Hu Shih-chih: See the True Purity in the Turbidity★Humans are Similar★

Mr. Hu Shih, who died in Taipei a few years ago, was an internationally renowned scholar. But in the early years of the Republic of China, although he was famous, he was not as famous as Chen Duxiu. Both Hu and Chen are from Anhui. Hu's appearance is not as good as Chen's. Chen's body is taller than Hu's, and he has delicate eyebrows and fine eyes. Hu's eyebrows are heavy and he is nearsighted, and one can tell from his face that one is clear and the other is cloudy.

However, what is this so-called one clear and one turbid? This is just based on the common eyes' point of view. For example, a handsome face, fair skin, and delicate features are clear, while the opposite is turbid. Just like when the common eyes see intelligence or dullness, the most important thing is to look at the features. However, the so-called "clear with turbidity, turbid with clearness" problem is not something that can be judged by ordinary people, but needs to be determined by fortune tellers.

If we use vulgar eyes to judge between clear and turbid, clear is noble and turbid is lowly, then can't everyone tell the difference between noble and lowly, rich and poor? However, aren't all high-class prostitutes pretty and beautiful? Why did it become a lowly profession? There is clearly another mystery behind this. This means that as to the true purity and turbidity, and the appearance of wealth and poverty, the views of ordinary people and physiognomy are sometimes the same, but sometimes very different.

In the sixth year of the Republic of China (1917), the two masters of physiognomy in Beijing, Diao Jin'ao and Qin Siye, published an article in which they judged the fate of Hu Shizhi and Chen Duxiu. The main physiognomy judgment was: "Chen Duxiu is clear but turbid, while Hu Shizhi is turbid but clear." Is it better to be "clear but turbid" or "turbid but clear"? This is something that cannot be determined by ordinary eyes.

The so-called clarity and turbidity refer to the appearance, which is the clarity and turbidity of the "image"; more importantly, it is the clarity and turbidity of the "action". The image must be coordinated with the action to be a consistent physiognomy. If they are inconsistent, it is a so-called "broken appearance". There is a saying in the physiognomy book that "one noble is equal to nine cheap, and one cheap can destroy nine nobles". Obviously, the so-called "one noble" and "one cheap" are extremely important parts or very important actions.

Diao Jin'ao's criticism of Hu Shizhi's "turbidity with clarity" is in contrast to his criticism of Chen Duxiu's "clarity with turbidity". Hu Shizhi's criticism is better than Chen Duxiu's. He said that there are two reasons why Hu Shizhi was "clear in the turbidity": the first is that although Hu had heavy eyebrows that pressed down his eyes and his eyes were shortsighted and dull, when he smiled while speaking, he had the amiable and refreshing air of "a face full of spring breeze" and "an autumn moon overlooking the river".

The second point is that Hu's sitting, standing and walking are very similar to the image of a crane. This is a completed appearance, and its value is far beyond what Chen Duxiu can compare to. Therefore, he said that one day in the future Hu would give up his teaching life and enter politics to be a good official.

At that time, people in Beijing found Diao Jin'ao's different judgments on Hu and Chen quite interesting, because the two were in similar situations at the time. Chen Duxiu was already the dean of the School of Arts at Peking University, while Hu was just a newly appointed professor. Moreover, Chen founded the Chinese Communist Party and edited the "New Youth" magazine to call on young people across the country. Obviously, his political status was higher than Hu's. However, he said that Chen would be defeated in the future, while Hu would be successful in politics.

It is said that when Hu saw the article, he said to others: "I dare not say what will happen to Duxiu in the future, but they dare to say that I will go into politics in the future. I guarantee they will fail. If you are interested, go and bet with Diao Jin'ao. You can bet 5,000 yuan or 10,000 yuan. I guarantee you will win the money."

I heard that there was really a man named Zhou who took the newspaper to Diao Jin'ao to ask if he could make a bet with him. Of course, Diao Jinmao welcomes bets, and wants Zhou to bet 10,000 yuan, and at the same time wants him to publish the bet in major newspapers. For the sake of credit investigation, they both took out one hundred yuan and put it in the Bank of Communications as a deposit. The newspaper also published this news and stated that Mr. Zhou did this at the instigation of Dr. Hu Shizhi. It even became a laughing stock for a while.

A few years before the Anti-Japanese War, Hu once criticized the Nanjing government for publishing the "New Moon" magazine with Liang Baoqiu in Shanghai. It was rumored that Nanjing wanted to win over Hu to an important government position. At that time, someone went to ask Diao Jin'ao, saying that his 10,000 yuan gambling money was about to be received, and Hu Shizhi was about to take up a position as a minister in Nanjing.

Diao Jin'ao smiled and said to the man, "When I made a bet with Zhou, I just took advantage of the opportunity to ask them to publish the news in the newspaper and do voluntary advertising for me. I didn't plan to win the bet." The man said, "Then the bet has been made. If you can't win his money, then you will lose his money. Doesn't your fortune-telling work?"

"It's not that my fortune telling doesn't work." Diao Jin'ao said, "It's that I'm not destined to win money, and Zhou Jun doesn't have the fortune telling to make money. I saw his fortune right at the time, and he didn't win money, but strangely, he didn't lose money either."

The man said, "What are you talking about? There is always a winner and a loser in a bet. If you don't win, you lose. If you don't lose, you win. How can there be a tie where you neither win nor lose?"

"Indeed, I can't explain why. In the next few years, Hu Shih-chih will not go into politics. He will go after he turns fifty. I am sure I am right. But I look at my own face. By then, not only will I not have good fortune, but I will also be sick!"

