Originally Posted by jengirls109

Originally Posted by Walrus

Chien tung... what in the world was chien tung. Some kind of martial art, or some kind of really spicy food that burns coming out the other end. Not that Jacob had to worry about that anymore, his butt was already burned off. But being Ravenclaw he automatically, and unconsciously raised his hand... might as well say something. "Uhm... its... uh.... Asian...?" well obviously.

Originally Posted by Yourenodaisy

So, Emmaleigh found herself lost in arithmancy once again. She sighed, and actually began to doodle on her parchment as she thought. If Arithmancy had something to do with divination, then maybe she could guess. Raising her hand, she asked, "Is it kinda like Tarot cards, where each stick has a different meaning?"

Originally Posted by sweetpinkpixie

Kurumi's hand shot up. Being born and raised in Japan did offer her a few advantages when it came to various forms of Asian Divination. She would have to write her grandmother and say thank you for all the times the woman rambled and make Kurumi practice with her. "Professor, Chien Tung, or as I grew up calling it Kau Cim, is a fortune telling practice that originated in China. My grandmother often told me that the practice is very personal method not as a fortune-telling game for self amusement, but as a naturally based, historically practiced, and religious art." She explained beginning to take on the speech patterns of her 80-year-old grandmother. "You first think of a question, or if you just want a general reading, just shake the bamboo container until one stick falls out. On the stick there is usually a number written, so you look up that number which will lead to a single piece of paper with an answer. Well, that is the basic principle anyway. There are more steps if you want to verify the reading." Kurumi put her hand down as she was growing a bit tired from having it raised. "These special containers holding the fortune telling sticks are located at all the shrines in my neighbor in Japan. I used to ask them for advice often..." She blushed.

Originally Posted by Herminny

Hmm, Chien Tung, that sounded familiar and then it hit her and Chloe raised her hand and responded, "I believe with Chien Tung you think of a question and then shake the bamboo container till one stick falls out. On that stick there should be number that you corrospond with a small booklet of fortunes to get your fortune and from there it is up to you to determine what that means in corrospondance with your question.", Yes that was a rather long explanation but she was pretty dure she did it right nonetheless.

Originally Posted by Saiai

Wasn't there some rule about teachers insulting students? Because Sakura was sure that the professor was suggesting she was lazy. She wasn't, she was just very conscious about making sure she wasn't making mistakes, a calculator certainly allowed her to double check that.

"Kau cim is the art of fortune telling. It's practiced mainly by the Taoists and Buddhists. Generally the person who wants their fortune read will praise a main God before they take a cup, known as a Cim Bucket, with the Kau Cim sticks inside, in their hands, tipping it forward slightly. The querant than has to focus on a question that they want the deity to answer, whispering it while shaking the cup gently until a stick falls out, if more than one falls out you need to start again. All the sticks have a number on them in both arabic and chinese numerals. The person asking the question will look at the number on the stick and then they need to find the corresponding piece of paper upon which an answer is written. To double check that the answer is correct two jiaobei blocks will be tossed by the questioner. The blocks have a flat side and a round side, if the answer is correct one will land on the flat side and the other will land on the round side." Sakura said in answer to the question the professor had asked. She was sure she'd been pretty thorough in her answer.

Originally Posted by Anna Banana

Ohh, the professor seemed pretty excited to hear Sierra's answer. Either that, or she just really, really liked using tally marks. Sierra couldn't imagine showing too much excitement over either, but meh...if it meant more credit for her, then so be be it. She smiled politely at the professor before sort of tuning out whatever else was said directly afterward. Something about divination of numbers or something confusing along those lines.

She did, however, refocus her attention on the discussion when the professor directed another question toward the class. Chien Tung--now that was something Sierra knew just a little about. Enough to form an answer to the question, at least. Lifting her hand into the air, she said, "Well, you start with lots of sticks inside a container. All the sticks are numbered, and when you end up shaking one out, you figure out the meaning of the number on that stick," she said.

Originally Posted by Saraie

Caroline raised her hand. " Chien Tung is similiar to fortune cookies. Its sticks in a cup or container amarked with the discreet Chinese character that is used to symbolize spiritual blessings. The sticks are numbered. There are 64 sticks. You ask a question, thank about your question. You shake the cup until one of the sticks fall out from it. The stick that falls out will have a number that corresponds to a highly thought provoking poem with a meaning or fortune."