Chi & Sorcery

[…]She changed her name to Lu, and, since she lived in hiding in the caverns in the rocks, she called herself the Mountain Guest or the Guest of the Rocks. She lived on air and ate no bread. Yet she was fond of flowers. And in the course of time she acquired the hidden wisdom.
In Lo Yang, the peonies bloomed with special luxuriance. And there dwelt a flower fairy, who changed herself into a lovely maiden with whom Guest of the Rocks, when she came to Lo Yang, was wont to converse. Suddenly along came the Yellow Dragon, who had taken the form of a handsome youth. He mocked the flower fairy. Guest of the Rocks grew furious and cast her flying sword at him, cutting off his head.
-An Imperial Account of the Incident at Lo Yang

Chi is the life force of the universe, coursing through the world and everything in it. A healthy flow of Chi enables a person to walk and talk and feel, while an unbalance brings sickness and disease. Though most are as able to alter the flow of their own Chi as they are to change the course of rivers, a few in Chi'in have mastered themselves such that they can exert a degree of control over it. Such men and women are capable of tremendous feats of skill, such as the great Sifei Wen who cured Emperor Song Nam of Jincan poisoning, or the archer Bo Xishan who could put an arrow through the eye of a snake in Wu from the Province of Wei.

Use of such is draining, however. Most can only display such extraordinary abilities once in a great while, for the overexertion wreaks havoc on the natural flows of Chi in the body.

There exist throughout the world all manner of secret wisdom, such as knowledge of the 72 transformations, the secret word that unbars doors, or the ways of turning flesh to bronze. Learning the secret ways of the Universe is no mean feat. It is said that in the province of Shu dwells a Master who studied eighty years before he mastered the first of the 72 transformations. The Order of the Chrysanthemum jealously guards knowledge of the secret word that unbars doors. Only one in a hundred students at the Tang school can turn his flesh to bronze, and even then it is often no more than the palm and not more than once per full moon. There are masters and grimoires and beasts that speak the tongue of men throughout Chi'in who know such secrets, and who will often not part with them lightly.

There are only two known places where all magic fails: the first is at the foot of the throne of the August Personage of Jade, and the other is the inner sanctum of the Chrysanthemum Manse.

To perform a simple exorcism is an everyday skill; at the Ghost Festival every family performs just such a banishment without necessarily even thinking about it. But such basic rites can only defend against the weakest of ghosts and demons. A skilled exorcist may guard against much more potent threats, though to stand a chance against the greatest spirits they need to be an expert in the occult.

To be effective an exorcism or warding must be obvious. The traditional props of the exorcist are thus prayer strips, a plentiful supply of Hell Money for bribery and the confidence to face down that which normally hides from Heaven. It is a dangerous career but by its nature well-rewarded and one which draws much respect for the bravery of its practioners.

A prayer strip is a plea to heaven set upon paper by the calligrapher's art. If the brush is true, the heart enlightened and Heaven pleased then it may ward against ghosts and demons. Lesser spirits may be deterred by a generic prayer, but those that must be matched against true powers must be prepared specifically. Prayer strips are a necessary part of any rite of banishment since the unruly spirit must first be prevented from fleeing.

To prepare a prayer strip in secret and to hide it from sight is to render it no more than a piece of paper. Elaborate public ceremonies and prayers for the observation of Heaven on the other hand only enhance the effectiveness. In practice it is often necessary to compromise; prayer strips meant to last must be shielded from the rain and few can afford the money or time of a dozen priests as necessary for the most potent rites. Still, a good exorcist will have her wares on display since it only makes them more powerful.