Several short stories about ancient divination.

Two scholars have gone to the countryside for an exam. They all use the word' Li' to test. Mr. Zi said, "One of you goes to high school and the other goes to a funeral." The result came true later. "

When someone asked the reason, he said, "When the mourner asked, someone happened to carry water through here, so it was a word' weeping', indicating that he was in mourning. When the examinee asked, there was someone standing next to him. This is the word' bit', which means to occupy a seat or get promoted, so he was cut off from the exam. "

Break a word's life

In the Qing Dynasty, when a person wrote the word' xi', he sought great things all his life. Mr. Juzi put it this way: You are a sheep, and you have been lonely all your life. When the word "Xi" was taken apart and changed from "sheep" to "me", only one sheep was me, and I was lonely.

Someone used the word "melon" to ask about his father's illness. Mr. Juzi corresponded his son's "son" with the word "melon" and was an "orphan". His father was doomed.

Emperor Chongzhen asked about state affairs by measuring words.

Li Zicheng, the conqueror, was trapped in Beijing, and Daming Mountain saw that the tide was gone, but Emperor Chongzhen still refused to give up and made a final struggle. Song Xiance, a military strategist, has repeatedly proposed a siege plan. I said this to Chuang Wang again, and Chuang Wang nodded again and again.

On this day, Song Xiance, a military adviser, dressed up as an old man who measured his character, infiltrated the capital. Near the palace, set up a word-measuring pavilion. Song suggested that Emperor Chongzhen was superstitious and often recruited some charlatans to visit the palace for divination. Get up early every day, you must abandon the dry Qing palace to worship Buddha. Luoyang fell, uncle Chongzhen was stabbed, and Chongzhen already felt run.

On this day, Emperor Chongzhen took eunuch Wang Dehua and slipped out of the palace in plain clothes. I was moved when I saw the sign on the Song Xiance word-testing stand saying "Guigu is a teacher, you should help your friends". I think that charlatans who are usually called into the palace will always say something flattering in front of me. Today, the diviner doesn't know my identity. Why don't I take a test? Thinking, he gave Wang Dehua a wink and leaned forward.

Wang Dehua screamed at Song Xiance, "Sir, my master wants to test a word. Song Xiance looked up and knew that he was a eunuch. Then he looked at Chongzhen sitting there, and he understood. Busy smile asked: "I wonder what the guest officer wants to take the exam? Wang Dehua replied, "I want to test state affairs. "Song Xiance conveniently picked up the writing brush on the table, handed it to Wang Dehua and said," The guest officer began to write. 〞

Wang Dehua began to write the word "friend". Song Xiance studied the word "Friends' Day" carefully and thought for a while. He said, "Sir, the situation is not good. Look at the apostrophe of the word "friend". If you cover the upper part, it becomes the word "anti". I am afraid it is "anti-reverse". Hearing this, Chongzhen was happy.

When Wang Dehua saw that Chongzhen's face suddenly changed, he quickly waved his hand and said, "No, the word' friend' is the word' you'." Song Xiance and studied for half a day, not words, just shook his head. After a long time, I said softly, "The word' yes' is even more ominous. You see' yes', the upper part of the word is' big, the word is missing an si', and the lower part is' Ming, the word is missing half. According to this speculation, Daming Mountain has already gone halfway. When Wang Dehua heard this, he was scared and broke out in a cold sweat. He quickly said, "it's not the word' you', but the word' you' in' Shen You Five Seas'. [Song Xiance didn't speak and shook his head.

Chongzhen asked urgently, "Sir, please say it directly." Song Xiance said with a sigh. The word ぅ is too ominous to say much. After hearing this, Chongzhen felt uneasy and crustily skin of head said, "Sir, don't hide it. Go ahead. " Song Xiance said mysteriously, "Sir, don't tell anyone. It seems that Daming Jiangshan is going to die. Look at the word' one'. In the word' respect', there is no head on the top and no foot on the bottom. Wang Dehua saw that things were not good, so he helped Chongzhen back to the palace.

The next day, Emperor Chongzhen took Wang Dehua and died in Jingshan Park. When the city of Beijing was destroyed, Wang's rebel army entered the city as easy as blowing off dust. Up to now, there is still a two-part allegorical saying that "Chongzhen measures character-very close to death".

