From the classics / NINEHOUND JOURNAL
Two Han officials visited a diviner—and found themselves questioned
They wanted to find an exceptional person outside the court, yet began by judging him through the size of his official position.
Chang’an’s marketplace after rain
The Biography of Diviners in the Records of the Grand Historian has Song Zhong and Jia Yi discuss worthy people of earlier times and decide to visit practitioners of divination. At the market, Sima Jizhu is discussing Heaven and Earth, the Sun and Moon, and fortune with his pupils. The visitors are impressed but puzzled: why would someone so perceptive remain in a trade they consider lowly?
The turn matters. A moment earlier they were seeking worth outside the court; once seated before someone, they measure him by court position again. The story’s edge arises from that contradiction.
Their criticism had substance
They raise a concrete concern: some diviners exaggerate blessings to please questioners and frighten them with disaster to take money. Removing this turns the account into a gratifying tale of a superior sage looking down on officials. The original question is more substantial: how does a profession treat the people seeking its help?
Sima Jizhu then asks whether high office necessarily proves talent and virtue. If an official is incompetent, self-serving, or paid without service, what does the position itself establish? He moves the discussion from a profession’s reputation to individual conduct. This is a paraphrase of the chapter’s argument, not invented eyewitness dialogue.
He acknowledges standards too
The story does not let the diviner win instantly through a miraculous prediction. Sima Jizhu describes his way of conducting himself, emphasizes action consistent with right principle, and discusses gains and losses. The marketplace figure therefore receives a broader measure than accuracy alone.
Today we can ask equally direct questions: does a practitioner exploit a questioner’s anxiety to raise the price? Is an unfavorable judgment supported by reasons, or merely designed to create fear? These concern conduct, and remain valid regardless of clothing or title.
The question lingers after the story
People seeking an exceptional adviser often want an impressive title to spare themselves the work of judgment. This story insists that position and insight need not coincide. The officials sit down to assess someone else and end up having to examine their own measure.
The original chapter also has layers of compilation and transmission. Every speech cannot be treated as something Sima Qian personally witnessed. What we read here is the image and argument preserved in the Biography of Diviners: how a practitioner answers contempt for his profession.
Sources and further reading
- Records of the Grand Historian, volume 127: Biography of Diviners ↗
- Chinese Text Project: parallel text of the Biography of Diviners ↗
This article paraphrases and comments on the classical narrative without adding dialogue not recorded in the source.