Ancient physiognomy, various types of ancient physiognomists

Among the various fortune tellers in ancient times, Wang Baoyi and Zhang Shanren were far less famous than Yuan Yaogang. Yuan Yaogang was a master of numerology in ancient China. Legend has it that he and Li Chunfeng co-authored the "Tui Bei Tu", which predicted changes in past dynasties. He was good at physiognomy, and many interesting stories about him have been passed down. Dou Gui was traveling to Deyang County, Jiannan, and stayed with Yuan, asking him to tell his fortune. Tian Gang said, there is a rhinoceros horn on your forehead and a jade pillow, and your auxiliary horn is also formed. Ten years from now, you will be rich and noble, and be a good assistant to the holy dynasty. The right auxiliary horn is rising, and it is also bright and clear. You should be in charge of the division of Liang and Yi states, and make great achievements. Later, Dou Gui became the deputy minister of Yizhou, and summoned Yuan Tian Gang to thank him and asked him to be his prime minister again. Tian Gang examined it for a long time and said: Your achievements in bone method are no different from before. However, his eyes were red, his face was red when he spoke, and he was a general who killed many people. Bu Shen warned himself, and Dou Guoguo killed many people as a result. In the ninth year of Emperor Gaozu of Tang's Wude reign (626), Dou Gui was summoned to the capital. Before leaving, he asked Tian Gang what official position he would be given. Tian Gang said: "There is a beautiful woman on your face, sitting still, with a shiny glow on the right side of your auxiliary corner, and an expression of joy. When you arrive in the capital, you will surely receive the emperor's grace and return to this position." Dou Gui was indeed reappointed as the governor of Yizhou. When Yuan Tiangang was in Luoyang, Du Yan, Wang Gui and Wei Ting asked to be prime minister. After seeing them, Tiangang said that Du Yan had achieved great success in Lanting and his academy was broad, Wang Gui had achieved great success in laws and regulations, and they were both in harmony with each other. In ten years from now, they would be given a fifth-rank important position. Wei Ting had a face like a big beast and was good at literature, so he would definitely be brought in by the nobles and initially serve as a military officer. Later, Tiangang said to Du Yan: In twenty years, I am afraid that the three of us will be blamed and dismissed, so you should leave for a while and come back soon. All three of them became successful later. In the sixth year of Wude, they were all exiled to Junzhou. The three men arrived in Yizhou and met Yuan Tiangang, asking to be prime minister again. Tiangang said that the three men would be back soon and would all enjoy honor and glory in the end. Sure enough, in June of the ninth year of Wude, the three were all summoned to the capital. When they passed Yizhou, they asked Yuan Tiangang to be their prime minister. Tiangang said: "When Mr. Du arrived in the capital, he was given an important position of the third rank, but his age was unknown to Tiangang. Mr. Yu and Mr. Wei should be given the third rank later, and they are both long-lived. However, they were not very successful in their later years, especially Mr. Wei." The careers and endings of the three men turned out to be just as Yuan Tiangang had said. (See "The Record of Destiny" for details)

Ancient physiognomy was originally based on face reading. After a long period of development, there emerged a type of physiognomy that could predict good or bad fortune through voice, appearance, bones and other parts of the human body. : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : Later, he was selected as a Jinshi and was promoted to the position of Shanxi councilor. He retired and was a fourth-rank official. A fellow villager named Shi Yi was poor and worked as a weaver. He brought his two sons to see the monk. The monk guessed them and was delighted and asked for a generous reward, saying: These are the bones of two rich men. He said to Shi: Don’t look down on your child. Those who heard it did not believe it at first. The eldest of the two sons was indeed a prominent figure in the village because of his wealth. The eldest, Gong, came from a wealthy family. He was a plump man with a black mole several inches long on the middle of his belly. It was said that all his happiness in life lay in this mole.

Gong Ping said that he liked to laugh when talking to people. Once he was in Pingsuo, and was still laughing. A monk said, "Don't laugh, or you will die next year because the hair on your belly will fall off." Gong hated his words and did not answer. Later, when he was bathing, the hair suddenly fell off while he was stroking it. A few days later, he died of illness.

It is doubtful that one can predict a person's fate, good or bad luck, longevity, fortune or misfortune, status, and everything he says will come true simply by feeling his bones, without even touching them. Such stories, if not intentionally created by someone with a bad conscience, can only be accidental coincidences.

Reading bones is not exclusive to the blind. Many fortune tellers are people with good eyesight. They have the advantage of observation and the skill of reading bones. Their physiognomy methods are innovative: Zhang Jiongzai in the Tang Dynasty was good at physiognomy and was as famous as Yuan Tiangang. It is said that when Liu Rengui from Weishi was a child, Zhang Jiongzang was very surprised and said to Liu's parents: This boy has a very unusual bone structure. He will be rich and powerful. He should be taken care of and educated. Twenty years later, Zhang Jiongzang was exiled to Jiannan. When he passed through Qizhou, the governor Feng Chang knew that he was good at physiognomy, so he made him a judge and other officials. Zhang looked at everyone, but found no one who had reached the fifth rank. At that time, Liu Rengui was the lieutenant of Chencang. When Zhang Jiongzang saw Liu Rengui coming out, his face changed with fear and he said to Feng Chang: This is a real noble man. After examining him carefully again, he realized that this person would become prime minister in the future and said, “Twenty years ago, I saw a child in Weishi whose bone structure was similar to yours.” I didn't ask his name at that time, so I don't know who he was. When Zhang Jiongdai heard Liu Rengui say that he was the one, he said: The rank of a public official shall not be lower than the fourth rank. If he commits a serious crime, he may be promoted to the third rank or above. Later, Liu Rengui was appointed as the governor of Qingzhou from the position of Jieshi Zhong, in charge of maritime transportation. When he met Feng and lost his ship, he was slandered by Li Yifu of Hejian and sentenced to death, but was pardoned and removed from the list of executed people. He served in Liaodong and was appointed as the Grand Censor again, and was promoted to the position of Zuo Pushe (see Dingminglu). Teng Yuanfa in Wang Lian's Moji was also a master of bone reading. When Du Qigong was prime minister, he summoned Teng Yuanfa at night to write a manuscript. Yuanfa went in at night, looked at his appearance, and said with emotion: This person has poor bones, how can he be a prime minister? Du Gong ordered his attendants to light candles, and unfolded the scroll to read it. Yuanfa was standing nearby and saw a black light coming out of Du Gong's eyes and shining onto the paper. Only then did he realize that the value of Du Gong lies in the black light in his eyes. This is the advantage that people with discerning eyes are born with. Although Teng Yuanfa has good fortune, he knew at first sight that Du Qigong did not have the appearance of a rich and noble man. However, Du Gong's bone structure is not valuable, but the black light in his eyes is valuable. If a blind person were to judge Du Gong by his appearance, he would surely miscalculate. Wang Qi's record was obviously intended to provide evidence for the prominence of Duke Qi Du Yan. Whether this was actually true or not is unknown to us today.

The above is all about ancient physiognomy and the various types of ancient fortune tellers. For more information, please follow the Dream Interpreter's Fortune Telling Network's "Appearances are Born from the Heart" channel!