Zeng Guofan's Personality Measurement

When Zeng Guofan, a famous minister of the Qing Dynasty, was an official in Beijing, he often made anonymous unannounced visits to the people. One day, Chao Chao came back, took off his official clothes, put on casual clothes, and went out from the corner gate of the garden alone to the noisy street. Zeng Guofan was walking slowly in the bustling crowd of Zaixi, when he suddenly saw a fortune-telling booth on the street corner, and four big characters were written on the hexagram flag: "Measure the fortune". Zeng Guofan went to the fortune-telling booth on a whim. When the fortune teller saw the guest, he got up and said hello: "Sir, are you a fortune teller or a character reader?" ? 〞

Measure words. Zeng Guofan casually replied without thinking. The guest officer's words. "The fortune teller opened the inkstone and handed a writing brush. Zeng Guofan dipped his pen in ink, wrote the word "Ren" on the paper with a wave of his hand, and then put the pen on the inkstone. I didn't expect the pen to fall from the inkstone and stop on the words I just wrote.

The fortune teller was surprised when he saw it. He looked up at Zeng Guofan again and said humbly, "Mr. Zeng, forgive my rudeness. What dare you ask?" Zeng Guofan Zheng, I didn't expect this man to see through his identity. But with a straight face, he smiled indifferently and said, "I have nothing to do, just looking around." 〞

Well, not far. "The fortune teller stopped asking and bowed shrewdly. Zeng Guofan returned home to his study, still thinking about what had just happened: I have never seen a fortune teller, how can he see through my identity? Is it really extraordinary intelligence, or is it a blind guess? So he called the master in the room and explained it like this. It is said that the fortune teller was really surprised when he watched Zeng Guofan go far: Is it a blessing or a curse to judge in disguise? Just as I was thinking, a man riding a burly horse and wearing silks and satins came to the stall with two followers. As soon as the man got off the horse, he shouted, "get out of the way, uncle, I want to read." Before the fortune teller could speak, he grabbed the brush on the table, drew a "person" on the paper, and then threw the pen on the paper.

The fortune teller glanced at the bearer and sneered, "Boy, don't be so cruel here. Go back and wait on your master. " . A reckless and rude person like you, be careful of your master's shoes. [Male] Seeing that the fortune teller exposed him, he felt ashamed and left with his entourage. Less than an hour later, a man in his thirties came to the booth. Although the man is well dressed, his face is gloomy, his eyes are dull and his behavior is obscene. The fortune teller asked people to measure words, so he handed a writing brush and asked him to write on paper.

I haven't read it, and I can't write it. Can I dictate? 〞

What words are you going to test? Ask what? "Asked the fortune teller. > I want to test the word' person' and ask the good or bad luck now. "The fortune teller nodded and said to the man," According to what you just reported, you are still in prison. Hearing this, the visitor was surprised and quickly turned away.

As dusk approached, the fortune teller was about to close up and go home when a thin old man came over. The old man claimed to be the master of the Zeng family and said that Mr. Zeng had invited Mr. Wang to your home for a chat. The fortune teller seems harmless, thinking that "it is a blessing, not a curse, but a curse cannot be avoided", so he followed the touts to Zeng Guofan's mansion. In the study, Zeng Guofan smiled and said to the fortune teller: "This official went to the gentleman's booth to measure the eight characters this morning. How did that gentleman see his identity? " The fortune teller bowed down and replied, "I'm a poor man, but it's not surprising that I said it. When the adults came to inspect the characters, I saw that the adults were magnificent and distinguished, and they had paid some respects. The word' person' written by adults is powerful and widely praised as' Zeng Ti'. The pen rolled down the character, which coincides with the meaning of' adult'. Judging from the adult's accent, he must be one of the four officials of Xiang Guan, Zeng, Zuo, Peng and Hu. According to the age of adults and the description of their appearance by the public, we can be sure that they are adults. Zeng Guofan listened and nodded. He added, "Later, two people came to the gentleman's booth to test the word' Ren'. Honestly, I appointed them all. One is the owner of the government, and the other is a prisoner in prison. I don't know how Mr. Wang sees through them. " "The fortune teller replied," Although the master is well dressed and has an entourage behind him, he is rude, uneducated and his handwriting is crooked. He is by no means a scholar or an official. Then put the pen on the paper, just standing in the middle of the herringbone, forming a' small' word, which means that people come from humble origins, and thus conclude that he is a slave in the yamen. As for the prisoner, the villain saw that he was listless and expressionless, and there were two policemen staring at him in the distance, so he speculated that he was a prisoner in custody. Besides, this person can't write, but only dictate the word "Ren". Putting people in your mouth is not a' prisoner' word, so you can make a judgment based on it. Zeng Guofan listened and secretly admired the fortune teller's observation and analysis ability. Zeng Guofan has always been a talented person. Seeing that the fortune teller was clever, he left him in the house and became a follower.