Taiwanese consult fortune-tellers ahead of New Year

By David Chang Dec 18, 2006, 8:34 GMT

Taipei - As the new year approaches, the dim underpass in front of the Hsingtien Temple in Taipei has come alive with Taiwanese seeking fortune-tellers' advice on health, career and marriage in the coming year.

With smiles on their faces and pens in their hands, the 20-or-so fortune-tellers draw out questions from the customers and then analyze the problems and give advice.

Above the ground, the Hsingtien Temple is jammed with people wanting to know what is in store for them in the new year by Chou Chien, or picking a bamboo stick.

They choose a bamboo stick at random, which carries a number, then go to a chest of drawers to take out a slip of paper bearing that number. Each slip of paper carries a poem telling a person's fortune.

Palm reading and 'heavenly eye' are two other ways of telling one's fortune, with the former telling your present life and the latter telling your past, present and future life.

Hsu Hsing-chieh, nicknamed Mo Ku Da Shi (Feel Bone Master), learned the trade from a master at the age of 17, after he had become blind from measles when he was three.

Dozens of people from Taiwan and abroad visit him at his home in Kuanhsi Town, western Taiwan, every day.

Customers don't have to talk because they believe Hsu knows all by touching their palms. He describes the customer's life, gives advice and then answer questions. He charges 2,500 Taiwan dollars (75 US dollars) per reading.

Some people say that Master Hsu can accurately predict when a customer will die and how he will die, but Hsu would not confirm this.

'I don't tell disasters and death, but would give them warnings,' he said in an interview with Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa.

Despite Taiwan's advances in science and technology, many Taiwanese still believe in fortune-telling.

In the Eslite Bookstore in downtown Taipei, customers linger in front of the astrology section featuring more than 1,000 books on astrology, fortune-telling, tarot, numerology and namology.

Namology is the science of changing one's fate by changing one's middle or last name. Some people, especially show-biz people, claim their careers have taken off since they changed their name.

Dozens of the books, written by Taiwanese, Chinese and Hong Kong 'masters,' offer predictions for 2007.

'On normals days, it's mostly girls buying books on star and tarot. But in the run-up to the near year, many people buy predictions for the new year,' a shop clerk said.

Business executives and politicians are among the Taiwanese who regularly consult the seers to devine their fortune in the new year.

Some officials visit fortune-tellers before elections. Business leaders consult fortune-tellers when their business is in trouble or before they make a major business move.

Yu Hsue-hung, 56, one of Taiwan's top astrologers, makes predictions for not only Taiwan, but also the world, for the new year.

For 2006, he predicted it would be a year of bloodshed and terrorist attacks, as well as forest fires and fires in large electronic companies. Osama bin Laden might not be caught, but his top aides would be.

'Three of my predictions came true and one missed. Isreal-Lebanon war broke out in June, terrorists planned a terrorist attack on planes flying from London to the US in August and some of bin Laden's aides were caught,' Yu told dpa.

'There were no fires in electronics companies, but some of Sanyo company's batteries caused fire, so that was quite close,' he laughed.

Yu predicted that 2007 would be the year of fire, with a continuation of terrorist attacks, epidemics and fires.

The world economy will be hurt by soaring oil price, but recovery will begin after September, he said.

For Taiwan, Yu said President Chen Shui-bian might step down before his term ends in May 2008 due to embezzlement scandals, and be succeeded by Vice President Annette Lu for the remainder of his term.

'Taiwan-China ties will improve, with Taipei opening the door to Chinese tourists after Taiwan's high-speed railway is launched. Taiwan and China will move toward reconciliations and eventually reunification,' he said.