Ma Yi's Physiognomy and Ma Yi Taoist

According to the download of "Ma Yi Xiang Fa" and "Xiang Shan Ye Lu" written by Ma Yi Taoist, Qian Wenxi learned bone reading from Chen Tuan when he was young. Chen Tuan told him to come back in half a month. Half a month later, Qian Wenxi came to ask Chen Tuan for help again. Chen Tuan led Qian Wenlu to a study in the mountains, where they saw an old monk wearing tattered clothes sitting next to a stove with his eyes closed. Qian Wenxi saw that the old monk looked very strange and bowed to him respectfully. The old monk just opened his eyes slightly, without any intention of welcoming. The three of them sat around the fire in silence for a long time. Chen Tuan asked the old monk: What do you think of this person? The old monk shook his head and said: There is no such bone structure. Qian Wenxi stood up and said goodbye, and agreed to come back in three days. Qian Wenxi arrived as scheduled, and Chen Tuan told him the truth: When I first saw that you had a clear vision, I thought you could learn to be an immortal and have the destiny to attain enlightenment and ascend to heaven. But I am afraid that I may not be able to see it clearly, so I dare not tell you the whole story, so I ask this old monk to take another look. He said that you don't have the appearance of an immortal, but you still have the potential to be rich and noble, and you can become a high official. Qian Wenxi asked the old monk who he was, and Chen Tuan told him that he was a Taoist in hemp clothes. Chen Tuan was a hermit in the early Song Dynasty. He lived in seclusion in Wudang Mountain and Huashan Mountain, calling himself Fuyaozi. Emperor Taizong of Song Dynasty gave him the title of Xiyi Xiansheng. Legend has it that at the end of the Five Dynasties, he went down Mount Hua to visit the true dragon emperor, rode a donkey, traveled around the world, and met Zhao Kuangyin, Zhao Ling, and Zhao Pu in Chang'an. He laughed so hard that his hairpin almost fell off. He held Zhao Kuangyin with his left hand and Zhao Ling with his right hand, and excitedly invited them to have a few drinks together. Zhao Kuangyin originally wanted to go with three people, and it would be unreasonable to leave Zhao Pu alone, so he asked the three people to go together. Chen Tuan looked at it carefully for a long time and said: Okay, okay, but it won’t work if you change the person. When they arrived at the hotel, Zhao Pu had difficulty walking, so he sat on the left. Chen Tuan frowned and asked Zhao Kuangyin to sit at the head, Zhao Bei to sit next, and Zhao Pu to sit next to Song. Later, Zhao Kuangyin became the founding emperor of the Zhu Dynasty, Zhao Bei became Emperor Taizong of Song, and Zhao Pu was just an important minister who assisted them. The Yuan Dynasty Ma Zhiyuan's drama "Chen Tuan in Repose" says that Chen Tuan set up a fortune-telling stall in Bianliang City, and Zhao Kuangyin and Zheng En came to tell their fortunes. Chen Tuan saw that Zhao Kuangyin had the physique to be an emperor, and Zheng En would also become a prince in the future. "Qing Zuo Gao Yi" contains "Biography of Mr. Xiyi", which says that Chen Tuan was originally a man of the time of Emperor Dezong of Tang Dynasty. Emperor Xizong of Tang Dynasty treated him with great respect, named Chen Tuan as Qingxu Chushi, and gave him three official ladies to serve him. Chen Tuan declined all the offers and left without saying goodbye, and has never been seen since. During the Five Dynasties, he lived in Huashan. When he had nothing to do, he would sleep for a year or so. When Emperor Zhenzong of Song heard that Chen Tuan was still alive, he summoned him many times, but Chen Tuan did not come. His whereabouts were uncertain, and sometimes he would go down the mountain to visit ordinary people's homes. Legend has it that someone saw him during the reign of Emperor Zhezong of Song. Three hundred years had passed from Emperor Dezong of Tang to Emperor Zhezong of Song, and Chen Tuan was still alive. Didn't he become a god? However, the noble man Chen Tuan treated the Taoist in hemp clothes with great respect and even sought his advice when he had doubts or difficulties. It is difficult to guess what kind of person the Taoist in hemp clothes is. The fact that "Ma Yi Xiang Fa" is associated with a mysterious figure like Ma Yi Taoist adds a bit of mystery to it. It is a book on physiognomy, all about the art of physiognomy. It observes and evaluates a person's external features such as body shape, appearance, voice, and skeleton, and associates them with a person's good or bad fortune, wealth or misfortune, nobility or humbleness, longevity or premature death, poverty or wealth, and determines the corresponding meanings. The book is divided into four volumes. Volume one is a general discussion, which explains the human body diagram and determines the corresponding parts of the human body. Volume two is about physiognomy, which divides the human face into several parts such as head, forehead, eyebrows, eyes, nose, mouth, lips, philtrum, tongue, teeth, and ears, and discusses the relationship between each part and a person's destiny. Volume three is an analysis of the role of various parts of the human body in physiognomy, and how to judge a person's fortune and destiny by looking at his hands and feet. Volume four discusses the relationship between complexion and a person's destiny. This book breaks down the human body into too many details. When discussing the connection between the human body and human destiny, it mixes in theories of yin and yang, the five elements, the eight trigrams and the twelve zodiac signs, and the five stars and six planets. There are many contradictions in the book, making it difficult to read and understand. Such a book has become a classic work of ancient Chinese physiognomy. Physiognomists worship it as a god and dare not make any criticism.

