Seasons in the Sun

'We had joy, we had fun, we had seasons in the sun but the wine and the songs like the seasons have all gone.......'
                                                                                                                 Terry Jacks, 1973.

Ah Feng then started to think of what to do next as she realised that she have to keep the matter from her parent. The next day, she called the bank and told the manager that she had some urgent family matters to settle and needs to apply for a week of leave. The manager approved as she had quite a number of uncleared days left from the year before.

She then went out immediately as her parents had went out for breakfast in the early morning and she did not want to meet them yet. Although being dealt a blow to her normal life, she sensibly first went to her family doctor and had a checkup while telling her doctor that she did not want to get pregnant as she had forgotten to take precaution while sleeping with her boyfriend. After this was done, she went to a cafe nearby the clinic and had breakfast and thinking of what to do next. She do not have any close girlfriend to confide in and discuss her situation. She felt like going crazy while thinking of the incident and with no one to confide into. And also whether she should let Ah Shan knows about it. Though Ah Shan appears to be deeply in love with her, but she do not know whether their relationship in the future would be affected by this incident after he knows about it. Further, they are going to get married and if later on, he might be influenced by the incident which might leads to them separating during quarrels and it would be complicated. She then decided to temporary avoid him until she can finds a way to be sure of his feelings.

Well, when Ah Shan awoke from his drunken stupor from the night before, he immediately thought of Ah Feng and called her office. He was surprised that she had applied for leave and he then called the home but the maid who answered told him that she had left the home as usual in the morning. He then thought that maybe Ah Feng had went out with her parents to tend to some family matters. He remembered he had also asked Ah Feng to apply for leave before the party and that they could spend a day together but Ah Feng had said she had things to do that day. After taking some rice porridge to cure his hangover, he went back to sleep as he still feels tired.

It was in the late afternoon when he awoke again and he immediately called Ah Feng but this time, the mother who took the call told him that she was sick and sleeping and to call back again the next day. At this point on hearing that she was sick, he then decided to pay her a visit instead when he have finished work. The following evening, he drove straight to Ah Feng house and the door was opened by the maid who told him Ah Feng is still not feeling well and resting and asked him to go back first. He then did not wanted to interrupted her rest as the parents might misunderstood that he is being possessive even before marriage.

This carried on for a few days and even though he had called by telephone but she had not take the calls and each time it was the maid or mother who told him to wait for her to call him back instead. Ah Shan then start to think whether it was because of that night that he had got drunk that Ah Feng was unhappy and therefore had avoid him. He then decided to go early in the morning during breakfast as she should then not be in her bedroom and be able to avoid him. True enough, the maid let him into the house as Ah Feng should be having breakfast at that time as he expected, he then saw her at the dining table. Ah Feng then told him to wait at the living room as she had just finished her breakfast and help the maid to clear up the table.

In a while, she came to the living room and then just sat opposite him instead of the usual side next to him when he visited in the past. She was silent and Ah Shan immediatedly started to apologise about that night. She was rather cold while listening to his explanation and did not reply. Ah Shan then continued about her health and whether she have recovered as he wants her to look at the bed he had wanted to purchase for their apartment. At this moment, Ah Feng said: 'Who said we are getting married?'

Ah Shan was shocked and said: 'Why did you say that? I had already apologised several times over the phone through your mother and the maid to you apart from now here.'

Ah Feng just kept quiet and just looked blankly at him.

Ah Shan then asked: 'Is there a problem from your parents on our marriage and you are in a difficult position to tell me. I can wait for your parents to be back and discussed with them if they are still unsure about my feelings for you.'

Ah Feng just said : 'No, this have nothing to do with them, it is my decision.'

Ah Shan then noticed that Ah Feng' s eyes was red and teary and he had thought that she had looked unwell as she probably had not recovered from her illness. Sensing there is something amiss, he started to talk loudly, unable to control his feeling. Ah Shan: 'Then please tell me what is the problem that have made you change your mind?  We can try to discuss and there should be a way out as we have known each other for such a long period.'

Ah Feng was starting to lose her control as she senses the sincerity in Ah Shan and about to break into  tears when she firmed up and then told Ah Shan: 'My parents will be coming back here soon and I don't want them to hear what I want to tell you, come back in the evening to pick me up and we will look for a quiet place.'

Ah Shan was relieved as he was worried that she might locked herself up in the bedroom and avoid him again.

'All-right, I will come back in the evening and we can go for dinner.'

Ah Feng: 'No, I am not in the mood for dinner, you can have yours first before coming by at 7.30 pm.'

Thus saying, Ah Feng then went back straight to her bedroom without sending him to the door. Ah Shan felt helpless but to leave and hope that he will be able to settle any misgivings she have on the marriage later on.

Well, as expected, Ah Shan took a quick dinner and came before 7.30 pm and Ah Feng was already waiting for him. In the car, Ah Shan as usual asked where she would like to go and Ah Feng said: 'Anywhere that is quiet as I want do not want to be disturbed by other people in our conversations.'

Ah Shan said: 'I will get some soft drinks from a provision shop then and we can go to the same place at the beach where you had saw the shooting stars.'

Ah Shan hope that as Ah Feng like that place, it would be easier for him to convince her of his love for her which is true as he really cannot imagine life without her by his side. This was why he is so anxious to get married as he was worried that anything can happens in the future to affects their relationship if he do not commit himself to her soon. He of course, believed that Ah Feng truly loves him and felt he was correct in wanting to get married early as this incident had shown.

As they sat there looking at the sea and that night, there was no moon or stars as if they were afraid to appear before the troubled love couple. Ah Feng was still quiet and looks solemn while Ah Shan had kept quiet, waiting for her to start the conversation as he did not want to annoy her unintentionally because of her present mood. Ah Feng then said : 'There is something I must tell you which had made me decided to call off our wedding.' Ah Feng then told him about the incident though she had misgivings about whether she should or not before she left home. But she felt that it is not fair to let him know without any explanation to call off the wedding because of her doubts about his feeling. Being her character and her principles, she also had no wish to keep it as a secret from him too if they were to get married.

When Ah Shan heard about it, he started feeling guilty as he had gotten drunk that night and even more as Xiao Jin had warned him about it. He had not let Ah Feng know about what Xiao Jin had said or bought her a protection talisman. He also felt that he had a part in causing this incident as he had not being able to send her home personally that night for he will usually walk her up to her apartment before leaving. Rather than berating himself further in the mind, he started to assure Ah Feng of his true feelings and that he will not let the incident affects their future relationship. Of course, he did not dare tell her about what Xiao Jin had said which ironically will leads to more problems later on. He then insisted that they will get married in Spring when he confirmed the wedding date with his father while having his usual breakfast at home in the morning. He was glad when Ah Feng kept quiet and did not voice further objections. He then decided to send her home as he also don't want her to suddenly change her mind again and also to let her have more rest as the incident is a big blow to her as well as to him. When he send her to the door of her house, he told her he will be back the next day to bring her out for lunch and go to her favorite places to let her slowly forget about the incident so she can be back to the usual cheerful girl he knows.

The next morning, he called his office and apply for leave and then while having breakfast with his father, told him that he wants to confirm the date for the wedding. To his annoyance, his father told him that he is not sure of which is a better date and wanted him to asked the old fortune teller, Master Ze De to choose the date again. Without any choice as he knows his father will not pick the date for him since he had said so, Ah Shan had to call the old fortune teller. This time, when he told his request to the assistant who took the call, the latter after making him wait on the phone, came back and told him the master is busy. Ah Shan was about to throw his temper at the assistant after all he went through the last few days over Ah Feng's incident when he thought of his Feng Shui master cousin and an idea came to him. He then told his father who had not gone out that the master is still busy and suggested why don't they asked his cousin to pick the date instead as it was already nearing the Chinese new year. As what he expected, his father agreed saying that if the cousin was willing to do it, he have no objection.