At that time, Zhou, who had made a bet with Diao Jin'ao, had already held a senior position in the Beijing Municipal Government. He also became friends with Diao Jin'ao and Qin Siye. The Marco Polo Bridge Incident occurred, and Beijing was shaken. Everyone knew that the overall situation was not good.

Zhou decided to move south with his family. Although it didn't matter if each of us had 100 yuan in the bank, it was good to take the 100 yuan away. So the two of us decided as friends to cancel the deposit and withdraw the 100 yuan from each bank.

At this time, Diao Jinao realized the reason he could not imagine. It turned out that the outbreak of the Sino-Japanese War had cancelled this bet. When Zhou Jun and his family went to Tianjin to go to Shanghai by sea, Diao Jinao gave him a farewell party and told him, "Hu Shi will definitely give up his writing career and go into politics soon, but I can't get the 10,000 yuan bet."

Zhou laughed and said, "It was this war that saved me from losing money." Diao Jin'ao said, "That's true in theory, but it's not true in reality. I don't have the fortune to make money, and you don't have the fortune to lose money, so this bet is cancelled. But I want to ask you a favor. In two or three years, when Dr. Hu Shih-chih really enters politics, please ask him for me. He doesn't believe in fate, but believes in his own decisions. Is that unreliable?"

Sure enough, during the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, Dr. Hu Shih suddenly left his university professorship and went to the United States to become the ambassador of the Republic of China to the United States. Once, when he returned to Chongqing from the United States, Zhou met him and mentioned the bet with Diao Jinguao. Hu then remembered that he had instigated Zhou to go and make the bet more than ten years ago.

He asked Zhou, "Is Diao Jin'ao still in Beijing? I have harmed you, what should I do?" He seemed to be quite apologetic towards Zhou.

"Don't worry." Zhou said, "I'm not destined to lose money. I won't ask you for the money. Otherwise, I can't give it to you now, and you can't give it to me now. It's really ridiculous. He predicted it right, and I'm going to lose money. It's really a loss of both the wife and the army!"

Hu Shi said: "Fortunately, we are now two different countries from Beijing. They are enemies. Even if we lose, we cannot give them money. This is a bet anyway. After this situation, the law will not protect us."

Zhou told him how he cancelled the deal before leaving Peking, and also asked Hu Shizhi on behalf of Diao Jin Ao. After hearing this, Hu still smiled and expressed his confusion. He also felt it was strange that he had suddenly transformed from a professor to an ambassador!

Then, Hu Shizhi was surprised that Diao Jin'ao had predicted this event correctly. Although he was not interested in fortune-telling, he could not help but ask, "Did Diao Jin'ao tell me what will happen to me in the future? Can I go back to the podium?"

"Yes," Zhou said. "We later became good friends and often met each other in Central Park or Beihai. He once said, 'Your career as an official won't last long. You will eventually have to return to the education sector.'"

"That's good. I can wear my first clothes again. This is my wish." Hu Shi said: "Indeed, I feel puzzled about my appointment as ambassador to the United States this time. I don't believe in fate, but this coincidence makes me feel that there are indeed things in the world that cannot be controlled and unexpected things."

Later, some people said that the article about fishing for golden turtles was written by Xu Lewu, a fortune teller from Donghai. Therefore, when Xu later wrote the book "Fate of Ancient and Modern Celebrities", he listed Hu Shizhi's eight characters and made the following comment: "Ding fire in the middle of winter, the energy is weak and cold, the year is a seal and the time is a comparison, it cannot follow the evil spirit, Geng metal and Gui water are the source, the evil spirit is strong, although it is noble and unworldly, but the six relatives are like water; the flesh and blood are like clouds. After Yiwei, the wood and fire are strong. Maybe you should give up your literary career and enter the political world?"

According to Hu Shizhi's eight characters, they are: "Xin Mao, Geng Zi, Ding Chou, Ding Wei." There are two Dings, and Chou and Wei are in conflict; Xin and Geng are both direct and indirect wealth; the four pillars also have conflict and punishment, and the five elements are turbid and unclear, which is in perfect harmony with the situation.

As for his comment of "relatives are like flowing water, flesh and blood are like floating clouds", it is said that at that time, Qin Siye and Diao Jinao looked at Hu Shizhi's relatives and found that there was no special misfortune, which was quite different from Xu Lewu's opinion. At that time, Xu wanted to use these eight characters, but the original manuscript was crossed out by Diao Jinao. Therefore, when Xu wrote "The Fates of Famous People in Ancient and Modern Times", he especially wanted to use these eight characters in Hu's horoscope. But now it seems that although Hu Shizhi still has a son in mainland China, he is not considered a "detached relative". This also proves that Diao Jin'ao and Qin Siye's physiognomy skills are indeed superb. For example, Xu's comment, "After Yiwei, the wood and fire are prosperous, so maybe you should give up your literary career and enter politics?" is not as correct as the age stated by Diao Jin'ao. The reason why Xu used the phrase "or should be abandoned" was that he was not sure. It was said that he could not make a statement like fishing for golden turtles based on his horoscope. In short, it was certain that Hu Shizhi's noble appearance lay in "seeing the true clarity in the turbidity." However, some people also discussed Hu's character and said that his decision to become an official in the middle of his career was "pure but turbid" for a scholar!

The above is what the editor of Dream Interpreter’s Fortune Telling Network introduced to you: Seeing the True Purity in Turbidity★Human Appearance★ by Hu Shizhi. I hope it can help you. If you want to know more about physiognomy, please continue to pay attention.