To my surprise, Lao Dao wasn't annoyed with me at all. On the contrary, he readily agreed.
He probably appreciated my eagerness to learn.
"Considering you have no foundation and would find anything too profound difficult to understand," Lao Dao said, "I'll teach you a finger-pinching divination art."
I was incredibly curious. Was it like those master diviners on TV who could tell the future just by pinching their fingers?
That seemed pretty cool.
My spirits soared, and I listened with rapt attention, afraid of missing even a single word and failing to understand.
The finger-pinching divination art was simplified by Zhuge Liang from Qimen Dunjia. It's also known as the Zhuge Maqian Lesson, or the Little Liuren Divine Art, shortened to Little Liuren.
There are six possible outcomes from the calculation, also known as the Six Spirits.
Da'an: Stillness, peace of mind, auspiciousness.
Liulian: Obscurity, delay, entanglement.
Suxi: Speed, celebration, the time is right.
Chikou: Fright, danger, disputes and gossip.
Xiaoji: Home, return, good luck is coming.
Kongwang: Worry, inauspiciousness, no result.
The calculation is relatively simple. You just position the Six Spirits and count in order using the month, day, and hour.
Da'an is located at the base of the index finger, Liulian at the tip of the index finger, Suxi at the tip of the middle finger, Chikou at the tip of the ring finger, Xiaoji at the base of the ring finger, and Kongwang at the base of the middle finger. (See image in comments)
I decided to put what I'd just learned into practice. I wanted to see if I would successfully get my diploma from my studies in Singapore.
I checked the date: the eleventh day of the fourth lunar month.
For the fourth month, I counted four times: Da'an, Liulian, Suxi, Chikou.
For the eleventh day, I counted eleven more times, starting from Chikou: Chikou, Xiaoji, Kongwang... landing on Liulian.
I glanced at the time. It was 3:30 PM.
The shichen, or two-hour periods, start with the Zi hour from 11 PM to 1 AM, followed by the Chou hour from 1 AM to 3 AM, and so on. The Wu hour is from 11 AM to 1 PM, and the Wei hour is from 1 PM to 3 PM. Since it was past 3 PM, it was the next period, the Shen hour.
Continuing from where I left off, I started from Liulian and added the hour, counting in order until the Shen hour. The result was Chikou.
Chikou?! Signifying disputes and gossip? I was shocked.
I had no doubt about my academic ability, so why wouldn't I be able to graduate successfully???
This was completely illogical.
"Could it be... that the calculation... is inaccurate?" I asked Lao Dao, completely bewildered.
As if he had known the result all along, Lao Dao said with a calm and knowing air, "Why did you choose to divine this matter at this exact moment? That is the will of heaven."
"If you're not satisfied with the result and deliberately wait two hours to calculate it again, and it changes to Xiaoji, then *that* would be a truly inaccurate reading."
I was on the verge of tears. This wasn't a matter of being satisfied or not! Based on my abilities, this result was simply illogical.
But I didn't dare say it out loud.
Arguing now would be pointless.
I'm a staunch materialist; I'd just let the final outcome speak for itself.
Lao Dao didn't seem to care what I was thinking, nor did he offer any words of comfort. He just continued on his own, "Do you know what kind of person Old Man Sai from the story 'Old Man Sai Loses His Horse' was?"
What kind of person was Old Man Sai?
I was already used to Lao Dao's wild, leaping train of thought.
Old Man Sai? An old man?
I thought to myself.
It couldn't be that simple.
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"Old Man Sai... was a broad-minded person?" I ventured uncertainly, peeking at Lao Dao.
Lao Dao closed his eyes and, shaking his head, recited, "Among the people who lived near the frontier, there was one skilled in the arts. His horse ran away to the land of the nomads for no reason. Everyone pitied him. But the father said: 'How can you know this is not a blessing in disguise?'"
"One skilled in the arts?!" I seized on the key phrase, exclaiming in disbelief, "Old Man Sai was a fortune-teller?!"
How is that possible?!
Many of Lao Dao's claims were challenging my worldview.
Under his repeated bombardments, my worldview was already teetering on the brink of collapse.
Proofreader: Peter Pan