The relieved Ah Shan immediately calls his cousin who happened to be at home and agreed to meet him as it was still early for him to fetch Ah Feng. When he reached there and after the maid had served him tea, his cousin Ah Chong immediately took out a Tong Shu, a chinese almanac without even asking him for their birthcharts and in a while, gave him the date after asking Ah Shan for the month that he wants to get married. Ah Shan despite after meeting that old fortune teller and his schoolmate, Xiao Jin, he should have felt something amiss that this was done without even looking at his birth data even though Ah Shan do not know or believed in this stuff. Rather in his mind, he thought that this should be the way as he don't understand what had took the old fortune teller such a long time to decide the date for him.

Anyway, the cousin then carried on and asked him whether he have started renovating the new apartment at which Ah Shan told him there was no major renovation except for some minor repairs which the previous owner had left behind. And also that he just needs to furnish the place apart from that at which his cousin told him that he was lucky to have got the apartment at a good price, considering that it was quite new as the previous owner had stayed there for less than a year. As expected, with Ah Chong' s inadequate knowledge in Feng Shui, he was unable to know that there are major problems with the apartment. But common sense should have told him that there is something amiss as the owner was obviously willing to lose money when he sells the place at that price after staying there for less than a year. And it looks like the owner was in a hurry to get rid of the place as soon as possible.

His cousin then wanting to show off his feng shui knowledge started  to tell Ah Shan that there are further things that needed to be done like positioning the bed and stove at the right place. Ah Shan was impressed by his so called knowledge. And as Ah Chong was free, he asked Ah Shan for lunch after which they can then go to the apartment and he will tell Ah Shan what to do. Ah Shan was agreeable as he have been thinking of where to go with Ah Feng after they had lunch. He remember Ah Feng was delighted when he had collected the keys to the apartment and bought her there to discuss on the changes to be done on the apartment.

When they finished lunch and as usual with Ah Chong, the fengshui master talking most of the time and bragging about his skills, they then proceed to the apartment. Ah Chong lately because of his unfavorable luck pillar which had started have less clients and business, was bored as he was the boorish type with few friends willing to pay him that kind of attention. Ah Chong then started to tell  Ah Shan that the bedboard is to be positioned at the South and which had the end of the bed pointing towards the bedroom door which is located in the North sector in a straight line which was bad advice as readers here familiar with feng shui layout should know. The other thing was that Ah Chong do not know destiny analysis and was unaware that Ah Feng was born a week before Chinese New year and her Ming Gua is still Dui Trigram which belongs to the West group and not the East group for Eight Mansion Feng Shui. Anyway, as for apartments till today, there are practitioners which uses the balcony and some which uses the Main door to decide on the category of the property that it belongs to. Therefore, we would look at Flying stars feng shui instead for readers here to understand easier what I had earlier mentioned about how the six relationships in a Bazi chart affects a person destiny where the story started.

To make things worse, Ah Chong have never heard of  Xuan Kong Flying stars which was gaining popularity at that time after the knowledge was made public in the 1920s. The property is considered Age 6 which had started in 1964 and will complete its 20 years cycle in 1984. It is sitting at the Xun Trigram or South East where the Golden Dragon is and have the main entrance door at the West where water star 5 and mountain Star 7 meets and have the Master bedroom at the South Sector where you have mountain star 9 and water star 3 which is in clash with Ah Feng' s Ming Gua. Most of the readers here familiar with the Flying stars feng shui would know that water star 5 when it is untimely is best to be left alone as activation would creates problem. The main door of the apartment in the West sector is facing South and had made Ah Chong determine it as auspicous for the East group in Eight Mansions Feng Shui. I would leave it here for readers to analyse further on how bad the configuration of the apartment was for both Flying Stars and Eight Mansions. The only saving grace was that the Early trigram for the bed position is at Qian Gua.

After Ah Chong had told the couple where the stove needed to be placed in the kitchen, he left as he had an afternoon tea appointment for Tim Sum (A Chinese afternoon pastime like the English afternoon tea) with an old friend who do not mind listening to all his feng shui stories. Ah Shan then told Ah Feng that he thought of going to the temple to seek blessings for their coming marriage as the date have now been fixed by Ah Chong. He was glad that everything is now proceeding smoothly and with placement of furniture for the apartment settled instead of another day. He also finds that it is coincidental that Ah Chong had volunteer to instruct him on the layout of the furniture for the apartment. He have been thinking of how to approach Xiao Jin for advice about the apartment on the things to be done to neutralise the harm that is in his Zi Wei birth chart accordingly to the latter who had told Ah Shan to inform him when the apartment is ready. He had to do it without Ah Feng' s knowledge as he feels guilty if Xiao Jin would to ask if anything had happened the month before infront of Ah Feng. He was glad that Ah Chong had got him out of the dilemma and had then thought of going to the temple as he felt that the Gods must be helping him now.

They had then went to a popular Chinese Taoist temple at Causeway Bay and while there, Ah Shan had asked for a divination which was 'Colours belongs to Spring while Magnificence is in Summer. Unintentional Grievances is resolved with a Stroke'. Not knowing what it meant, they had then look for a fortune teller to decipher it at the temple. They found one stall which was still opened with an old man who appeared to be sleeping as the late afternoon weather was warm and breezy. There was a banner with the words, 'Half Fairy' which must be his hallmark as most fortunetellers have one. Ah Shan then approached the stall, thinking of how to awake the old man when a small boy he had not noticed at the side, pulled at the old fortune teller sleeve. The old man opened his still sleepy eyes and saw him and then asked: 'Yes, young man, anything I can do for you?'

Ah Shan replied: 'I would like to seek your opinion on this divination I got from the temple.'

Half Fairy: 'Not a problem, let me have a look...'

Ah Shan passed the paper on which the divination was printed to the old fortune teller who then stared at it blankly for a while. He then asked Ah Shan what he was praying or seeking for as he needs to know in order to decipher it correctly as it is a poem. Ah Shan with the by now curious Ah Feng at his side, then told the fortune teller that it was for his coming marriage in Spring.

Half Fairy: 'Mmm, it is a very auspicious divination for it means that as with Spring and Summer, all things have reached its glory and that all previous grievances would have been resolved when you get married.'

Both Ah Shan and Ah Feng was pleased to hear that as it had in their hearts,implied that the rape incident would not affect their marriage which would remove the negative feelings of grievances from that incident. Of course, they did not tell the fortune teller about it and gave him a more than the usual token of money in the red packet which Ah Shan took from the table for customers to put their money in as appreciation. However all of them did not know that there is a hidden meaning in it including the fortune teller who had taken over the stall by paying a sum of money to his friend who had gone back to his hometown in China to retire. The so-called Half Fairy actually had no foundations in destiny analysis or divinations skills  .

The words : ' 艷於春而盛於夏, 無心之怨一筆解決.' is actually part of another poem which is 

':艷於春者, 望秋先零

 而盛於夏, 未冬已萎'

and together with: '無心之怨一筆解' is not auspicious at all to a person who is well versed in divination and familiar with the old chinese poems and its hidden meanings.

Ah Shan seeing that Ah Feng had now more or less revert back to her usual cheerful self, was glad and thankful that the final trip to the temple had helped. The deeply in love couple then happily went to look for a restaurant to have dinner.

To be continued.............................