Around the same time as "Ma Yi's Xiang Fa", there was another widely circulated physiognomy book called "Tai Qing Shen Jian". Legend has it that this book was written by Wang Pu of the Later Zhou Dynasty. Wang Pu was the Privy Councilor during the reign of Emperor Shizong of Zhou. Ouyang Xiu's New History of the Five Dynasties said that he was intelligent and talented. He not only had a detailed understanding of contemporary affairs, but also was well versed in yin and yang calendar. However, neither the New nor the Old History of the Five Dynasties records that Wang Pu was proficient in physiognomy. The "Preface" at the beginning of the book says that the author left Linwu Cave, went down the mountain for three years, searched through ancient and modern times and wrote the book "Taiqing Shenjian", which is inconsistent with Wang Pu's deeds. This book was most likely written by a sorcerer in the Song Dynasty and attributed to him Wang Pu. In the Ming Dynasty, another book called "Liuzhuang Face Reading" appeared, written by Yuan Gong, a layman from Liuzhuang. Yuan Gong, whose courtesy name was Tingyu, traveled all his life to rivers, lakes and seas. On Mount Putuo Luojia, he met a strange monk who called himself Bieguya and learned the art of physiognomy from him. Yuan Gong is gifted and has quick comprehension. Later, he used the skills he had learned to predict good and bad luck, fortune and misfortune, longevity and premature death, nobility and humbleness, and fortune and misfortune for people, and legend has it that his skills were very effective. When people came to him for fortune-telling, he would just listen to their voices and look at their appearance and he would be able to infer whether it would be good or bad. Yuan Gong became famous because of this. Because Yuan Gong called himself Liuzhuang Jushi, later generations called his physiognomy "Liuzhuang Physiognomy". This is a physiognomy book that was popular along with "Ma Yi Xiang Fa" and "Tai Qing Shen Jian" and is revered by many fortune tellers. Physiognomy reached its peak in the Song Dynasty and penetrated into the common people in subsequent generations, with its influence growing, which had a lot to do with the spread of these three books.

A person's voice, appearance and form are just external characteristics of the human body. How can they be related to a person's good or bad fortune? This is a problem that physiognomy cannot avoid. In order to avoid such an embarrassing problem, the sorcerers adopted a method similar to divination, linking physiognomy with the Book of Changes, the Five Elements, etc., and using abstract theories to explain some very specific issues about the human body and destiny.

According to Song Wang Qi's "Moji", when Lü Mengzheng was a child, he learned poetry and fu from Guo Yanqing together with Zhang Qixian, Wang Sui, Qian Ruoshui, Liu Ye and others. One day, the crowd asked Taoist Wang Baoyi to tell their fortunes, but Taoist Wang had gone out and had not returned, leaving only a monk to look after his residence. Everyone found it incomprehensible that a monk would learn from a Taoist priest. The monk explained that he wanted to learn fortune-telling from Taoist priest Wang and had been learning from him for thirty years. After hearing this, everyone asked him to tell their fortune, but the monk refused again and again, asking everyone to come back tomorrow. The next day, everyone came together again and saw Taoist Wang as expected. The Taoist priest asked everyone to sit down. Lu Mengzheng sat opposite the Taoist priest. Zhang Qixian, Wang Sui and Qian Ruoshui sat in turn. Liu Ye sat at the very bottom. After everyone sat down, the Taoist priest looked at each of them carefully and couldn't help but let out a long sigh. People didn't know why the Taoist sighed, so they asked him. The Taoist said: I have been to the East China Sea in the east, to the Quicksand in the west, to the Lingjiao in the south, to the desert in the north, and I have traveled all over the world looking for the so-called noble people to test my skills, but I never met any noble people. Who would have thought that all the noble people would be here today! Then he said slowly: Mr. Lu passed the imperial examination and no one could suppress him. He served as prime minister for but ten years, and was appointed as the magistrate of Henan Prefecture in twelve years. Since then, he has been a general and a prime minister for thirty years, and he has been rich, noble and long-lived. Mr. Zhang has been prime minister for the next thirty years, and he has also been rich, noble and long-lived. Mr. Qian can be a regent, but he cannot last a hundred days; Mr. Liu has the name of a regent, but not the reality. The Taoist priest looked among all the disciples, but missed his master Guo Yanqing. Guo said angrily: Are there many prime ministers here? : : : : : : : : : : : : : : :

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