Searching for Masters of Healing and Ancient Chinese Wisdom
“Follow your heart, and look for healing with the heart!” During the many years I spent working as a photographer in China, I was exposed to countless Chinese beliefs and wisdom that aroused my curiosity and also made me understand this country better. With my Chinese friend, the author Phoebe Hui I began searching to find out more about ancient wisdom and philosophies, healing methods, spirituality, and beliefs in mainland China and Hong Kong. Are the people who perform these traditional rituals still the lifeblood of their communities? What about religions and systems of beliefs? Can wisdom and culture that are passed on over hundreds, even thousands of years harmonize with contemporary China? How is the new awakening of spirituality and religion monitored and directed by politics?
An encounter with a shaman in Inner Mongolia led us to take a fresh approach to the project: instead of concentrating on the most photogenic healers, we decided to go where fate took us—yuanfen, as it is called in China. The Chinese word yuanfen can be interpreted as fate, predestination, chance, luck—while it contains elements of all these, none completely captures the sense of yuanfen. The word implies that the affinity or relationship of one person to another or to certain objects is predetermined. Yuanfen is destiny, serendipity, the force binding one person to other people and objects.
China has become a significant player in the economy and politics of the world today, and rapid developments in science and technology have modernized the lives of people across the country. Yet do we see everything as it really is in this sprawling country, whose history dates back over 3,500 years, with fifty-six officially accepted ethnic groups and an area of 9.6 million square kilometers?
These questions were uppermost in our minds as we began our research.
We traveled to the farthest corners of China, taking part in mysterious ceremonies on mountains, in monasteries, and even in simple living rooms. We spent days in the company of our protagonists, dining with them, drinking their herbal remedies, taking herbal baths, and hiking over hilltops together.
Our paths lead us to Buddhist secret societies, shamans, hermits, Taoists, herbalists, Tibetan doctors, Chinese Medicine doctors, Bimos, Feng Shui experts and monks.
The Magic of YUANFEN by KERBER VERLAG
Authors Stefanie Schweiger and Phoebe Hui
Photographs Stefanie Schweiger
Graphic Design and Illustrations Lisa Schweizer
Copyediting Tas Skorupa
Translations Gareth Davies, Henry Zhang
KERBER VERLAG
ISBN 978-3-7356-0648-8
The research for The Magic of YUANFEN was funded by the “Crossing Borders” program of the Robert Bosch Foundation and Literarisches Colloquium Berlin.
For a impression, you can listen to excerpts read by Franziska Hartmann and Sina Martens:
https://soundcloud.com/user-686652945/tracks