Divine Intervention

'White ants nest on the coffin in relocating the grave'

Xiao Jin then carried on: 'It would be good if you can perhaps as a present, buy her a jade Guan Yin (Chinese Goddess of Mercy) neck pendant or a shiny cross if she is a christian. Maybe get somebody to check the feng shui of her house too could help to avert this mishap.'

Ah Shan: 'For feng shui, I doubt so as her parents do not believe in this stuff. All right, I will try to do something about getting her a talisman. Anyway, you were telling me that there are things that I need to do next year as there is a harm in my bazi chart.'

Xiao Jin: 'Don't bother about that as it is still early now.'

Ah Shan: 'You still appear to be reluctant as if you want to keep me in suspense for this period and obligated to you.'

Xiao Jin: 'You misunderstood me, I have already told you more than I should have and when the time is right, I will let you know more.' He stopped when he saw Ah Feng coming back from her phone call. He then changed the subject immediately.


Xiao Jin: 'By the way, since your father believed in Feng Shui, ask him to get a feng shui expert in Ying Zhai Feng Shui to check your ancestral tomb as you had asked me about your career the last time. I believed there could be some problems which would not be good for the descendants.'

Ah Shan still annoyed by Xiao Jin refusal to let him know more about his request: ‘All-right, I will talk to my father about it. Okay, I guess we can go now as I had to take Ah Feng to look at some furniture we intend to get for our new home.’


So saying, they bade each other good-bye at the doors of the restaurant with Xiao Jin reminding Ah Shan to buy a talisman protection as a present for Ah Feng.


After they have left the place, Ah Feng noticed that Ah Shan appeared to be moody and asks: 'What is the problem, did you argue with Xiao Jin when I was not around just now?'


Ah Shan: 'It is not that, I had asked him something and he had put it off again. It appears that he wants me to feel obligated to him. I would not, I think in the future, I would instead look for my cousin, the Feng Shui guy who should know all this stuffs too and I just need to give an Ang Pow (money in a Chinese red packet) for advices. See how fast he had settled our  property search unlike the old fortune teller and now Xiao Jin who behaved like him.'


What Ah Shan do not know further was that the property that his feng shui master cousin had recommended apart from having bad external landforms if you would to compare the two photographs in the previous post, had other feng shui defects too, especially for Ah Feng of West group of birth actually. He then put aside what Xiao Jin had kept harping on about getting a talisman for Ah Feng in his anger.

From Collection of Classics on the Physiognomy of Dwellings (相宅经纂):




'Military Arts and Broken Soldier (Metal Stars) entering Li (Fire Palace) leads to difficult births, diseases and ill-fated deaths whereas Kun (Earth Palace) countering Literary Arts (Wood Star) will harm the women.'

Well, months passed by and there was a week more to go before the new year when Ah Shan had an office party for the festive Christmas season at a colleague's place. Ah Feng dressed beautifully for that night, a new trend low cut dress of English label. They had a lot of fun that night as Ah Feng also knows most of his colleagues and Ah Shan had taken opportunity to announce his marriage in the coming Mao month after the forthcoming Chinese new year. While doing it that, he had suddenly dropped his wine glass out of the blue onto the floor. He was surprised too as he thought that somebody had slapped onto his arm but he found nobody around him. He felt uneasy at this but was soon distracted by his colleagues who jestfully wanted to punish him by making him drink three glasses of wine in a row to compensate for causing the mess. Nearing the end of the night, a happy Ah Shan was soon drunk from the continuous well wishes with the drinks for his coming marriage.

As it was time to go off, the host by the name of Xiao Gang saw that Ah Shan was too drunk to drive home and offered to send Ah Shan and Ah Feng back. Ah Feng gratefully accepted it as she was worried if the  intoxicated Ah Shan insisted on driving home. They had then send Ah Shan back first as he was drunk before going to Ah Feng's place. On reaching Ah Feng's house which was in a block of four storey apartments, Xiao Gang wanted to send her up to her house which is on the third storey which Ah Feng declined, not wanting to inconvenience the host further. Xiao Gang then left with Ah Feng slowly walking up to her house.

She was on the second storey floor when suddenly two dark figures emerged from the dimly lit staircase and accosted her. One who pulled her handbag but as she struggled and shouted making the other to hit her forcefully on the back of her head with a big torch which cause her to lose consciousness. The robber who took the handbag threw it down disgustedly as he found only a few banknotes while the other on seeing this started to take off her watch and open up her coat to see if there are other valuables. He then saw the cleavage and the shapely body and immediately started to rip off the dress, the other robber on seeing this also knelt down. It is ironical that if Ah Shan had bought or insisted on getting Ah Feng the Goddess Guan Yin neck pendant or the shiny cross, the robber might have changed his mind on seeing it. Most humans beings good or bad will feel uneasy and hesitate on seeing spiritual items if they wanted to do something unethical.

After sometimes, Ah Feng woke up still feeling the pain on her head and trying to recall what had happened. On seeing her torn dress and her open handbag on the floor, she guess as much as what had happened. Though she had a strong and carefree character, she immediately started sobbing and crying. As her moods stabilized, she started to think of what to do. She realised that to make a police report is of no avail as she was unconscious and have no way of getting any identification marks of her assailants. Worse, if this matter gets blown up by the merciless news press, she and her parents would be subjected to a lot of unnecessary attentions with no opportunity of getting redress based on her circumstances. She then picked herself up and painfully walk up to her house and seeing her house was dimly lit, she then dare to open the door and go in as she do not want her mother to see her state and ask her questions.

As what Xiao Jin had predicted had came true and it was a pity that Ah Shan had out of personal feelings disregard his advice. Actually Xiao Jin had seen from Ah Feng's Zi Wei astrology chart for that year had Wu Qu The Warrior Hua Ji or Negatively transformed/affected and that month would meet Qing Yang The Sword which would caused a disaster rather than mishap which he had used to describe as he had not want to panic the couple.

To be continued...

Home Sweet Home

Picture courtesy of Master Howard Choy or Cai Hong...

'阴阳地理山家卦，总是闲言话。 更加山头指拔砂，都是眼前花。'


Another 2 weeks passed by without any news from the old fortune teller and Ah Shan was getting annoyed by now. He then then decided to pester the fortune teller every day in the morning by calling him before he go to work but was always told that the latter was not around. By then, it was September when he finally managed to get a message from the assistant who had taken his call. The latter told him that the master had said that he will be back in two month's time from an overseas assignment and that perhaps Ah Shan can seek advice from another master if he cannot wait. Ah Shan had then complained to his father and asked if he could seek another master to pick the date but as expected, the father told him to wait.

One evening while he was with Ah Feng and complaining about how he don't understand why his father was so superstitious that the day to get married must have the approval from the fortune tellers. Then Ah Feng bought up a request which gave him another headache.

Ah Feng: ' Ah Shan, I am thinking that since your father is so conservative, it is best that we have our own home after getting married. As they said absence makes the heart fonder and we would have less frictions in our relationships. It would be good to have our own home too.'

Ah Shan: 'All-right, I will speak to my father about it as this fortune telling stuff have already got onto my nerves. Don't know whether we will encounter more of this if we will to live together.'

Ah Shan after reaching home, started to think of how to approach his father on this matter as he is the only child in his family and have never left home. He remembered how his plan to study abroad was aborted after his mother was unwilling to let him go alone overseas. However, for the sake of pleasing Ah Feng, he had to think of a way as choosing the wedding date was already creating unhappiness.

The next morning, Ah Shan while having breakfast with his father, with the usual rice porridge with fried bread sticks, a popular Hong Kong morning food, told his father about his intentions of living on his own after marriage.

The Father: ' Is it Ah Feng's idea that you thought of living on your own?'

Ah Shan: 'Oh, it is not as I have thought that it would be good for me to prepare early to start a family as later on with kids, we would need more living space.'

