The Corpse Walker: Real Life Stories: China From the Bottom Up by Liao Yiwu Page B
Book: The Corpse Walker: Real Life Stories: China From the Bottom Up by Liao Yiwu
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Authors: Liao Yiwu
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Cultural Revolution, the Red Guards also clamped down on feng shui and fortune-telling activities. But I never stopped my practice because there was always a need somewhere. People secretly invited me to their homes and asked for my advice.
LIAO: Yesterday, I walked around the area you just mentioned. It was empty. Apart from those who have been sent to the local reeducation camp, where are the rest of the fortune-tellers and feng shui masters?
HUANG: They have all gone to the neighboring provinces of Guizhou and Hunan. Modern transportation has made it much easier to move around. Sometimes, people in Guizhou and Hunan don't like outsiders to come in and invade their territories. Then, the Sichuan practitioners will travel to the coastal regions of Fujian and Zhejiang provinces where people are getting rich and desperately need the advice of fortune-tellers and feng shui masters. It's pretty easy to do business there. All you need to do is to show off a couple of your normal tricks and the locals will be all over you. However, it's a different story here. Since there is an oversupply of fortune-tellers and feng shui masters, you have to have solid skills to make money.
LIAO: I think the central government has launched a nationwide campaign against feudalistic and superstitous practices.
HUANG: You must be talking about witchcraft. I call that superstition. Recently, as feng shui and fortune-telling are out of favor, Witch Chen's business has started to pick up. Her house has been packed with customers. That witch only knows one trick: burn some fake paper money to appease the ghost and mix the ashes with water. She then has people drink the water, saying that it will cure them of illness. Apart from the water trick, she will also put on a Taoist costume and dance in a circle, mumbling to herself and screaming. She claims that the spirit of the Empress in Heaven possesses her, and the empress can help drive any illness or evil spirits from the patient's body. Who knows what kind of ghost has possessed her. She is illiterate, and can't read a single character. But she charges people fifty yuan [U.S. $6.40] per session. I don't know why people take her seriously. Mixing water with paper ashes is pure crap. Huh, when I was on the run from police, that woman profited from my misfortune. In this world, feng shui changes all the time. One minute, luck appears on the east, and the next minute, it moves to the west. It's like catching a mouse inside a quilt—you pounce on this end, and the mouse escapes from the other.
LIAO: Do you think your good luck will return soon?
HUANG: I bet it will. At the moment, people are very desperate and they all go visit Witch Chen. Once they realize that witchcraft doesn't work, they will begin to miss me. I grew up reading the books of Confucius. I spent years poring over the I Ching, the Book of Changes, and all the Taoist classics. I studied Chinese medicine for many years. In the old days, a person with my knowledge and talents would have been picked by a governor or an emperor to be his adviser.
LIAO: With your advanced age, you are still filled with ambition. It's really admirable.
HUANG: I was very ambitious, but, as you know, I haven't had too much luck in this life because the feng shui surrounding my ancestors' tombs doesn't have any extraordinary features. I've spent several years studying and surveying this region, and finally located a precious spot where “the floating dragon falls between the penholder.” Based on my astrological calculations, the Huang family will prosper after I depart from this world.
LIAO: Could you explain a little more? I'm confused by the “floating dragon falls between the penholder” line.
HUANG: You know the mountain range here is called the Mountains of Penholders because there are three penholder-shaped mountains. I walked around the area with a compass many times. The spot for my tomb nestles right between the first penholder-shaped mountain
LIAO: Yesterday, I walked around the area you just mentioned. It was empty. Apart from those who have been sent to the local reeducation camp, where are the rest of the fortune-tellers and feng shui masters?
HUANG: They have all gone to the neighboring provinces of Guizhou and Hunan. Modern transportation has made it much easier to move around. Sometimes, people in Guizhou and Hunan don't like outsiders to come in and invade their territories. Then, the Sichuan practitioners will travel to the coastal regions of Fujian and Zhejiang provinces where people are getting rich and desperately need the advice of fortune-tellers and feng shui masters. It's pretty easy to do business there. All you need to do is to show off a couple of your normal tricks and the locals will be all over you. However, it's a different story here. Since there is an oversupply of fortune-tellers and feng shui masters, you have to have solid skills to make money.
LIAO: I think the central government has launched a nationwide campaign against feudalistic and superstitous practices.
HUANG: You must be talking about witchcraft. I call that superstition. Recently, as feng shui and fortune-telling are out of favor, Witch Chen's business has started to pick up. Her house has been packed with customers. That witch only knows one trick: burn some fake paper money to appease the ghost and mix the ashes with water. She then has people drink the water, saying that it will cure them of illness. Apart from the water trick, she will also put on a Taoist costume and dance in a circle, mumbling to herself and screaming. She claims that the spirit of the Empress in Heaven possesses her, and the empress can help drive any illness or evil spirits from the patient's body. Who knows what kind of ghost has possessed her. She is illiterate, and can't read a single character. But she charges people fifty yuan [U.S. $6.40] per session. I don't know why people take her seriously. Mixing water with paper ashes is pure crap. Huh, when I was on the run from police, that woman profited from my misfortune. In this world, feng shui changes all the time. One minute, luck appears on the east, and the next minute, it moves to the west. It's like catching a mouse inside a quilt—you pounce on this end, and the mouse escapes from the other.
LIAO: Do you think your good luck will return soon?
HUANG: I bet it will. At the moment, people are very desperate and they all go visit Witch Chen. Once they realize that witchcraft doesn't work, they will begin to miss me. I grew up reading the books of Confucius. I spent years poring over the I Ching, the Book of Changes, and all the Taoist classics. I studied Chinese medicine for many years. In the old days, a person with my knowledge and talents would have been picked by a governor or an emperor to be his adviser.
LIAO: With your advanced age, you are still filled with ambition. It's really admirable.
HUANG: I was very ambitious, but, as you know, I haven't had too much luck in this life because the feng shui surrounding my ancestors' tombs doesn't have any extraordinary features. I've spent several years studying and surveying this region, and finally located a precious spot where “the floating dragon falls between the penholder.” Based on my astrological calculations, the Huang family will prosper after I depart from this world.
LIAO: Could you explain a little more? I'm confused by the “floating dragon falls between the penholder” line.
HUANG: You know the mountain range here is called the Mountains of Penholders because there are three penholder-shaped mountains. I walked around the area with a compass many times. The spot for my tomb nestles right between the first penholder-shaped mountain
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