The History of Puay aka Bei or Divination Block (筊杯的由来)

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What is Puay (筊杯)?

Puay is a set of object made of wood (木), bamboo (竹) or plants-root (植物根類) that used to seek advises from Deities while a devotee made a request or enquiry in front of the Deities.

In the past, Puay is treated as a very Holy & Spiritual Object, not everyone can just take and use it, usually have to go according to situation and the permission of the Deities, etc.

Nowadays, due to the Modernization, a lot of people tend to ignore the importance of the Puay and some, even change the outlook of the Puay to some interesting forms.

So how Puay come about?

According to myths and records, the Puay was invented in the Ming Dynasty (原至明朝), so the story goes like that:

Liu Bo Wen 劉伯溫 (the Advisor of Emperor Zhu Yuan Zhang 朱元漳之軍師), Chang Yu Chun 常遇春 & He Da Hai 何大海 (the 2 sworn brothers of Emperor Zhu Yuan Zhang 朱之異姓兄弟) were on the way to look out for a good location for Emperor Zhu Yuan Zhang to start his Empire-building Base.

In order not to let the others recognized who they were, the 3 of them disguised themselves as Chinese Physician (醫師).

One day, while they were passing-by one village, an old rich man approached them. After communication, the 3 of them realized that the old rich man was actually looking for Physicians to cure his daughter's unknown disease. With no choice, the 3 of them were had to follow the old rich man to his place to take a look.

After examining the daughter's situation, Liu Bo Wen realized that the daughter was not ill but was being affected by some negative entities (Liu Bo Wen is a Taoist Cultivated Person who know Medical Skills & Spiritual Power).

Soon, Liu Bo Wen asked the old rich man to leave the room. After the old rich man left, Liu Bo Wen took out a small pack of herbs for the daughter to consume and soon, the daughter seems to be able to communicate. And so, Liu Bo Wen asked her a few questions and then the 3 of them left the room.

1.00Am in the morning, Liu Bo Wen and the other 2, came to the garden where was located near the room of the daughter. After wandering around, Liu Bo Wen started to mumble to himself, soon after he mumbled, 3 demons appeared in front of him. Without hesitation, Liu Bo Wen took out his Imperial Sword to fight with the 3 demons. Due to Liu Bo Wen’s highly cultivated power, the 3 demons were being subdued.

After a gust of fume, Liu Bo Wen went to take a look at the 3 demons, the 3 of them turned back to their original form, a Thousand Years Wooden Lock (千年木精所化之門栓), an Antique Bamboo Hand-stick (千年竹子精) and a Cultivated Frog Spirit (青蛙精).

After cleaning the Frog away, Liu Bo Wen handed the Lock to the old rich man for keeping and requested to have the Hand-stick as a return, the old rich man was delighted and accepted the request.

On the next day, the daughter recovered and was able to get off from bed.

Soon, the Liu Bo Wen had to make a leave.

After the leaving the premises, the 3 of them started their journey again.

One day, while the 3 of them were in the forest, they came to a 2 ways exit, didn’t know which way to go, suddenly the Hand-stick stood up and pointed to one direction. The 3 of them were shocked, with no choice, they had to follow the instruction and soon, they met up with the other groups of sworn brothers.

From then, the 3 of them used the Hand-stick as a form of Leading Guide while they were out to do searching or Battling.

One year, while they were out in the forest to do their inspection, a group of bandits approached them, after several rounds of fighting, the bandits ran off, but to their horror, the Hand-stick that Liu Bo Wen used as weapon to fight the bandits was being cut into pieces.

With disappointment, Liu Bo Wen had to pack them up and keep with him as a form of gratitude.

Soon they met with choices making at a 2 way exit again. This time round, no more Hand-stick could be used and so, Chang Yu Chun suggested how about taking 2 pieces of the cut Hand-stick to do the leading.

After consideration, Liu Bo Wen communicated with the 2 pieces and told the pieces, if they agreed that the 2 of them to go by the left road, the 2 pieces would show 1 face facing up (正面) and the other facing down (反面).

After 1st try, the left road was being rejected and so the 3 of them tried the right road, immediately after Liu Bo Wen threw the pieces out, the pieces showed a Yin & Yang sign (正反雙面).

From then, Liu Bo Wen started to use the 2 pieces as a form of Prediction Object.

After Emperor Zhu Yuan Zhang got his Empire, in order to show the gratitude of the Prediction Block, Emperor Zhu Yuan Zhang ordered Temples in the whole Countries to place 2 pieces of Bamboo Blocks on the Altar for the devotees to communicate with Deities.

From then till now, this practice is still being passed-down.