Novels like The Charlatan
Books Chinese readers most often put in the same booklists as The Charlatan, best match first.
- 151 A Record of Funerals in a Small Town 小城丧葬录 In 2020, Rongcheng was battered by torrential rain. At 32, Chen Yan hit rock bottom after falling from a government post. Forced to resign over an air-gun incident, he crashed while hauling freight, went unpaid by an advertising agency, broke his leg at a construction site, and eventually became a food delivery rider, scraping by between his mortgage and daily expenses. One rainy night, he stopped to help someone and stumbled into the Xiao An Funeral Parlor, where he met Old Yang, who secretly c 5Reads—Score—14d adds
- 152 Zhou Gong’s Dream Dictionary: Hilarious, Fully Explained Edition 周公解梦爆笑详解版 The Hilarious, Fully Annotated Edition of Duke of Zhou Interprets Dreams is a dream interpretation book that overturns tradition while educating and entertaining. It cleverly blends the ancient wisdom of Duke of Zhou's dream interpretations with modern humor, offering readers a fresh and delightful reading experience. The book not only explains the meanings of all kinds of dreams in detail, but also uses witty, humorous language and lively illustrations to help readers uncover the secrets behind 21Reads—Score614d adds
- 153 The Master Feng Shui Practitioner 顶级风水师 Heaven and Earth are dark and yellow; the universe vast and primordial. The sun and moon wax and wane; the stars are arrayed across the sky… 1.7kReads8.8Score32214d adds
- 154 The Dao-Seeking Gate 问道阙 [Cultivation] [Good-for-Nothing] [Female Master] [Face-Slapping] Zhang Shiyi was an orphan abandoned in the mortal world. At the age of ten, he was rescued by Tang Yanran, a personal disciple of the Seek Dao Sect's leader, and brought into the sect, where he was assigned as a menial servant at Hidden Cloud Peak. He had no spiritual roots and was regarded as a born good-for-nothing in the cultivation world. For eight years, he endured bullying, beatings, and framing. He nearly died several times, 2Reads—Score114d adds
- 155 Tales of the Shangqing Sect 上清宗往事 After accidentally stumbling into the Four Fiends Soul-Suppressing Formation, he finds his life ticking down to its end in seven years. He joins the Daoist sect in pursuit of immortality, grows stronger as he encounters zombies, ghosts, demons, and monsters, travels the human world and seeks out hidden realms, slays demons and monsters to prove the Dao, and searches through the Six Paths of Reincarnation for true immortality. Only today does he finally realize who he truly is. 6kReads8.8Score55914d adds
- 156 The Ten Heavenly Stems: Cultivation’s Secret Code 修真密码十天干 Here, I will reveal the underlying principles behind the flow of time and space, knowledge passed down only to the worthy. I have two junior sisters. They have heavy workloads every day, and still have to cultivate with me. They said they wished they could study while they worked. So I wrote down the most essential parts of what our master taught us in this book. I thought there must be others like them, enduring the same hardships but never giving up on the pursuit of truth. 1.1kReads8.4Score49914d adds
- 157 The Great Path of Cultivation 修行大道 Hello, all those who are destined to cross paths with me! I am Mr. Qian Kun. I write The Way of Cultivation to promote the ancient cultivation culture of China. Those who feel a connection are welcome to follow along and cultivate together. 1kReads6.7Score12714d adds
- 158 The Dao De Jing for Cultivators 修仙版道德经 The protagonist happens upon a copy of the Dao De Jing rewritten for cultivators. From then on, he embarks on the path of cultivation. It does not depend on how diligently you practice, nor on how much you read, but on insight and spiritual understanding, and even more on whether you have the destined connection with the immortals. Though it is called attaining the Dao, in truth nothing is gained. To transform all living beings is called attaining the Dao. Those who understand it may pass on the 37Reads—Score614d adds
- 159 Mastering the Book of Changes, Rising to the Heavens in One Leap 易学纵横一步登天 Cultivation, Qi Refining, esoteric arts, feng shui, and sacrifice: everything you’ve heard of and everything you haven’t is in this book. Each technique is clearly explained and effective in practice. By the first few chapters, readers in the know have already realized that people outside would charge hundreds of thousands for this information, if they were willing to share it at all. Some readers even exclaimed that after searching for years, they’d finally found a shortcut to cultivation, only 9.1kReads8.8Score1.9k14d adds
- 160 Master Ni's I Ching Studies 倪师易学 Join Teacher Ni Haixia in studying the Tianji series every day. With this divine gift of the Way of Change, all the world's affairs can be made simple, bringing good fortune, avoiding misfortune, and turning danger into safety. The key to learning is perseverance. I hope everyone makes progress and gains something every day. 5kReads8.8Score93914d adds