The Father: 'Well I see, I have no objections as I think it would be good for you to learn to be independent on your own after you get married. Secondly, I think that as Hong Kong is doing well now and it will be good to invest in a property now.'

The Father then continued: 'Anyway, with your present salary, you should be able to afford a comfortable residence and I won't have to worry about whether you can maintain it. Well, if you have problem servicing the loan later, let me know and I would help you with it. But I want you to consult Ah Chong about the Feng Shui before you purchase it.'

Ah Shan was glad when he hear this as he was worried that his father was going to make things difficult for him again. Ah Shan was less worried about the Feng Shui part as Ah Chong is his cousin who had became a Feng Shui practitioner some years back and believed that it would be much easier to handle than that old fortune teller. However unknown to both Ah Shan and his father, Ah Chong was the usual run of the mill types of Feng Shui practitioner. Ah Chong had came upon this art when he had engaged a Feng Shui Master to audit his house some years back. Ah Chong was then in good luck cycle in his bazi chart (Wealth luck) and had thought that his good luck was due to the Feng Shui done on his home. He had then paid the master a hefty sum of money to learn the art. What he had learn was a watered down Eight Mansion Feng Shui or Bazhai Feng Shui, a simplified version of Feng Shui which divided people based on their year of birth into two groups (Basically East group and West group) and the types of houses based on the sitting position, also into two groups. So one group, e.g. East group of people would be suitable to live in East group of houses while the other in the West group. Back then, little was known about Feng Shui as the Communist had taken over China and banned Feng Shui. As Ah Chong was in good luck cycle, and naturally after learning the art, most of his customers who he audited for were also in good luck cycle see positive results and he had thought that it was the art that he had learned and his skill that had make the favorable changes for his customers. He had then grown proud and the worse part was that he was the mediocre type and had not seek to improve his skill by researching or reading up more about the art. When Ah Shan was told to seek consultation from Ah Chong, the latter had just started to go into his bad luck cycle. Well, in life it is fair as every individual would have his fair share of good and bad luck, only that it depends on the individual to weather the bad cycle and get out of it.





'有福能自然来,有祸也躲不开'


So while waiting for the old fortune teller to give him a date for the wedding, Ah Shan and Ah Feng spend most of their time looking for their new home. Finally, they found one after looking at several apartments, a cosy and quiet place just outside of the Kowloon City. However, Ah Chong the Feng Shui Master rejected it saying that as the property belongs to the West Group but Ah Shan and Ah Feng are East Group of birth which do not match. Then one day, the assistant of the fortune teller Master Ze De called Ah Shan and say that there is a letter from the fortune teller for Ah Shan and whether he can go by and collect it. Ah Shan was so happy that he took a day off from work and went straight to the old fortune teller house to collect it.

However, after reading the letter, he do not know whether to be glad or angry. The letter had started with:

'Dear young master Zhang,

I am honoured that you have been patient waiting for my reply despite of the delay and though that you have the choice of looking for another master to pick your wedding date. It is with regret that I have to let you know that despite checking the almanac thoroughly all this time, I have been unable to find a suitable auspicious date for your wedding which is the reason for the delay. The only best time would be after this coming Chinese New Year in the Mao month of Spring which also signifies a new phase of life and the date, I would leave it to your father to pick for you. At the same time, I would like to convey my regards to your father through you.

Thank you.'

Ah Shan was glad that he finally can get the date to get married but frustrated that he still have to wait until after the coming New year. But anyway, he thought, might as well as he still have yet to get the right place to live after his marriage with Ah Feng. But he thought that it was strange or coincidental that Xiao Jin, an amateur could foretell so confidently that he would not get married in that year. Actually, Xiao Jin had seen from the Ah Chong's  Zi Wei birth chart that none of the three stars that symbolises marriage or childbirth had appear in his spouse palace and neither was the spouse palace enhanced by any positive transforming star (Hua Lu, Hua Ke or Hua Quan) for that year. Rather, the spouse palace was negatively clashed from the opposite palace by Hua Ji, the negative transforming star in Zi Wei Astrology which was why he was so confident that Ah Shan would not get married that year.

Two days later, Ah Chong the Feng Shui master recommended a place that a relative wanted to sell to Ah Shan as it match the East group of birth people. It was next to a highway flyover, a novelty then in bustling Hong Kong and Ah Chong felt that the vibrant energy from the new highway would be good feng shui. The watered down version of Bazhai feng shui that Ah Chong had learned do not place much emphasis on External Landforms influence on property was also one of the reason that Ah Chong the feng shui master had ignored that the highway flyover could be a Killing Sha or have negative effects. Worse as the apartment was on the same level, facing the flyover, which logically would creates noises and dusts into the property, feng shui or no feng shui sense.

Ah Shan had then purchased the property after informing his father who had no objections as he had wanted Ah Chong to be consulted. Actually, Ah Feng did not like the property and had no choice but to go along with it as she do not want any confrontations with her in-laws even before marriage. She was thinking that very most, they could change to another property if she really could not bear with the highway noises and pollutants later on which would be easier after they were married without going through Ah Shan's father' s approval then.




After everything was put in place for his coming marriage with the date chosen by his father in the Mao month after the coming Chinese New Year, Ah Shan had then arranged to meet Xiao Jin as he wanted his advice on Ah Feng birth chart after seeing that he was so accurate in his prediction. They then met in an uptown chinese restaurant for tim sum, a popular Hong Kong tea time preoccupation for the Chinese.

Ah Shan: 'My friend, I must address you as Master Jin in the future, seeing that you are so accurate in your forecast.'

Xiao Jin: 'Ah, jokes aside. Not really, it is from the knowledge that our ancestors have passed down and anybody well versed in it would be able to do so.'

Ah Shan: 'This is Ah Feng's birth data, We would have to trouble you to give us some advices on our future after our marriage.'

Ah Feng who had felt an affinity with Xiao Jin on seeing him for the first time also added in : 'Hope you do not mind as this is only our first meeting and having to trouble you on my fate.'

Xiao Jin: 'Not at all, it would be a pleasure as I needs to practise my skill, being a non commercial practitioner. Ah Shan, just carried on with your conversation with Ah Feng and ignored me while I checked her astrology chart. '

Xiao Jin then started to convert the birth data into a Zi Wei Astrology chart. After a while, from his eyebrows, one can see that he was frowning at some unseen objects and shaking his head as what the old fortune teller, Master Ze De had done when looking at their charts the last time. Ah Shan noticed this and asked: 'How is it?' at which Xiao Jin did not answer as he was still preoccupied analysing the chart. In a while, Xiao Jin looked up and said with a forced smile: 'Well, not too bad except that she have to be mindful at the end of the year as the Zi month is not favorable to her. But that is life, there are bound to be good and unfavorable luck period.'

Ah Feng then told Ah Shan that she needs to make a phone call home to tell her mother that she is with Ah Shan and that she might be home late and not to wait for her to be back. After she left, Xiao Jin immediately said: 'Ah Shan, you need to be extra careful for her in the Zi month this year as she might meet with a mishap. It would be good to go to a temple to ask for blessings and get an amulet or if she is of other religion to get a protection talisman to wear. I do not want her to worry unnecessarily or for her to take it lightly as I don't know what she thinks of this fortune telling stuff which is why I am telling you instead.'

To be continued.......

Cheers, have a great weekend!!!

Wish Upon A Shooting Star

艷於春而盛於夏, 無心之怨一筆解決.....

Colours belongs to Spring while Magnificence is in Summer
Unintentional Grievances is resolved with a Stroke.......

