136 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS VOL, I42 



Buddhist priest, while a rival warlord consulted a Taoist priest, each 

 to learn whether his fortune would be good in case of war. Near the 

 end of the Manchu dynasty, according to a Suifu tradition, a famous 

 Buddhist priest from Suifu called Liao Ming Ho-shang became the 

 special diviner of the imperial family. Yuan Shih-k'ai, then a promi- 

 nent official, also consulted him. He was told that he might become 

 Emperor of China. Yuan quickly hushed the priest up but secretly 

 gave him much money. After the Manchu dynasty had fallen and 

 Yuan had become President of China, he again consulted Liao, who 

 repeated his statement that Yuan could succeed in becoming Em- 

 peror. After Yuan had failed and died, a Chinese official in Lu-chou, 

 Szechwan, gave Liao a public beating for his part in encouraging 

 Yuan to try to overthrow the Chinese Republic and establish an em- 

 pire with himself as emperor. Liao went into hiding and was never 

 heard of afterward. 



A very common way of divination is by means of the yin-yang kiia, 

 which consists of two pieces of dried and lacquered bamboo roots. 

 One root is cut into two halves so that each half has a flat surface 

 and a round surface. The flat aide is yang and the round surface is 

 yin. The inquirer first worships the idol, with bowings or prostra- 

 tions, and burns incense. Then the priest throws the yin-yang kua 

 onto the ground or the floor. If the two round sides land up, it is 

 unlucky; if the two flat sides are up, it is lucky; and if one flat side 

 and one round side are up, it is neutral. If the results are unsatis- 

 factory, the worshiper will again worship the god and make a vow, 

 promising a gift to the god or the temple, and the priest throws again. 

 The priest keeps throwing and the worshiper making larger vows until 

 the two flat sides come up, when the divining ceases. They believe 

 that the god has changed the fortune of the worshiper from bad to 

 good because of his worshiping and making vows, and the vows are 

 always paid. 



In front of some images are tubes or cylinders containing lOO bam- 

 boo sticks numbered consecutively from i to 100. Nearby are also 

 100 sheets of paper numbered the same way. On each sheet a fortune 

 is printed, varying from very bad to bad, medium bad, medium, 

 medium good, very good, and the very best. The inquirer first wor- 

 ships the god, then kneeling in worship, he shakes the tube containing 

 the bamboo sticks until one falls out. The priest looks at the number 

 on the stick, then gives the worshiper the sheet of paper having that 

 number. The inquirer reads what is written on the sheet of paper and 

 believes that it tells his fortune. Sometimes the yin-yang kua is also 

 used. 



