Yin Cheng Learns the Yi is a "realist novel about esoteric knowledge." It follows Yin Cheng, a warehouse manager, as he teaches himself traditional Chinese fortune-telling and feng shui from scratch. Each chapter incorporates a specific piece of esoteric knowledge, such as the Eight Trigrams, the Five Elements, the Four Pillars of Destiny, face reading, palm reading, Xiao Liu Ren divination, and feng shui, while showing him testing and applying it in everyday life straight away. There is no cultivation, fantasy, or exaggeration. Instead, the book emphasizes the grounded feeling of an ordinary person learning a practical skill. Readers are not just following a story; they are learning alongside Yin Cheng.