This is another story by Zi Wei Master Yang set in the late part of the sixties in Hong Kong. It is a story about the ironical play of destiny in life from the interference of six relationships which influence the course in Destiny 六親 in the bazi chart. This will also partly explains why some people despite having the same birth chart have a different life.

One evening in the late autumn, a black color car was parked at the edge of a beach, facing the sea. In it, a young couple was enjoying the scenery after the sun had set and the feeling of being in love. The young man is called Ah Shan, thirty years old, holding a management post in a trading company. His partner is a sweet looking girl called Ah Feng in her twenties working as a bank teller.  

Suddenly, a meteor appear in the sky and Ah Feng excitedly says: 'Ah Shan, quick, make a wish...'

Coincidentally, Ah Shan started to cough badly and by the time he had stopped, the meteor was gone.

Ah Feng: 'Are you all-right? Have you caught a cold?'

Ah Shan: 'I am okay, don' t know where the cough suddenly comes from too?'

At this moment, another meteor shoot across the sky again and he started coughing non-stop again. By the time, he stopped, it was gone again.

Ah Feng: 'Oh no, I wanted you to make a wish as they say that when we see a shooting star, we can make a wish and it will become true.'

Ah Shan: 'Ah Feng, it is good to make a wish but nevertheless, our happiness is not dependent on this as more importantly, it is our actions that will decides our happiness in the end.'

Ah Shan in sensing her disappointment: 'Never mind, lets see whether any more will appear and I will make a wish for our future, okay?'

Strangely, now that Ah Shan prepared to control himself not to cough and make a wish, despite having two shooting stars appeared in a period of ten minutes, the rest of the night did not have any more meteors.

Ah Shan then started to talk about their future and asked Ah Feng whether she is agreeable if he will to inform his parents that he wants to marry her in that year. He is anxious to settle down as they have already know each other well after 3 years of courtships.

Ah Shan: 'Okay, I will get my parents approval tomorrow first and I will pick you up after work and we will go to your house to inform your parents about our request.'

The next evening, at about 6.30 pm, Ah Shan was waiting in his car  for Ah Feng outside the bank. When Ah Feng gets into the car, she saw that Ah Shan was not looking happy. She asked: 'What happened?'

Ah Shan: 'Let us find a place to eat and at the same time, I will tell you what my parent says.'

They then went to one of those restaurants by the beach, and while having dinner, Ah Shan started to explained.

Ah Shan: 'My parents have no objections but my father is still the old fashioned and superstitious type, he wanted me to ask for your birthdate. He wanted to consult his fortune teller about our compatibility and pick an auspicious date for the wedding. To think that our future is to be decided by a fortune teller had annoyed me.'

Ah Shan then looked at Ah Feng to see her reactions and was surprised that she was not affected at all.

Ah Feng: 'Well, I had thought that he had objected to our marriage which is more of a concern to me. Never mind, since he wanted to check fortune telling, let him be as it is not good to have any frictions with him before we are even married.'

Ah Shan: 'What if the fortune teller said we are not compatible?'

Ah Feng: 'Oh then, we don't get married then. ah, just joking, I am sure they will offer a solution since they are paid to check for problems. I will check with my mother on my birth time and called you to let you know tomorrow, ok?'

Ah Shan: 'All-right, I am glad that you are not angered by my father's ridiculous request.'

Ah Feng: 'It is more important to have a good relationship with your parents if I were to be married to you as I will be seeing them often.'

The next day, Ah Shan got a call from Ah Feng who gave him the birth-date details and immediately after work, Ah Shan went straight home to give it to his father. His father, however, told him to give it to the fortune teller with whom he had fixed an appointment the following day which was a Sunday.

On that day, Ah Shan thought of asking Ah Feng along but her parents had wanted her to accompany them for a visit to a relative. He then proceed to the fortune teller's house and was met at the door by the master himself. The fat silver haired master looked old however he had a ruddy color and jovial look on his face.

Master: 'Welcome, would you prefer coffee or tea before we proceed?'

Ah Shan: 'Oh coffee would be fine. Thank you.'

Master: 'Okay, let me have a look at the birth dates of you and your girlfriend.'

Ah Shan then gave him the details written on a piece of red paper which the master then started to check with a chinese calendar. Ah Shan then drank the coffee as the master started writing down the bazi charts on another piece of paper. While the master was doing it, Ah Shan noticed he was muttering to himself and shaking his head. After a while, the master apparently had finished analysing and stopped and with a smile asked Ah Shan:

'How is your father? I believed that he had interest in our chinese astrology and is knowledgeable, did he tell you anything about your destiny?'

Ah Shan: 'Not really, it is just that he is retired now and spend more time on reading books on this art as a hobby and for my matter, he said that it is better to consult an expert like you.'

The master looked pleased at the reply and says: 'Well, tell you what, you go back first as I will need time to pick an auspicious date for the wedding, I will then call you and let you know when a good date can be found.'

Ah Shan was disappointed as he thought that he would be given the date at the visit. However, he have no choice but to go back first and hope the master would give him a reply soon. As he don't believed in this fortune telling stuff and was more keen to get a wedding date, he decided not to ask about compatibility since the master did not mention about it, to avoid further complications to his wedding.

Days and months then started to go by with no news from the Master, Ah Shan was getting impatient and when he complained to his father about the delay, his father was nonchalant and told him to wait. The father was also persistent that an auspicious date be given by the master before the wedding can be proceeded. He had also try calling the master to see whether the date can be given earlier but was told that no suitable date was found yet and that he will be informed when it is ready
.
Ah Shan then started feeling uneasy about it as he remembered that the master had shook his head while analysing their birth data. He then remembered he had a quiet classmate who was crazy about chinese astrology and by now, should be knowledgeable in this art. That classmate was considered weird by the rest and was often bullied and Ah Shan had always stepped in to help that classmate. He decided to give him a call to meet up and see whether he can offer any suggestion on an alternative solution to expedite his wedding.

This classmate of his was called Xiao Jin who was pleased to hear from him. He agreed to meet Ah Shan for dinner that night at a eating house near to his office. Ah Jin is working as a administration manager of a company and draws a high salary. After he left school, he had the affinity to meet a Zi Wei Astrology master who had liked him and took him as disciple though he had no intention to practise the art commercially. We can say that he had reached a proficient level in this destiny analysis when Ah Shan had called him that day.

When Ah Shan saw Xiao Jin, he was surprised that the latter had changed completely from a once wimpy, timid person to one with a quiet air of self-assurance. He almost could not recognised him if Xiao Jin had not called him first. They then sat down at the table and after having their orders taken, started chatting about the changes in their lives after graduation. After they had taken their dinner, Ah Shan then started to tell Xiao Jin the reason that he wanted to meet him.

Ah Shan: ' I am intending to get married this year and would like to know if it would proceed smoothly' and at which Ah Shan handed a piece of paper with Ah Feng and his birthdate to Xiao Jin.

Xiao Jin then looked at it and moved and counted his fingers to work out the chart and after a while, muttered to himself: 'Mmm, the Zi Wei Star is at Chen Palace....'

Ah Shan was curious and started asking what he meant by that but Xiao Jin was totally engrossed in working out the chart to answer him. What Ah Shan did not know is that Xiao Jin is not reading the bazi chart but converting it to Zi Wei Astrology chart. After about 15 minutes later, Xiao Jin says: 'Life palace at Mao, born in the year of Jia Wood and will have Tai Yang the Sun Hua Ji at Spouse palace.'

Of course Ah Shan don't understand what Xiao Jin meant by that as all along he have no interest in metaphysics. Ah Shan then asked: 'Are you reading my fortune?'

However Xiao Jin was not done yet and still totally engrossed with his fingers working out the chart, it was as he was in another world and there was nobody around.

