Slave fortune telling

Divination culture appeared in Shang and Zhou Dynasties. Why didn't it prevail until Song Dynasty?

As can be seen from the fortune-teller in The Riverside Scene at Qingming Festival, divination was very popular in the Song Dynasty. You may ask: Divination is obviously superstition. With the scientific and technological progress and social civilization in the Song Dynasty, why was divination so popular?

Indeed, science and technology in the Song Dynasty made great progress, but we should also understand that not only in the Song Dynasty, but also until modern times, the progress of science and technology was not enough to change people's concept of worshipping gods and reverse the long-standing divination custom, not to mention the ancient times thousands of years ago!

In fact, there are many reasons for the prevalence of divination in the Song Dynasty, but the key lies in the increasing social mobility at that time. With the development of commodity economy in Song Dynasty, more land was put into the market as a commodity, and the conversion frequency of land ownership was obviously accelerated. In the words of the Song people, it is "now the land changes homes year after year".

As a result, economically, the rich and the poor have it, and even the rich can't help but be afraid. Correspondingly, with the political collapse of the door-and-door system, there has been a situation of "no official in the court" and "homeless for a hundred years", and there has been a situation of "ignoring the noble way and making good use of the old clan" and "showing people their talents and being cold and handsome". It is common to change from cheap to expensive or from expensive to cheap.

In addition, at that time, the political situation was repeated and the official sea was ups and downs. Being an official can't just rise and fall, or even be an official for life. No wonder they are "always rebellious and always ready to lose their official position and go home."

Due to the increase of unpredictable factors and unknowns in the future, people inevitably turn to divination more, which is due to the hope of changing from poor to rich and from cheap to expensive and the fear of changing from rich to poor and from expensive to cheap. In the Song Dynasty, it was completely understandable that fortune tellers who were said to be "capable of pushing people's lives high and low" were "familiar as city gates" and "powerful in opening doors".

Another point that needs to be pointed out is that the acceleration of the frequency of land ownership conversion has accelerated the process of land concentration. As a result, a large number of farmers lost their land and the number of unemployed people in society increased. These unemployed people urgently need to find a livelihood, and it is undoubtedly a better way to be a prophet like a city and a door. No wonder many fortune tellers in Jianghu are homeless. Fortune tellers in Jianghu have made a fortune by fortune telling, and many people have become rich from poverty.

Anyway. The increase of fortune-tellers and people eager for fortune-telling in Song Dynasty is largely the result of the increasing trend of social mobility.