The Art of Fate Calculation

The Institut Français de Recherche sur l'Asie de l'Est-IFRAE (Inalco-Université Paris Cité-CNRS) invites you to its next "Rencontre de l'IFRAE".
deux hommes chinois qui font de la divination
Couverture du livre "The Art of Fate Calculation" © Berghahn ‎

With Stéphanie Homola (CNRS-Ifrae) and Florence Galmiche (UPCité-CCJ)

From housewives to students, to high-ranking civil servants, people from all walks of life in China and Taiwan consult soothsayers to find out their destiny. How is a person's destiny calculated? How do clients assess a fortune-teller's skills? How does one become a diviner? Based on fieldwork conducted in Taipei, Beijing and Kaifeng, The Art of Fate Calculation explores the many facets of fate-calculation practices in contemporary Chinese societies. This work thus shows how conceptions of fate circulate in Chinese and Taiwanese societies while resisting standardization and institutionalization. This can be explained not only by the stigmatization of "superstitions", but also by the internal dynamics of the practice and learning of fate calculation.

 

Organizer : Juliette Genevaz