Mao Banxian
毛半仙
“Half an Immortal”
His Story
半仙 — “half an immortal” — is not a name but a shopfront, the standard claim of a professional fortune-teller. He is brought in over Baoyu’s missing jade, casts a hexagram, and reads it out to a household that has already run out of practical ideas. The novel keeps such men at arm’s length: it records what they say without ever confirming it.
In Xiang Li's Hands
Seated on a rock, grinning wide enough to show his teeth, white beard to his waist, blue-trimmed cap. One hand holds a knotted staff, the other lifts a small gold disc between finger and thumb. Bare paper behind him. She paints the performance rather than the prophecy.
The Calligraphy
Inscribed 毛半仙 — a surname and a boast, a professional sign brushed in place of a personal name.
Connections
- Jia Baoyu 贾宝玉 — the missing jade is the question put to him.
- Liu Tiezui 刘铁嘴 — the other diviner the household consults in the same search.
Others of the same kind · fortune-teller / diviner Liu Tiezui 刘铁嘴 · Shanziye 山子野
Named on these pages Liu Tiezui 刘铁嘴
Dream of the Red Chamber
Xiang Li painted all 413 characters of the novel between 1975 and 1985, the first person to complete the entire cast. See the whole collection · Chinese Empresses