After another ten minutes, Xiao Jin then stopped as if he have returned from another world and then looked at Ah Shan and said: 'You don't move, I would like to have a closer look at your face to confirm my readings,'

Ah Shan of course did not dare to move and by now was really curious to know what Xiao Jin have to say about his marriage.

Xiao Jin then asked Ah Shan to show him his palm and stared at it intensely for a few minutes before muttering to himself again: 'The Sun in negative aspect at spouse palace matchs the face's spouse palace and the palm's spouse line also branches out.' It is understood that in most destiny studies, what one read from one method would also reflect in another method of reading.

In Zi Wei Astrology, when the Sun is in negative aspect at Chou Palace, you would have Tuo Lou star the aggressor in the same palace and if meet the couple of Huo Ling Fiery and Siren stars combination in the same matrix, it is not favorable for the spouse palace.

Xiao Jin then looked at the paper on which the birth data was written again and then says: 'There is no possibility of you getting married within this chinese year.'

Ah Shan was shocked: 'What! We already have our parents' approval and now just waiting for an auspicous date. Did you read wrongly?'

Xiao Jin: 'I would not argue with you on this as we would only know by next year but this is what I have read from both your charts for this year.'

Ah Shan: 'Not possible, it is just that the other fortune teller that I have asked to pick the auspicuous date is busy and have not given me a date.'

Xiao Jin: 'Anyway, you will get married next year however there are certain precautions and things that you have to do as your spouse palace is not in favorable position. I will tell you what to do by then.'

Ah Shan was curious: ' Why wait until next year, you can tell me now, it would be the same, isn' it?'

Actually Xiao Jin do not want to tell Ah Shan further but was afraid that the latter might misundertand that he wants something in return as a favor then carried on: 'Based on your star chart, you have what we called harm in the spouse palace and you will need to take some actions to protect your spouse if you really love her.'

Xiao Jin was being diplomatic about it though he is not a professional ZWDS consultant and had just said that there is harm in the spouse palace which is normally termed as hexing the wife.

Ah Shan then asked: 'If there is this harm in the spouse palace, there are solutions for it right? Why don't you tell me now?'

Xiao Jin: 'Yes, not to worry, there is solution for it and it is pointless telling you now. Anyway, you will not get married this year so what's the hurry?'

Xiao Jin then carried on : 'Well, anything else you would like to know for your future?'

Ah Shan: ' Sure. I would like to know when my luck will be better and I will have a successful career.'

Xiao Jin: 'For career, you will start to progress after the age of 36 years old.'

They then chatted about other things and also of  trying to contact as many of the other classmates to meet up for Ah Shan's wedding next year. By the time they have finished, they realised it was quite late and they bade each other farewell.

As Ah Shan drove home, he keep thinking that Xiao Jin must have made a mistake as it is not possible that he will not get married this year. It was only July and there are several months more before the new year. It is just that the fortune teller that his father had entrusted, had been unable to give him an auspicious date yet.


To be continued........




Till-then, cheers.

The Blind Duke 盲公

A curious reader had asked me whether it is possible to share how the fortune teller had known there is a marriage in hand as I have say that Ah Qiang's father had not even tell the fortune teller anything. Well, not a problem, if you will to change all the line in the original hexagram no 41 Decrease from yin line to yang and vice versa, you will get the opposite hexagram no 31 Attraction which is an auspicious divination for marriage but however it is in opposition here which had caused the problem.


Original Hexagram                                                               Hexagram 31 Attraction

 ▅▅▅▅▅                                                                                 ▅▅　▅▅

 ▅▅　▅▅                                                                               ▅▅▅▅▅

 ▅▅　▅▅                                                                               ▅▅▅▅▅

 ▅▅　▅▅                                                                               ▅▅▅▅▅

 ▅▅▅▅▅                                                                                 ▅▅　▅▅

 ▅▅▅▅▅                                                                                 ▅▅　▅▅



Okay, lets continue with the story....

It was nightfall when Ah Qiang's father had returned home and he was glad when he saw that a group of Ah Qiang's friend had came to visit his son. He was thinking of who to look for among his son's friends to find out more about what the fortune teller had said. Moreover, his son was still delirious and had appeared to have lost control of his mental faculty, not being able to recognised anyone when he had went to visit the fortune teller in the Morning. Xiao Kang came up to him and says: 'Uncle, it looks quite bad to me, can't the doctors do anything about it?'

Ah Qiang's Father then remember what the fortune teller had told him and asked Xiao Kang whether there was such an incident of his son kissing a dead girl corpse. Xiao Kang shook his head and says that it is impossible as nobody in his right mind would do it. Ah Qiang's father then told Xiao Kang to check with the rest of the friends when Xiao Ming, who was standing nearby and had overheard the conversation says : 'Uncle, I remember now, the last trip, we had not gone scuba diving as the weather forecast says there might be a storm and we went to the beach instead.'

Ah Qiang's Father then got curious as he was initially skeptical about what the fortune teller had told him as it looks like the latter had use spirituality to reason as his son's situation can't be explained logically. It was also the first time that he had met a fortune teller that do not uses the conventional method like the previous Bazi master he had consulted. And it had reminded him of stories of how some people got cheated by these so called artists.

He then asked: 'What happened then?'

Xiao Ming then continued: 'Well, we decided to go swimming as there was no signs of rain yet. While we were playing in the water, somebody shouted for help and we saw a girl struggling far out in the sea. She was obviously pulled out into the deeper part of the sea by the strong underwater current of which she is ignorant. Ah Qiang and I then swam out to rescue her and managed to pull her back to shore.'

'By then, she was already quite lifeless and Ah Qiang had put his finger on her nostrils and said that he needs to perform CPR as she is not breathing. You know, in this case, he have to put his mouth on to her mouth to blow air into her lungs and at the same time push her stomach to force the sea water out of her. After quite some time, she still remains the same however but by then, the ambulance people had arrived. Well, I don't know if that is what you meant by asking whether he had kissed a dead girl corpse.'

Ah Qiang's father by now was anxious: 'Well, was she dead then?'

Xiao Ming: 'Well, apparently so, as the ambulance people that came had also tried to revive her but shook their heads. Later we saw a black Mariah Hearse came and I guess that she have to be dead as they did not use the ambulance.'

Xiao Ming: 'Uncle, why did you ask about this and how did you know something like that had happened.'

Ah Qiang's father: 'Never mind, I will explained about this another day. Meanwhile, I will need your help to do some errands. Can you come by everyday to my house for time being until Ah Qiang's situation have improved?'

Xiao Ming: 'Sure, Uncle Chan.'

Well, the next day, Ah Qiang's father without wasting anytime, went straight to the fortune teller to tell him and also wanting to know how to solve the problem. He was still hesistant about cancelling the wedding as his generations had believed strongly that in bad luck period, marriage is good to clash away the bad luck which in chinese is 衝喜. However this time he had to wait till the evening as he had not made any prior appointment and there were a number of customers.

The Master: 'Well?'

Ah Qiang's father: ' It is true but he did not kiss the drowned girl as he was trying to save her life by giving her air to revive her.'

The Master: 'Well, it is the same, isn't it?'

The Master then carried on: 'To a young adolescent girl who is unconscious though considered dead, she will have thought that she is being kissed and this should be the first time for her and had made her ghost falls in love with your son then.'

Ah Qiang's father: 'Master, tell me how we can solve this problem permanently as secondly, don't tell me my son cannot get married forever and there will be no one to carry on my family line.'

The Master: 'There is of course a way, the last time you have given me your son' s bazi chart and I have checked that his longevity star is being punished this year and is not in clash. This means that he will pull through this ordeal and I am allowed to guide you.'

