During the Kaiqing period of the Southern Song Dynasty, an old woman opened a small hotel on the road between Quzhou and Xinzhou to make a living. This old woman often shed tears.
One day, a Taoist priest came to the small hotel. The Taoist priest was holding a fan with the words "saying good things ". The Taoist said to the old woman: " I often pass by here, and I always see you hiding your face and crying. Why is that? "
The old woman said: " I have a son who is seventeen years old. He studies hard and is very smart. I once asked a fortune teller to read his fortune. The fortune teller said that the child would die young, so I often cried about it. "
The Taoist asked where the child is now. The old woman said that she was studying in a nearby academy and hoped that the Taoist could show her child's face, so the Taoist agreed.
When the old woman brought the child, the Taoist observed the child's face and found that there were indeed signs of premature death. The Taoist said to the old woman: " I will stay here for one night and stay with your son for one night. I will tell you the result of the fortune telling tomorrow. "
The old woman was naturally very happy, so she prepared meals for the Taoist and arranged for him to live with his son.
After the Taoist waited for the old woman's son to fall asleep, he carefully observed the child's sleeping state. He found that the child had no breathing after falling asleep and could not detect the slightest breath in and out. Only then did he realize that the child had the relatively rare turtle breath , which means that like ordinary turtles, he breathes through his ears instead of through his mouth and nose.
The next day, the Taoist congratulated the old woman, saying that not only would her son not die young, but he would live a long life and achieve fame. Three or four years later, the old woman's son passed the imperial examination and passed the high school examination, and later returned to the county magistrate's office.
Physiognomy has been popular in China for a long time. The reason why it has endured for a long time naturally has its mystery. But the physiognomy mastered by this practicing Taoist seems to be even better.
Source: "Huhai News Yijian Continuation" written by Anonymous
