The Art of Fate Calculation: Practicing Divination in Taipei, Beijing, and Kaifeng

“Divination has been extremely common and important in Chinese culture since earliest times, but surprisingly little information appears in the Western-language literature. This excellent ethnography goes a long way toward remedying the gap… Most ethnographically exciting in this book are Homola's accounts of fortune-casting sessions in Taipei, Beijing, and Kaifeng, especially her warm and empathetic accounts of particular practitioners, ranging from highly successful heads of large corporate operations to wandering seers who depend on small donations. The practice has been condemned as misleading for 2,000 years and as ‘superstition’ (mixin) for at least a century, yet it persists: people demand any lead, however small and tentative. - Highly Recommended.” • Choice

“Taken as a whole, The Art of Fate Calculation is a very comprehensive ethnographic work on the practice of divination in contemporary Chinese societies. Its themes are rich, covering all aspects of divination, including history, legality, techniques, clients, institutions, social relations, and the transmission of knowledge. Moreover, it spans two different social contexts in Taiwan and Mainland China, with scenes ranging from the streets to the classroom, from divinatory texts to oral conversations. For researchers studying contemporary Chinese beliefs and the general practice of divination, this is a very good and timely reference book.” • China Perspectives

“Represents an extremely valuable resource, both as a one-stop account of the politics of divination in modern China (the Republic pre-1949, PRC, and Taiwan), its intellectual history, and some key methods, and as a detailed ethnographic account of how diviners and clients engage with divination as a decision-making process and set of cosmological ideas. • William Matthews, London School of Economics

“Excellent and very timely survey of the broad field of Chinese divination. And so much more than "a survey"! A comprehensive, detailed review of a complex and fascinating subject.” • David Zeitlyn, University of Oxford

Description

From housewives to students and high-ranking officials, people from all social backgrounds in China and Taiwan visit fate calculation masters to learn about their destiny. How do clients assess the diviner’s skills? How does one become a fortune-teller? How is a person’s fate calculated? The Art of Fate Calculation explores how conceptions of fate circulate in Chinese and Taiwanese societies while resisting uniformization and institutionalization. This is not only due to the stigma of “superstition” but also to the internal dynamic of fate calculation practice and learning.

Stéphanie Homola is Researcher at the French National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS) and member of the French Research Institute for Eastern Asia (IFRAE). She was previously Assistant Professor for Ethnology at the University of Erlangen-Nuremberg and Director of the Elite Master's Program "Standards of Decision-Making across Cultures".

Subject: Anthropology (General)Anthropology of Religion Sociology

Area: Asia

Subject Codes

LC: BF1773.2.C5 H666 2023

BL: DRT ELD.DS.741981

BISAC:
SOC002010 SOCIAL SCIENCE/Anthropology/Cultural & Social;
SOC005000 SOCIAL SCIENCE/Customs & Traditions;
SOC008020 SOCIAL SCIENCE/Ethnic Studies/Asian Studies

THEMA: JHMC; JBCC6; 1FP

Chapter 1. Clients of Divinatory Services: Societal Issues and Consultation Experiences (Taipei)
Chapter 2. Divinatory Arts Specialists: Taipei’s “World of Divination”: Historical Development, Claims, and Reforms
Chapter 3. Fate Calculation Techniques: Contemporary Reformulations of a Traditional Knowledge on the Individual and Their Environment
Chapter 4. Professional Practitioners in Beijing: Institutional and Cultural Legitimacy of Professional Diviners in Mainland China (Beijing)
Chapter 5. Amateur Practitioners and Shared Knowledge: Everyday Knowledge and Modes of Transmission (Kaifeng)

Conclusion: Trust and Standardization

Appendix I: Brief History of the Ziwei Doushu Method
Appendix II: Ziwei Doushu Schools in Taiwan
Appendix III: Correspondence Tables in the Ziwei Doushu Method

Glossary of Chinese Terms
References
Index

Download ToC (PDF)

Back to Top

Library Recommendation Form

Librarian Email:

Dear Librarian,

I would like to recommend The Art of Fate Calculation Practicing Divination in Taipei, Beijing, and Kaifeng for the library. Please include it in your next purchasing review with my strong recommendation. The RRP is: $145.00

I recommend this title for the following reasons:

BENEFIT FOR THE LIBRARY: This book will be a valuable addition to the library's collection.

REFERENCE: I will refer to this book for my research/teaching work.

STUDENT REFERRAL: I will regularly refer my students to the book to assist their studies.

OWN AFFILIATION: I am an editor/contributor to this book or another book in the Series (where applicable) and/or on the Editorial Board of the Series, of which this volume is part.

Requested by:

Department:

Position:

Email:

Series

Volume 14

Asian Anthropologies

See Related

Email Newsletters

The Art of Fate Calculation

Practicing Divination in Taipei, Beijing, and Kaifeng

Stéphanie Homola

Foreword by Michael Lackner

Reviews

Description

Subject: Anthropology (General)Anthropology of ReligionSociology

Area: Asia

Contents

Of Related Interest

Fortune and the Cursed

The Sliding Scale of Time in Mongolian Divination

Fate Calculation Experts

Diviners Seeking Legitimation in Contemporary China

Cosmic Coherence

A Cognitive Anthropology Through Chinese Divination

Embodied Communities

Dance Traditions and Change in Java

Library Recommendation Form

Subject: Anthropology (General)Anthropology of Religion Sociology