Kau cim
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Kau cim | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
|
|||||||||||
| Traditional Chinese: | 求籤 / 求簽 | ||||||||||
| Literal meaning: | beg with the bamboo stick | ||||||||||
|
|||||||||||
Kau Cim is a fortune telling practice that originated in China in which the querent requests answers from a sacred oracle lot. Kau Cim is often referred to as Chien Tung or Chinese Fortune Sticks by westerners. In the USA, a version has been sold since 1915 under the name Chi Chi Sticks. Kau Cim is also sometimes known as "The Oracle of Guan Yin" in Buddhist traditions.
Contents |
[edit] Tools
- Cim Bucket (Chinese: 簽筒 pinyin qian1 tong2, cim tong) A long cylindrical bamboo cup or tube.
- Kau Cim Sticks (Chinese: 簽, cim) are the flat sticks which are stored in the tube. Generally made of bamboo, they resemble wide, flat incense sticks, and are often painted red at one end. A single number, both in Arabic numerals and in Chinese characters, is inscribed on each stick, There are usually a total of 100 sticks in the cup, although the Chi Chi Sticks variation sold in the USA for fortune telling has only 78 sticks. Each stick has a different number on it, and no two are alike.
[edit] Practice
The prediction begins with the cup storing a number of the sticks. The querent thinks silently or whispers it to the deity about their question. This part needs to be done decisively as one should not shift questions or hesitate on the question in the middle of the rite. The shaking of the cylinder results in at least one stick leaving the cylinder and being dropped onto the floor. In most cases, if multiple sticks leave the cylinder, those fortunes would not count. Each stick, with its designated number, represents one answer.
Once a single stick jumps out, that stick will have a number on it that will correspond to a number on an answer paper. The writing on the piece of paper will provide an answer to the question. Interpretation may be needed to comprehend the answer. Answers can be interpreted by a temple priest or can be interpreted by the querent. In the USA, Chi Chi sticks are supplied with a booklet in which each number is given an answer in rhyme.
In many cases, an offering is made prior to the asking of the question in order to carry good favor from the higher powers. These offerings typically consist of incense, fresh fruits, cakes, a roasted pig or fowl, or cash donations.
[edit] Alternative tools and practice
The bucket need not be made of bamboo. At and around the Sensō-ji temple, a metal container is used. This container is hexagonal in cross-section and almost totally enclosed, with only a small hole at a corner of one end to allow a single stick to pass through. This type of bucket often needs vigorous shaking in order to expel a single stick. (The interpretation of sticks from these oracles is more in line with Omikuji, being terse rather than lyrical.)
At places such as the Thean Hou Temple the handheld bucket is replaced with a larger container. On the inside at the bottom of the container are protrusions (such as the heads of fixing bolts). To consult the oracle, the querent holds the sticks in a vertical bundle, raises them a little inside the bucket and drops them while holding them loosely. Any stick that stands proud of the rest (because it is resting on a protrusion, not having bounced off) is considered part of the divined answer.
[edit] Interpretation
The stick result is analyzed by an interpreter, who has a book of Chinese poetic phrases and stories. The interpretation is generally short ranged, typically covering no more than one year, using Chinese New Year as the starting point. The interpreter typically charges a small fee. Often, interpreters provide other services such as palm or face reading.
Because the accuracy of the prediction very much depend on the interpreter, some people run the result through a number of different interpreters to see whether similar results are drawn. The interpreted answer is usually a historical Chinese story re-told in modern sense. The story is basically the forthcoming event the querent is about to experience.
[edit] Locale
In Hong Kong, by and large the most popular place for this fortune telling practice is the Wong Tai Sin Temple which draws thousands to millions of people each year.
[edit] Other cultures
In 1915 kau cim sticks were introduced to the United States under the name "Chi Chi sticks" by the Pacific Dry Goods Company of San Francisco, California, where a large population of Chinese immigrants had settled. The sticks were made in China of bamboo but they were marked with Arabic numerals instead of Chinese characters, and were packaged in a bright yellow and red chipboard tube with a black lid (like a modern mailing tube). They were accompanied by a rolled-up book of rhyming interpretations that fit inside the tube with the sticks.
By the early 1920s, Chi Chi sticks were available all across America, from several importers and under a variety of trade names. They were heavily marketed to African American fortune tellers through mail-order catalogues. They fell out of popularity during World War Two, but only due to problems with supply, as China had been invaded by Japan and trade routes were disrupted.
In the 1990s importations of kau cim sticks were again available in the USA, this time packaged in leather-covered tubes painted with ornate Chinese designs -- but still with the old rhyming Chi Chi stick booklet so well known to Americans. Meanwhile, vintage Chi Chi sticks of the 1915-1935 era -- if all their parts and the booklet are intact -- have become highly desirable collectibles among those who collect artifacts related to fortune telling.
The practice of using sticks in Chien Tung may be related to the game of pick-up sticks played today. This theory is based on a Japanese variation, called Mikado, which also has an emperor stick. A form of the game developed in the 16th century and may have been adapted from Chinese culture and religion.
