The Genius Physiognomist

The Genius Physiognomist (originally serialized online under this title; also published in print as The Genius Physiognomist, with later editions and sequels released as The Secret Cache) is an urban novel by Da Yan, following his earlier work Pawnshop. Serialization began on Qidian in March 2012 and concluded in May 2013, totaling roughly 2.84 million characters. The term "physiognomist" in the title refers to a practitioner of divination arts—face reading, fortune-telling, and geomancy. The story centers on Ye Tian, a young man from a rural Jiangnan village who lives with his father at the foot of a scenic mountain and studies traditional culture and physiognomy under an old Taoist named Li Shanyuan. After an unexpected encounter, he inherits the physiognomic tradition of the Mayi school and develops the ability to read people and objects and judge fortune and misfortune. He then helps an overseas Chinese returnee solve a difficult problem, gains local fame, and uses the classical learning his teacher gave him to enter the antiques trade, honing an eye for authenticating antiques. Returning to the city, Ye Tian discovers that his mother's family is far more powerful than he imagined and that his arrival is unwelcome. He decides to establish himself independently, earning his first fortune through feng shui, physiognomy, and antiques knowledge—and is drawn into antique gambling on raw jade stones, hidden national treasures, and schemes involving foreign forces. The work braids together two subject areas: fate calculation and feng shui, and antique connoisseurship. Early sections excel at urban set pieces of face reading and treasure hunting; the middle and later sections shift toward cultivation and family origins. In 2015 the book won an Excellence Award at the first Online Literature Biennial Awards.