illness and official career.

HX IV.54    Planchette 扶乩 immortal appears in Song Rui's 宋瑞 home and wants to be left alone.

姑妄聽之 (GW)

GW I.31      Immortal who appears during planchette at Debao’s 德保 (1742 進士) home is chess player and cultural pessimist.

GW II.38     Painting and poem turn out to be prophetic for Ji Yun's later exile to Xinjiang.

GW III.40   Immortal at Liu Xiangwan's 劉香畹 home writes charming but insignificant poems during planchette.

灤陽續錄 (LX)

LX I.20        He Xiu 何琇 (fl. 1733) writes a pathetic poem which foretells his death in the same year.

LX I.26        Immortal makes correct prediction for Meng Shao 孟邵 (d. 1804).

LX I.28        Ji Yun's concubine writes a poem and unknowingly predicts her untimely death.

LX II.22       Disregarding taboos concerning the Hanlin Academy leads to inauspicious influence of fate for officials, examples.

LX III.10       Ghost who appears during planchette in Ji Yun's house pretends to be famous poet and is exposed.

LX III.21       Wang Shouhe 汪守和 (1764–1836) has prophetic dream concerning Ji Yun; literary examples.

LX IV.12       Jiefu’s 介福 (d. 1762) wife has prophetic dream of husband's sudden death during official journey.

LX IV.13       Wen Min 温敏 (1707–1769) is told his life span correctly, but the governor of Shandong is refused an answer during planchette.

Heaven Gods Underworld Ghosts