Complete Methods of Character Divination, Part One

The Prior Heaven (先天) refers to an already-revealed impulse. The Later Heaven (後天) refers to an omen not yet formed. In Prior Heaven divination, an event has occurred and one divines the fortune or misfortune of that single matter. In Later Heaven divination, something is not yet known, and in the urgency of the moment, good or ill fortune is verified. Therefore Prior Heaven is easy to divine, while Later Heaven is difficult. In Prior Heaven one holds yarrow stalks to form a hexagram; in Later Heaven, contact with any object immediately produces a hexagram—this depends entirely on how the person's heart-mind and spirit are employed. If one's powers of inference are refined and one's application is nimble, then not a single affair or thing can escape the numbers. Where I sit is the center. What appears before me corresponds to Li; what appears behind, to Kan. What emerges from the left is Zhen; from the right, Dui. What is at my left rear corner is Gen; at my right rear corner, Qian; at the left corner of Qian is Kun. These are the eight trigram positions. With eight directions one determines fortune and misfortune; by establishing the eight trigrams one fixes the resonant responses; by taking the day and hour one determines fortune and misfortune; by observing the changing line one determines the body and function. Thus when I sit, fortune and misfortune respond in the interval between the two trigrams' completed numbers; when I stand, fortune and misfortune respond in the interval of the middle division of the two trigrams. In general, sitting is stillness, walking is movement, and standing is half movement, half stillness. In stillness the response is slow; in movement the response is swift. Whenever something touches me with significance and I take it as bearing on my own fortune, then fortune resides in me while verification appears through others. What does 'significance' mean? Once the lines of the eight trigrams are set and the judgments of the six lines are clear, I still apply the principle of generation and overcoming, and investigate the hidden meanings of punishments and clashes—then there will be not one failure in ten thousand. Take nearby things from one's own body, take distant things from external objects. One should always seek with the heart-mind, not by tracing appearances. One must not rigidly insist that round objects form the Heaven trigram and square objects the Earth trigram. This is the preface.

I have heard that reading characters (相字) is a wondrous art of the former sages, a secret text spanning antiquity and the present. It serves as a standard for later students and makes discerning fortune from misfortune easy to see. Reading characters surpasses reading faces—for when one reads the person through their characters, the transformations are spirit-like and the subtleties enter the realm of the sagely. In antiquity, knotted cords served as governance; now, character signatures (花押) produce numbers. Speech is the voice of the heart-mind; the written character is the painting of the heart-mind. The heart-mind takes shape as the brush, and once the brush strokes are formed, they divide the eight trigrams into fortune and misfortune, fix the five phases into nobility and baseness, determine a lifetime's calamity and blessing, and reveal present good and ill fortune. Wealth, poverty, honor, disgrace, flourishing, withering, gain, and loss—all are visible in the brush strokes. Sometimes what appears auspicious becomes inauspicious; sometimes what appears inauspicious is pointed out as auspicious. First inquire about the person's five-phase constitution, then examine their brush strokes. Mutual generation and mutual flourishing mean good fortune; mutual overcoming and mutual draining mean misfortune. Viewed this way, there is not one failure in ten thousand. If one is to become an official, the brush strokes will be full as a golden fish-pouch. If one is to become wealthy, the brush strokes will resemble a treasure storehouse. A life of loneliness is visible in the crookedness and slanting of the character strokes; half a lifetime of poverty comes from dullness and muddiness at the brush tip—such a person will either die young or be lowly. When three peaks are shaved bare, these are never people of prominence. When the four elements are void, they are all people of desolation. When both parents are alive, the Qian and Kun strokes are plump. When the mother has died early, the Kun stroke is broken. When the father has died first, the Qian stroke is diminished. Kan represents fields, gardens, and rented dwellings—steady and solid, promotion follows. Gen represents sons, daughters, and siblings—it should not be damaged or broken. The Dui position above governs the cleverness or clumsiness of the wife's palace; the Li palace governs the flourishing or withering of official salary. Zhen is the eldest son; Xun is the courier horse. When Qian and Li are imprisoned and flee, Ren governs contention. If the Zhen stroke has hooks and points, one constantly invites disputes, and the wife will surely leave. If the strokes are round and clean, salary and office will also be clear and bright. If the Li position is dim and obscured, this is the killing influence of being stripped of office. If the Dui palace is shattered, expect a stubborn, hard-fated wife. A Metal constitution encountering Fire strokes will have wife and children overcome and ruined. A Wood constitution also fears encountering Metal, and losing wealth is common. A Water constitution should not encounter Earth strokes, or sons will not be seen. A Fire constitution encountering Water strokes will certainly produce quarrels and slander. An Earth constitution encountering Wood strokes will see rents and property dissolve of themselves. Mutual generation and flourishing are all auspicious; mutual overcoming and punishment are certainly inauspicious. Raise one corner and reflect upon the other three—encounter the five phases and read them. Here I have briefly outlined the roots to show later students.