Fei Changfang was believed to be a magician in ancient China. One day he saw an old man who, unbeknownst to him, is an immortal spirit. Fei saw this man jump into the ground every day after the market Fei worked at closed. This odd behavior caught his attention which prompted the old man to bring him into the ground with him. There lied spectacular gems and gourmet food, but Fei was sworn to secrecy regarding this treasure.
The old man finally confessed to his true identity as a spirit and stated that this was his last day of being in exile as a punishment for a wrongdoing he committed. Fei wanted to adventure along with the spirit, but he feared his family would not be accepting of this decision. Fei’s radical solution was to fake his death, which his family fell for.
The spirit put Fei through a series of fearsome and gruesome tests, of which he failed the last one. Due to his failure to pass all of the tests, Fei was sent back home where the uncomfortable task of admitting to faking his death fell upon him.
Fei did come back with good news, as he was able to cure diseases and had control over a variety of aspects from demons to rainfall. Unfortunately, Fei eventually lost his powers and was murdered by a group of ghosts.
This text was written by people who were biased against fengshi practices, and serves to create a sense of fear around people who engage in fengshi.
Bibliography
Minford, John, and Joseph S.M. Lau. “‘Doctors, Diviners and Magicians.’” An Anthology of Translations: Classical Chinese Literature, Vol. 1: From Antiquity to the Tang Dynasty, 2000.
