How China ethnic minority groups use chicken bones of small roosters to predict fortunes

Ethnic minority groups in China have long relied on a gruesome method to predict their fortunes: beating a rooster to death and reading its femur bones, a practice that has lasted for centuries.Tracing back to the Tang (618–907) and Song (960–1279) dynasties, the custom is known as “Dajibu”, meaning chicken divination.It originated from ancient spiritual beliefs in southwestern China, where people lacking access to medicine would beat bronze drums to pray for healing.Chicken bone divination remains prevalent today among ethnic groups such as the Yi, Mosuo, Zhuang and Yao.Historical records, above, reveal that the ritual dates back centuries. Photo: zhihu.comIt is a traditional form of divination that uses a chicken as a medium, predicting good or bad fortune by observing its physical characteristics after it is slaughtered.