Divination: The Mysterious Art of Unveiling Secrets

The Origin of Character Divination: Communication Between Humans and Deities

Chinese characters represent one of the most remarkable achievements of early Chinese civilization, allowing cultural inheritance and dissemination beyond oral traditions. They serve as a medium for encapsulating and conveying the survival experiences of our ancestors. The basic forms of these characters can be traced back to oracle bone inscriptions from the Shang Dynasty over 3,600 years ago. After being standardized during the Qin Dynasty, they have remained largely unchanged to this day.

Despite China's numerous dialects, Chinese characters have remained consistent, thus serving as a stabilizing force in promoting national unity. It can be said that Chinese characters are one of the world's most enduring and still-functioning forms of intangible cultural heritage. With their short syllables, easily recognizable shapes, and high information density, Chinese characters enable faster recognition, expression, thought processes, and keyboard input compared to other writing systems. Due to their unique phonetic and semantic attributes, Chinese characters are poised to become a dominant writing system globally.

Today, instead of delving into the various pros and cons of Chinese characters as a language, we can focus on their ability to predict fortune and misfortune. This aspect has already unveiled some of the universe's secrets, making character divination a popular predictive tool. "Huainanzi" records the legend that "when Cangjie created characters, the heavens rained millet, and ghosts cried at night." According to Tang Dynasty scholar Zhang Yanyuan, after the invention of Chinese characters, "the mysteries of creation could no longer be hidden, hence the heavens rained millet; the spirits could not escape their forms, hence the ghosts cried at night." Since Chinese characters became a tool for communication between humans and deities, the analysis of characters has taken on a mystical aura, imbued with the essence of "divine oracles."

In ancient times, the interpretation of characters was the privilege of shamans and priests, later evolving into the domain of scholars such as Xu Shen, Zheng Xuan, Kong Yingda, Wang Anshi, and Duan Yucai, forming a unique reverence for Chinese characters. However, the efforts of the common people to explore the information encoded in character roots have been ongoing since writing was invented, handed down through generations. This is known as character analysis, divination, and interpretation, with practitioners referred to as diviners, character analysts, or interpreters, akin to "shamans" communicating with the divine through text. The accumulated experiences and results of character divination over the ages have become a distinctive aspect of Chinese intangible cultural heritage, which not only spreads among overseas Chinese communities but also influences countries like Korea and Japan, where Chinese character culture is foundational, making character divination a widespread custom. The enduring popularity of this unique Eastern cultural phenomenon warrants further study.

The earliest recorded examples of character analysis and divination can be found in the "Zuo Zhuan," where Zhao mentions: "The Hai has two heads and six bodies"; and in another instance, it records King Zhuang of Chu's words: "Cease fighting to be martial" (along with "Reversal is exhaustion" and "Dishworm is poison"). The "Shuo Wen Jie Zi" quotes Confucius: "Millet can be made into wine, and grain enters the water."

During the Han and Wei dynasties, the art of character divination was particularly favored. The "Spring and Autumn" states: "A person with fourteen hearts is virtuous." The "Yuan Ming Bao" notes: "Punishment is the knife guarding the well. Those who drink water enter the well to compete for water, trapped in the spring; the knife guards it, cutting their emotions." The "Chuxue Ji" cites the "Yuan Ming Bao": "Two people scattered are fire." Similarly, the "Five Elements" explains: "The character for water stands upright; two people intersecting from the middle represent water. One is the beginning of counting, and two people symbolize the union of male and female, yin and yang." Furthermore, the "Taiping Yulan" cites the "Yuan Ming Bao": "The sun is where the mouth meets as one." Additionally, "Two mouths governing a scholar represent joy." The "Spring and Autumn Fanlu" states: "The heart that rests in one center is called 'loyalty'; holding two centers is called 'trouble'." The "Taiping Yulan" cites the "New Theory": "Silver is the younger brother of gold."

The "Secrets of Character Divination" states: "During the Tang and Song dynasties, character divination was a skill people used to earn a living and was held in high regard." Although the practice of character divination flourished after the Han and Tang dynasties, no dedicated texts have survived, only scattered references in encyclopedias and literary notes. The "Sui Shu" records a volume titled "Essentials of Character Analysis," and during the Song Dynasty, there was "Divination by Character Analysis," both of which have now been lost. The surviving compilations of character analysis and divination viewpoints and cases include Wang Anshi's "Character Theory," the Ming Dynasty's "Plum Blossom Divination" documenting the sayings of Shao Yong from the Song Dynasty, the Qing Dynasty's "Collection of Ancient and Modern Books: Character Analysis," Cheng Sheng's "Secrets of Character Divination," Zhou Liangong's "Character Touch," Sang Lingzhi's "Character Touch Supplement," and Xu Ke's "Qing Miscellaneous Notes" and "Complete Book of Character Divination," which provide a glimpse into this rich tradition.

However, there is no need for regret, as Zhou Suli has compiled a wealth of knowledge regarding character divination techniques, which will be continuously updated in future articles, unveiling the mysterious veil behind Chinese characters.