Reading palms: 01 (Singapore)

 

My eldest sister was able to read palms.

    My rudimentary understanding of the Chinese take on palmistry is that the two hands represent 先天 xiān tiān / innate “earlier heaven” and 後天 / 后天 hòu tiān / “after heaven”.

    先天 xiān tiān is the pre-determined fate that one was born with (decided by 天 tiān / heaven, the governing body), i.e., innate, inborn.

    後天 / 后天 hòu tiān is what one makes of one’s life after birth, which is shaped by one’s lifestyle (e.g., doing good/evil; living a good/bad life), i.e., acquired.

    It’s 男左女右 nán zuǒ nǚ yòu / “male left female right” when it comes to reading a person’s palm:  the man’s left hand for his 後天 / 后天 hòu tiān (what he’s made of his life), and the woman’s right hand for her 後天 / 后天 hòu tiān.  The other hand is consulted for a comparison.

    One of the people whose palms my eldest sister read was Sam.  He worked in a camera shop downtown near Change Alley, mainly catering to tourists.  After they shut up shop, the men would play poker behind closed doors, smoking and drinking whisky.  In the tropical heat and humidity, Sam’s sweat would come out pink on his white shirt.

    My sister saw that Sam’s 後天 / 后天 hòu tiān life line was quite short, but his 先天 xiān tiān life line was long.  She interpreted it as:  he was meant to live a long life, but his lifestyle — drinking, smoking and gambling — was cutting short his life.  

    

    Sam was advised to quit those three activities (which are vices in the Chinese thinking), which would buy him some brownie points with heaven.  For extra brownie points, she said he should donate the unspent money to a temple.

    He took her advice.  A few months later, she read his palm again:  the 後天 / 后天 hòu tiān life line had extended.  (Update:  He was still alive in 2016.) 

(Singapore, 1960s)