#chientung

[mysteriousplanchette]

A seer consults the Kau Chim or Kau Cim,(求籤 or 求签; also called Chien Tung here in the States) In this hand-colored illustration from Thomas Allom’s 1842 work “China, In a Series of Views, Displaying the Scenery, Architecture, and Social Habits of that Empire.” Sold here in the US under a variety of names since 1915, “Chinese Fortune Telling Sticks” are often referred to as the world’s oldest form of divination, a claim to which I remain highly skeptical. #求籤 #求签 #chientung #kaucim #chauchim #chinesefortunetellingsticks #chientung #divination #china #magic #occult #seer #fortune #fate #fortunetelling #fortuneteller https://www.instagram.com/p/B7n-I9jlb-t/?igshid=17jy9flzz7dis

[rurouni-neko]

Kau Cim, Kau Chim or Lottery poetry is a fortune telling practice that originated in China in which the querent (person asking the question) requests answers from a sacred oracle lot. The practice is often performed in a Taoist or Buddhist temple in front of an altar. Kau Cim is often referred to as Chien Tung or Chinese Fortune Sticks by westerners. In the USA, a version has been sold since 1915 under the name Chi Chi Sticks. Kau Cim is also sometimes known as "The Oracle of Kuan Yin" in Buddhist traditions. #kaucim #kauchim #lotterypoetry #求签 #求簽 #chientung #chinesefortunesticks #chichisticks #YuMoGuiGwaiFaiDiZao #精靈惡魔鬼魂怪物快離開 #精灵恶魔鬼魂怪物快离开 #buddhisttemple #buddhist #temples #templerun #templerun1 #templerunmanila #templerunbinondo #yuchengco #nueva #pochuanamtemple #pochuanam #wanderingcat #wheninbinondo #binondogirl #mobilephotography (at Binondo, Manila)

[mysteriousplanchette]

Lovely woodcut of a back alley #fortuneteller utilizing Omikuji fortune telling sticks, a divination practice performed in Taoist and Buddhists temples dating back as far as the 3rd century. #fortunetelling #divination #kaucim #chientung #oracle #fate #fortune #pastpresentfuture #omikuji

[mysteriousplanchette]

Recently added this amazing set of antique bone Kau Cim to the collection (also known as Kau Chim or Chien Tung, or “Chinese Fortune Sticks” here in the West). For the uninitiated, users would open the container full of small sticks or rods and call a particular question to mind, shaking the container horizontally until a single numbered stick worked its way loose and fell to the ground. The number is then interpreted by a monk or priest, or compared to a chart to determine the answer to your posed question. In this example’s case, the individual sticks are each shaped like various Chinese and kung fu pole arms! The accompanying note gives some hint of the age and provenance, even if it holds a glaring error about what the item actually is. It reads: "My grandfather Beerbohm made these Klöppelgabel for my grandmother when she was 14 years and he was 21 years old. Gretchen Amker, who has a reverence for family members is supposed to get this." The inheritance note was dated December 4, 1925 and signed in Memel, in what is now Lithuania. But this is problematic. Klöppeln is not a divination technique, but rather a traditional style of lace in Niedersachsen, north of Germany. Klöppelgabel is the German term for the small, distinctive bobbins used to keep track of each end of thread. So either we have a note that is totally mismatched to the chien tung, or someone from the Beerbohm estate was mistaken about what the items were, and guessed they were lace-making tools. But who knows? Either way—mistaken note or not—an extraordinarily fine artifact that’s headed for my shelf of Eastern divination tools! #fortuneteller #fortunetelling #divination #kaucim #chientung #oracle #fate #fortune #pastpresentfuture #occult