Ah Qiang's father: 'So what should I do now?'

The Master: 'All-right, but you must promise one thing first before I tell you.'

Ah Qiang's father: ' I will promise you anything that I am able to do for my son's sake.'

The Master: 'Okay, first cancel the wedding and tell everyone that they will not get married. Secondly, you have to find out where she is buried. Then look for a Taoist master to do religious rites to help her get reincarnated earlier. Tell the master that you want her to be reincarnated and not destroyed or imprisoned by him. This will solve the problem immediately. However, I have checked and find that she will needs at least three years before she will be allowed to get reincarnated. I want you to make sure that your son do not get married until after the third year have passed from the date of the ceremony.'

Ah Qiang's father: 'Okay, this sounds easier than I thought and you have my words that my son will not get married for these three years. I would come back and give you a bigger red packet (Ang Pow) when all this have been settled.'

Ah Qiang's father went back and saw that Xiao Ming was already waiting for him as instructed. He then told the latter to tell all his classmates that the wedding is off. He also ask Xiao Ming whether it is possible to find out where the dead girl was buried. He was glad when Xiao Ming says that he knows a girl classmate of the deceased who had went on that outing that day and will be able to find out her grave. He also told Xiao Mei about the situation and the need to call off the wedding and to inform her parents and relatives.

The next day, Xiao Ming called and told him the burial place and Ah Qiang's father went to look for a famous Exorcist master instead who was recommended strongly by his friend who told him that it is better as the master have the power to protect them as well as do the religious rites. However, he comes with a hefty price tag which to Ah Qiang's father is not a problem if it can protect his family line.

The Master initially was reluctant to do the reincarnation rites as he preferred to have the spirit exorcised instead. However, after Ah Qiang's father had offered to pay him more as what the Blind Duke had stated in his conditions, he agreed. The Master then put up talismans at all the doors of the premises apart from giving the family members, each a special talisman to be carried at all times. He then did a house spiritual protection rites and put up an altar with the chinese ghost catcher deity Zhong Kui 鐘馗 at the living hall.

Surprisingly, Ah Qiang's condition started to improve immediately after all this were done. By the third day, he had revert back to his super fit conditions as with that of a sportsman. He had no inkling of what had happened all this time, just remembering glimpses of a shadowy girl figure that seems to be sitting by his bedside while he was delirious. His father then told him that he can only marry Xiao Mei after the third year as he is in bad luck without telling him everything as he do not want his son to think of the dead girl.

Well, everything was fine and the years passes by till the middle of the third year when Xiao Mei found that she had gotten pregnant. By right, this is an joyous occasion for everyone as the Chan family now have another member to carry on the family line. However, Ah Qiang's father was in a dilemma as he had remembered the promise he had made to the Blind Duke. He told Ah Qiang that Xiao Mei can go ahead and give birth to the baby and stay with them in a separate room until after this coming chinese new year where they can then offically get married. But Ah Qiang was adamant, insisting that by now so far, everything was fine and it is not appropriate to have the child born out of wedlock as Ah Qiang is also a man of principles which is why he have many friends who admired him. He also told the father not to be too supersitious and also said that it have been the wish of everyone including the grandparents for him to get married soon and have children to carry on the family line. Ah Qiang's father then reluctanly agreed to have the wedding held as soon as possible before the birth of the child.

Well, on the wedding day, everything proceed well and everybody had a good time. After a tiring day of ceremony and the boisterous wedding dinner with Ah Qiang's young friends getting Ah Qiang tipsy. Ah Qiang's father had on seeing this made the couple leaves with him earlier and asking Xiao Ming, the Best man to entertains the friends and relatives. On reaching home, everybody had then cleaned up and prepared to go to bed when suddenly there were loud wailing cries of a young girl outside the house. Ah Qiang's father told everyone to ignore it and to go to bed. After an hour or so, the sounds then stopped which Ah Qiang's father was immediately thankful for. Ah Qiang was already drunk to hear this sad cries although Xiao Mei was not but she was not afraid as she had strong survival instincts now that she was with child and she was not going to allow anything to stand in her way as she believed that both she and Ah Qiang have not done anybody injustice by getting married due to circumstances.

The next few days, Ah Qiang's father was at unease about his broken promise to the Blind Duke and finally decided to pay him a visit and make a clean breast about it. He was prepared to be admonished but he was also worried now as the girl ghost had reappeared though since after that night, she had not appeared. He do not know what is going to happened next as Xiao Mei is now with child and he do not want anything to happen further.

After climbing up to the second storey of the old block of the fortune teller, he knocked at the door and was met by a young woman whom he have not seen in his previous visits. She was the daughter of the fortune teller who told him that the father was in the hospital after falling into the sea, a day ago. He then went to the hospital and saw the fortune teller lying in the bed with his disciple beside him. He then greeted the master and saw that the disciple was behaving coldy towards him, kind of ignoring him unlike when he had met them in the old house. 

The Master: 'So you are here finally to tell me you have broken your promise to me.'

Ah Qiang's father: ' Master, I am here to convey my deepest apologies for breaking the promise as my son's girlfriend had gotten pregnant and they do not wish the child to be born out of wedlock. My old parents had also put pressure on me to acede to my son's request.'

The Master: ' I had initially not wanted to do any divination for you on that day as I had forgotten it was my 劫煞 Jie Sha day when I agreed to the appoinment made by my fellow villager for you. After meeting you, I had known this would happens but I had never expected the girl ghost to go all out to get me to the Netherworld for revenge at the expense of her reincarnation.'

Ah Qiang: 'How did you fall into the sea which your daughter have told me?'

The Master: 'I normally have some recreation time to relax which is needed being human even though I am blind. I will have some small drinks of wine with my fellow blind peers and play some dominoes game in a cafe near to my block which is accessible by a bridge or a walk by the beach. The bridge route is the one I always take as it is shorter and for the past 15 years, I have been doing this without mishap alone or with my disciple for company. On that night, my disciple was sick and stay at home instead of usually accompanying me.'

The Master: ' I had as usual then left early that night as my assistant was not with me. While I was walking towards the bridge, a young girl called out to me.'

She said: 'Blind Uncle, there is a hole on the bridge and the repairs people have left a sign asking people not to use the bridge, you better use the way by the beach.'

She then carried on: 'Since I am going that way, may I help you?'

'I of course agreed and say yes as I had not use that beach route for the last few years. I then turned to the right and walk onto the beach. She had then hold onto my arm as to help me and I felt the coldness immediately and I realised I have been tricked by a ghost. I struggled but was no match for her strength and in a short while, she pulled me into the water by the beach. I was also unable to shout for help as my mouth appeared to be stiffen by a frozen ice. Luckily, when I was almost up to the neck in the water, my neck protection talisman managed to come free from my shirt and float out on the water, she had then with a cry disappeared. I immediately started shouting for help as I find that my mouth was free and luckily, there was a young man passing by who came to my rescue and led me out of the water.'

'I had then caught a cold which had turned to pneumonia  which is why the doctor kept me here still. Ah, it is destined to be and I am not able to blame you as this is part of my destiny.'

'Woh Xiao Ma, do not blame this gentleman as such is our destiny when we made this choice in life which is what I have been telling you all the time. Though we may have the ability to know the future but there are still times when Heaven made sports of us at its whims.'

