Tengenjutsu (fortune telling)
Encyclopedia
Tengen-jutsu is a Japanese fortune telling method. It is based on yin and yang
and the five elements
, and uses a persons birth date in the sexagenary cycle
and physical appearance to predict ones fate. Tengen-jutsu originated in various Chinese practices
, but was first systemized by the early Edo period
monk Tenkai
. It is also the origin of Tōkyūjutsu
.
Yin and yang
In Asian philosophy, the concept of yin yang , which is often referred to in the West as "yin and yang", is used to describe how polar opposites or seemingly contrary forces are interconnected and interdependent in the natural world, and how they give rise to each other in turn. Opposites thus only...
and the five elements
Five elements (Japanese philosophy)
One may encounter two kinds of five elements philosophy in Japan. One is called, in Japanese, gogyō , having its backgrounds in the Chinese five elements, and the other is called godai . Godai is usually regarded as a Buddhism term in Japan, with certain influences from Hinduism. The following...
, and uses a persons birth date in the sexagenary cycle
Sexagenary cycle
The Chinese sexagenary cycle , also known as the Stems-and-Branches , is a cycle of sixty terms used for recording days or years. It appears, as a means of recording days, in the first Chinese written texts, the Shang dynasty oracle bones from the late second millennium BC. Its use to record years...
and physical appearance to predict ones fate. Tengen-jutsu originated in various Chinese practices
Taoism in Japan
Taoism is believed to be the inspiration for spiritual concepts in Japanese culture. Taoism is similar to Shinto in that it also started as an indigenous religion in China, although it is more hermetic than shamanistic...
, but was first systemized by the early Edo period
Edo period
The , or , is a division of Japanese history which was ruled by the shoguns of the Tokugawa family, running from 1603 to 1868. The political entity of this period was the Tokugawa shogunate....
monk Tenkai
Tenkai
was a Japanese Tendai Buddhist monk of the Azuchi-Momoyama and early Edo periods. He achieved the rank of Daisōjō, the highest rank of the priesthood....
. It is also the origin of Tōkyūjutsu
Tōkyūjutsu
or Tōdō is a Japanese divination method, created by Yokoyama Marumitsu in the 1830s . It was developed from tengenjutsu, a system with origins in China and was well established at the time. Tōkyūjutsu teaches that ones personality and character can be determined by factors such as the date of...
.