The Fortunetellers in the Yuan Dynasty Dramas

There are a lot of fortunetellers in the Yuan Dynasty Dramas.The fortunetellers could be immortal incarnates,holy hermits or ordinary townsfolk.They appears to be inconspicuous persons,but they often play important role in the dramas.Their prophecy could sometimes contribute as an invisible clue running through episodes or to a spontaneous flow of the plots by influencing the protagonists' decision and destiny.Nevertheless,the reason why the folk fortune-telling frequently appears in the Yuan Dynasty Dramas is very much related to the general conviction about a predetermined fate,the origins of the traditional Chinese opera and the society then and there.This characteristic of the Yuan Dynasty Dramas should be noted while it exerts a bad influence of preaching fatalism.