Ah Qiang's father felt really bad about the whole matter seeing the sad look of the disciple Xiao Ma and the bed- ridden master. He had actually prepared a big wad of cash in an envelope as compensation for his broken promise and which he then left at the table beside the bed as he was afraid the master might take it as pity if he will to offer it in hand. He then bade the Master and student good-bye and left the place. He heard the Master reciting a poem to himself as he closed the room door:

'潜藏自有光明日，守耐无如待丙丁；
龙虎相争生定数，春风一转渐飞惊'

Months later, Ah Qiang's father heard from the Nanny that the Blind Duke had shifted house and that no one knows where he is staying now as the Nanny had a relative who needed his help and wanted to know if Ah Qiang's father would know his whereabouts. Since then years later, though Ah Qiang's father had indiscreetly hired private investigators to check the whereabout of this Blind Duke for he had still felt very bad about the whole episode but it was fruitless. However, he was still very grateful to that fortune teller as by now, he had four great looking grandchildren which that Blind Duke had told him apart from other major events that had came true.

The End


For Dear Nathalie, Arrrgh!!! Why have I added you on Facebook? Just Kidding, good to have you stop me from lazing around too much.....

Cheers, have a great week for all my metaphysics friends here.

A Chinese Ghost Story

Woh, time passes fast and it is the Seventh Month of the Ghost Festival again, above is a picture of people making all kind of offerings at night to the Ghosts on a street during their annual holidays on Earth for this month. Keeping with the spirits of the festival, let me tell you a Hong Kong ghost story involving a Blind Man fortune teller. There are many versions and the one I like best was this one retold by a popular ZWDS Master Yang and I had made some adaption from other similar stories to it. So here we go,

'In the Fifties in Hong Kong, Scuba Diving was not that popular when it just started as equipments were very expensive, only the super rich can afford it. There was this young man from a reputable family who was crazy about anything to do with the sea and he particularly loves it. He happens to be the only son of this wealthy family and of course, his parents were concerned as there is a Chinese sayings that the chances of meeting danger in the sea is high normally for a sole descendant. However, they have no way of stopping him apart from telling him to be careful as knowing his unrestrainable character . The son to keep the parents from worrying too much went for qualified life guard course and was trained in CPR or resuscitation apart from being a good swimmer. As such, the parents are more at ease, taking comfort that all precautions have been taken.

Now lets call this young guy Ah Qiang, who happened to have a sweetheart named Xiao Mei from his schooldays however Xiao Mei do not like the sea and so do not join him on his weekly routine of boating around the little islands off Hong Kong. Apart from this hobby, most of the rest of the time Ah Qiang have were spent with Xiao Mei as both were very much in love. The parents were happy to see this and were hoping that they will get married early and they can then have additional family members to carry on the family line.

Ironically, when the parents were in the midst of discussing of how to get the couple to settle down early, when one weekend after returning from his scuba diving trip, Ah Qiang came back, pale faced and went straight to bed without taking his supper or bath. The parents were surprised and thought that he probably had too much fun and was tired. However, the next day, they found that he was running a high fever and was delirious and making unintelligible sounds. The House doctor that came then diagnoses that he was just running a high fever. Ah Qiang then recovered after a few days but however, started to behave strangely.

After that incident, Ah Qiang was no longer so loving to Xiao Mei and most of the time, appeared to be lost in his own thoughts. Xiao Mei in an attempt to strengthen their relationship decided to spend more time with him and thus at times, stay overnight with him at his house. Strangely, when Xiao Mei wake up in the morning, she will find faint finger marks on her cheek which looks like a slap and Ah Qiang will then fall sick for the next few days before recovering. This carried on for weeks and did not escape the notice of Ah Qiang's father who believes in Feng Shui and believes something must have happened during that diving trip and decided to seek advices (this was the Age 5 for flying stars school of feng shui). He had then asked his Feng Shui Master to recheck the house for problems and it was discovered that Ah Qiang was sleeping in a Gen Gua(North East) room and the annual star 4 was in that sector for that year. The Bedroom door was at the Kun Gua (South West) sector. It was then decided to shift Ah Qiang to another bedroom but however again after weeks, Ah Qiang shows no signs of improvement and still behaves strangely. Somebody then suggested that Ah Qiang's father to check his son bazi chart (birth astrology) to find out what is the problem.

A friend then recommended a famous bazi expert in Kowloon which the father went but was disappointed as the master could not offer a valid explanation. He then went to a spiritual master who told him that the solution was to get his son married to clash away the bad luck which he agreeds.

Ah Qiang 's parents then met up with Xiao Mei and her parents to discuss about the marriage proposal for Ah Qiang. Xiao Mei's parent have no objections and agreed to it as they have been wanting to see their daughter married rather than cohabiting which they have been uncomfortable with.

After the wedding date was fixed and the announcement was then made to all their relatives and preparations were made for the big day, Ah Qiang immediately fall sick seriously. Doctors were unable to find the cause and decided to have him warded in a hospital instead so that they can monitor his conditions and find out more. However, Ah Qiang's conditions got worse each day and he grows thinner. When asked about it by the parents, the doctors could only shook their heads and told them to bring their son back home as they could not do anything about it.

By now, the parents were worried and desperate and Ah Qiang's nanny then suggested that they seek the help of a Blind Man master called Zheng Mang Gong 鄭盲公. Here the word Mang Gong  盲公 refers to Blind Duke as the analysis uses the Yi Jing by Wen Wang, a Duke from the Shang Dynasty. Interestingly, in Hong Kong at that time, these Mang Gong or Blind Duke were suspected to keep a ghost child as their analysis were very accurate and they will able to foretells a lot of things that a normal fortune teller was unable to. Some says that these group of people have the 'Third Eye' and therefore able to see a lot of things in the future and past. It was not a surprise to visit one and have the master tell you your surname, and the number of siblings you have and whether your parents are still around or not accurately without giving your date of birth.

An appointment was then made with Zheng Mang Gong by the Nanny who was from his same village in China as this master would only divine for people related to him. On that day the master appeared unwilling to meet him, and despite being told to come another time, Ah Qiang' s father persisted by insisting that he had an appointment and after half a day, finally get to see the master. The master without saying much, starts to shake an old turtle shell with apparently some coins in it and then toss it out. After several similar actions, the master finally stopped and lit a cigarette followed by sipping the tea. He then says: 'A female ghost is in love with your son!'.

Ah Qiang's father was astonished as he have not even told him about the purpose of his visit. However he was shocked and stood up and says: 'I don't get what you means?'

The Master then took another sip of his tea and blew a ring of smoke from the cigarette and then said: 'Your son had kissed the corpse of a young girl causing that girl ghost to fall in love with him. The ghost had since then followed him everywhere and then you all had provoked her by arranging a marriage for your son and it looks like she wants his life so that they can be together forever.'

Ah Qiang's father thought for a while and says :' I don't understand why my son would want to go and kiss a girl corpse...'

The Master: 'It is wrong by thinking that arranging an early marriage would clash away his bad luck, I would suggested that you cancelled the wedding tempoary until you can find a solution to appease the girl ghost and keep your son safe for time being.'

▅▅▅▅▅ Dragon

▅▅　▅▅ Turtle

▅▅　▅▅ Tiger

▅▅　▅▅ Snake

▅▅▅▅▅ Worm

▅▅▅▅▅ Bird

Commentary: The above is an analysis based on the six lines of the hexagram called Liu Yao Yi Gua or Wen Wang Ba Gua. Here there are six Earthly branchs of Zi, Chou, Yin, etc attached to each line and there are six celestial animals attached to it. Just this hexagram alone contains Eight trigrams. E.g. The Lower trigram which is Dui Gua can represent a young woman or an open mouth. The Snake also represent ying spiritual energy.

Ah Qiang's father: 'Will you be able to find a permanent solution to this problem?'

The Master: 'For my solution to works, you need to have belief in me to take certain actions. So please go and check from your son or his friends whether what I have said is true as you still appears to be skeptical of what I have said.'

To be continued, have a great week.