A Chinese Version of Tarot explained in Detail

by John Oxenham Goodman

This book introduces a new version of Tarot cards derived from Chinese culture. There are five suits named and numbered according to the Generating Arrangement of the Chinese Five Elements. The fourth suit incorporates a Chinese version of the Major Arcana. Many concepts from Mahjong and Chinese traditional playing cards have been utilized. There are 144 cards not counting the Major Arcana fool which is number zero. This corresponds with the 144 tiles of Mahjong. The pack can be shortened to 108 cards (not counting the fool) which is a significant number in Chinese Buddhism and Daoism as well as in Hinduism. All of the cards were illustrated by the author. Each suit has a theme from Chinese history or culture. Suit 1 Swords corresponds with the Chinese element Wood and the ancient Greek element Air. It has a martial arts theme with images of famous swordsmen and women. Card 10 depicts Fu Hao the female commander-in-chief of the Shang Dynasty Army born around 1200 BC. Cao Cao (155-220) king of Wei is card 14 of this suit and his queen Bian Shi is card 13. Suit 2 Batons or Clubs represents the Chinese and Greek element Fire. The images on its cards are of the philosophers Lao Zi, Confucius, Mencius and others and its king is Liu Bei (161-223) of the kingdom of Shu, the previous card being his queen Gan Fu Ren. Suit 3 Coins or Pentacles relates to the Chinese and ancient Greek element Earth and displays merchants on the ancient Silk Road and Grand Canal as well as an image of the Earth God Tu Di Shen and his money tree. Suit 4 is the Major Arcana, or Da-Mi-Yi in Chinese, represented by the Greek element Ether or Spirit and the Chinese element Metal of Gold. Its Wheel of Fortune becomes the Tibetan Wheel of Life while the Magician becomes the Alchemist Wei Bo Yang (100-170). Suit 5 is the suit of Cups which equates with the Chinese and Greek element Water. It has images of China's famous ancient mariners including Xu Fu (born 255 BC) who may have sailed as far as Japan or even America and Fa Xian (337-422) who returned to China by sea from India. Then there are images of the Four Great Heavenly Kings of the 4 Directions found in most Chinese temples and the Earth god makes a fifth card. The Four Seasons, Four Flowers (Orchid, Bamboo, Chrysanthemum and Plum Blossom), Four Pastimes (Music, Chess, Calligraphy and Painting) and Four Professions (Fisherman, Woodcutter, Farmer and Scholar) also appear. The Cat, Mouse Cockerel and Centipede are there too. There are also cards with images of the Five Auspicious Animals (Qi Lin or Kylin, Golden Money Toad, Fortune Cat, Pi Xiu and Dragon Tortoise). The Five Stars of Good Fortune (including Shou Xing the God of Longevity, Xi Shen the God of Happiness and Cai Shen the God of Wealth) and their symbols of prosperity as well as their lucky animals, the bat, deer, crane, magpie and fish appear too. Finally there are the 8 Immortals and their 8 ritual implements. Earlier in the book a brief history of Chinese and Western playing cards is followed by several pages telling why and how I designed this Tarot pack. There are large clear diagrams explaining the suits and at the end of the book 131 pages are devoted to detailed descriptions of all of the 145 Chinese Tarot pictures, placing them in their cultural and historical context. In essence, this book is an introduction to some of the more interesting aspects of Chinese history and civilization. My hope is that readers could develop an appreciation of Chinese culture and find auspicious outcomes therein.