薛家灣:中國甘肅省一個神奇的算命村

Xuejiawan, a small village in northwestern China's Gansu province, used to be known as a hotbed of fortune-telling.

薛家灣，是一個位於中國西北部甘肅省的小村莊，曾因作爲占卜文化的發祥地而被人所熟知。

Near provincial capital Lanzhou, Xuejiawan, with a population of 600, has a history of fortune-telling that dates back many generations. The people of Xuejiawan were often compared to gipsies. They spent months on the road and making their living through prophesy based on the I Ching (Book of Changes) and other mystical texts.

薛家灣在甘肅省會蘭州市附近，這座約有600人口的村莊有着世代相傳的占卜傳統。薛家灣的村民與歐洲的吉普賽人一樣，他們常年漂泊在外，通過研究易經和其它神學著作來替人算命謀生。

"People moved from place to place and had no land to grow crops in the village, so every spring, they would take their donkeys, dogs and children and hit the road," said Gao Jinjiang, a villager in his 50s. "They only came back for winter," he added.

該村一位名叫高錦江的五十多歲的村民表示：“這裏的人們從一個地方搬到另一個地方，在村裏沒有耕地，所以每到春天，他們便拖家帶口，牽着驢和狗上路，只有在冬天纔會回到村裏。”

After the founding of the People's Republic of China in 1949, villagers were allotted land and started to settle down.

在1949年新中國成立後，村民分到了土地，便紛紛開始定居下來。

"My grandfather was a famous mystic, and my father inherited his gifts," said Gao, who only tells fortunes part-time, though he is still among the most popular in the village, mostly due to his family background. He gets invitations from customers from Beijing and Shanghai. On a recent trip he save a couple from breaking up.

“我的爺爺是一位遠近聞名的算命先生，父親從我爺爺那裏繼承了這門技能。”高錦江對記者說到，他目前雖然只是利用業餘時間爲人算命，但由於家族背景的原因，所以在村裏仍舊十分出名，並且經常受到來自北京、上海等地的邀請，最近他剛剛挽回了一對夫妻的婚姻。

"I used the I Ching to determine their fortune, leading them to believe in unity and harmony," he said.

他說：“我運用易經裏的理論來預知他們的命運，讓他們信奉相合相愛的哲學。”

Fortune telling is by no means a stable source of income. "Sometimes I earn thousands of yuan from a happy customer, but occasionally, I have to pay for my own trip and earn nothing at all," he said.

然而，算命並不是一項穩定的收入來源，高錦江說：“有的時候客人高興了會支付我上千元，而有時又一無所獲，甚至要自己掏路費。”

Gao now spends most of his time growing garlic and cabbages, earning 20,000 yuan a year.

高錦江目前主要靠種植大蒜和捲心菜爲生，每年有兩萬元的收入。

Now, only a few dozen elderly people have knowledge of the I Ching, and far fewer actually practice the craft. Young people have distanced themselves from complexities of the I Ching and found jobs outside the village.

如今，除了少數的老人對於易經還有所研究之外，越來越少的人以此爲生，年輕人更是拋棄了高深莫測的易經，離開村莊去城市裏工作。

Gao's son and daughter live in Lanzhou. His son works at an IT firm. "Fortune-telling? " Gao shook his head. "Young people are not interested at all."

高錦江的兒女如今都住在蘭州，他的兒子在一家IT公司工作，當被問到“兒子會算命麼？”時，高錦江搖着頭說：“年輕人對這一套沒有興趣。”