Have you ever had your fortune told? Have you ever been deceived?
This is a little-known group, yet one that could appear by your side at any moment. These people are not true practitioners of fate-reading, nor are they researchers of the Book of Changes. They have superficial knowledge and half-baked understanding, yet they style themselves as “fortune-tellers.” They manipulate words, set up scams, operating alone or in groups of three to five, setting up stalls and hawking their services, or recommending themselves door-to-door. In streets and alleys, teahouses and wine shops, their figures can frequently be seen. These “fortune-tellers” have intricate connections with a group we are about to introduce—the “Jiang Xiang Sect”!
What is the “Jiang Xiang Sect”? What do they do?
The “Jiang Xiang Sect” is a special group that swindles people’s money under the banner of fortune-telling. They existed in Chinese history for nearly 300 years. They rose during the Kangxi and Yongzheng reigns of the Qing Dynasty, flourished in the late Qing and Republican era, disbanded after the War of Resistance, and disappeared after the founding of New China. This organization was initially established by Fang Zhaoyu, one of the Five Ancestors of the Hongmen, with the purpose of “overthrowing the Qing and restoring the Ming.” They secretly developed members of the “Tiandihui” (Heaven and Earth Society) under the guise of fortune-telling and physiognomy, promoting the ideology of “carrying out the way of Heaven,” continuously strengthening anti-Qing forces. However, with historical developments, by the late Qing and Republican period, this group gradually lost its way. Its role evolved from “overthrowing the Qing and restoring the Ming” into pure swindling and deception. The entire hall (secret society) lost all righteousness. After the founding of New China, it was completely dismantled and perished in the movement to crack down on “religious sects and secret societies.” As a group, it was destroyed, but because the “Jiang Xiang Sect” had once been extremely prosperous, with tens of thousands of followers spread throughout the nation, their deceptive techniques also spread widely. Therefore, even today, in certain corners of society, some fortune-tellers still carry on the legacy of the “Jiang Xiang Sect,” continuing to deceive, to defraud, to wreak havoc. These people have been influenced by the “Jiang Xiang Sect” to varying degrees and can be said to be remnants of the “Jiang Xiang Sect.”
Relevant historians once attempted to interpret the “Jiang Xiang Sect,” but ultimately abandoned the effort due to insufficient historical materials. The secret teachings of the “Jiang Xiang Sect” were passed down orally, their movements were incredibly secretive. They wore the gorgeous cloak of “fortune-telling masters” while practicing the art of fraud, from high officials and nobles down to village ruffians and rustic folk—none could escape their all-encompassing net, yet very few people could see through them.
Rumors in the jianghu claimed they pretended to communicate with spirits and ghosts, accumulated wealth and seduced women, were utterly devoid of conscience, and committed every evil. So what was their real life actually like? How exactly did these people carry out their frauds? Did they truly have no humanity at all?
There is an old man still living who is a descendant of the “Jiang Xiang Sect.” He was born in 1928, joined the “Jiang Xiang Sect” in 1948, was imprisoned in 1952 during the government’s crackdown on “religious sects and secret societies,” and was released in 1957. This old man, now 82 years old, is the great-uncle of the author of this book (that is, myself).
All along, I would always hear him tell stories of the past: how they drew talismans and recited incantations, how they summoned wind and rain, performed rituals to drive out demons, how they toyed with Military Intelligence Bureau agents, bandit chiefs, resentful women in their boudoirs, underworld bosses, and brothel prostitutes. Those legendary tales of ghosts and fox spirits, those life-and-death struggles, those greed-driven conspiracies all left strong impressions on me. Over time, I discovered that although the “Jiang Xiang Sect” as a system was guilty of countless crimes, it had its own core principles. Summarized, there were several:
Only deceive evil people, not good people. Following the principle of fighting evil with evil.
The concept of seizing the day—money obtained through deception must be quickly spent. As the saying goes: “Jianghu wealth, scattered in the jianghu; if not scattered, disaster comes.”
Do not seduce women; taking another man’s wife is a grave taboo. Adhering to the most simple ethical concepts.
Do not separate people from their flesh and blood. Under the feudal ethical influence of “there are three forms of unfilial conduct, of which having no descendants is the greatest,” the “Jiang Xiang Sect” never trafficked in or harmed other people’s children.
A phrase my great-uncle often says is: The sea of bitterness has no bounds; turn back and reach the shore. As long as one is willing to turn back, one can reach the shore. I sought his opinion, and he is willing to make these matters public. For himself, it is closure; for the world, it is a warning. Thus, with my great-uncle narrating orally and me organizing, that mysterious period of “Jiang Xiang Sect” history gradually surfaced. This is first-hand material directly from a legitimate descendant of the “Jiang Xiang Sect.” In the following months, using this as a foundation, I redrew the history of the “Jiang Xiang Sect,” which formed this documentary-style novel today.
For narrative convenience, this text uses the first person “I” throughout, representing my great-uncle, focusing on the history of the “Jiang Xiang Sect” from the first year of the Republic to the 1950s after the founding of New China. Readers will experience from the text the “Jiang Xiang Sect’s” consummate “Yingyao” deception techniques, the spirit-and-ghost-defying “Zhafei” methods, the bewilderingly difficult “Luban Gate” ghost surgery… Most importantly, after readers understand these deceptive methods, they will no longer fall victim to such scams!
Yi Zhi