- 161 I Told You to Take the Imperial Exam, Not Become an Ancestor of the Dao! 让你考科举，没让你考成道祖啊！ The prefectural exam tests aspiring Daoist novices, the provincial exam qualifies talisman disciples, the metropolitan exam assesses ritual masters, and the palace exam decides who will lead the Daoist alliance… Xie Wugou transmigrates, only to open his eyes to a nightmare from the start: a gravely ill father, a frail mother, and a broken self. He hopes to change his fate through the imperial examinations, only to discover that this world has no feudal dynasty, only a “Daoist Immortal Court”! He 10.1kReads7.8Score1.1k14d adds
- 162 Tales of the Dragon and Tiger Mystic Heroes 龙虎玄侠传 In the Age of Declining Dharma, spiritual qi revives. Evil spirits wreak havoc, and dragons and tigers descend from the heavens. With the Nine Heavens Divine Pill reappearing in the world, orthodox and unorthodox factions alike prepare for battle. The arts of the occult, talismans, soul-binding, poison and witchcraft clash in a contest of skill. Ye Chen and Xiao Jun, two disciples of the Zhengyi Heavenly Masters, are summoned by Heaven's will to exterminate demons and defend the Dao. Bound by th 93Reads—Score—14d adds
- 163 The Book of Changes, the Key to Life 易启人生 After failing his 38th job interview, Li Mo received an old book, the Book of Changes, from an old Taoist beneath a great locust tree in the park. He thought it was junk, until one day he discovered: It wasn't a book about fortune-telling or divination, nor was it a novel, but a system of: 35Reads—Score—14d adds
- 164 The Folk Fortune-Telling Master 民间算命大师 [There's a saying in the jianghu: If your tip is sharp but not pungent, you'll be useless in old age; if it's pungent but not sharp, you'll never get anywhere. Use both pungency and sharpness, and even the gods will be driven mad. This book features some jianghu tricks and schemes, so take them as a warning. It also offers a few clever tips for those who can figure them out.] After getting into college, I thought the world was finally mine to explore. I never expected graduation to mean unemploy 403kReads9.0Score25.1k14d adds
- 165 I Asked You to Read the Feng Shui, Not Dig Up Their Ancestral Grave! 让你看风水，你刨人家祖坟？ Also known as "The Folk Feng Shui Secrets". [Supernatural + Feng Shui Master + Unmatched Skills + No System + No Saintly Hero] An old man dies full of resentment and is buried in a dangerously inauspicious ancestral grave. Disasters strike one after another on the day of the burial. Wang Nan, a yin-yang master, spots the problem and immediately tells the descendants to dig up the ancestral grave and choose a new feng shui site for a deep burial, only to discover that this was all part of a plot 322Reads8.9Score10014d adds
- 166 Stealing Heaven's Secrets: My Feng Shui and Face-Reading Skills Are Worth Trillions 窃天机：我的风水相术价值万亿 This is an urban story, and also a guide to avoiding common pitfalls, written for ordinary people. From ordinary folk to tycoons, I have personally witnessed hundreds of cases. The methods for resolving hundreds of environmental and layout issues mentioned here all come from ancient texts. Nearly every common environmental issue found in homes and shops is covered. 41.4kReads8.7Score4.3k14d adds
- 167 A Complete Guide to Bazi 八字通晓 Eight Characters Made Clear is really just two names put together. Whose names are they? Tan Bazi, a man, and Jiang Tongxiao, a woman. At Tangfeng Cave, Guan Jixu and Fang Zhinan received the true teachings of Immortal Masters Xu and Guan, among others. They founded the Taihua East Peak School of Destiny Studies, enthroning as its patriarch and as deputy patriarch. From then on, Tangfeng Cave and Taihua East Peak became two important forums for destiny studies. The st 1.1kReads8.1Score22714d adds
- 168 Tianji Pavilion: A Beginner’s Guide to Feng Shui 天机阁风水入门基础教材 The Heavenly Secrets Pavilion's Introductory Feng Shui Textbook draws on the essence of traditional Chinese divination, breaking down the core principles of feng shui in simple terms. From the basics of qi theory and landforms to the layout of homes and how to assess auspicious and inauspicious directions, every section includes practical methods. Concise and useful, it helps beginners get started quickly and build a solid foundation in feng shui. 619Reads—Score22314d adds
- 169 While Others Cultivate Immortality, I Start Up the Machine 别人修仙我开机 Overworked office drone Lin Mu is transported into the world of cultivation and becomes a menial disciple of the Qingyun Sect, with pitifully poor aptitude. Is his future bleak? No, his phone has mutated into the [Myriad Worlds Link System]! From then on, the “trash” of the cultivation world becomes coveted merchandise across the Myriad Worlds: a single nightglow flower gets him a miraculous bone-strengthening medicine from a savage tribe; a few chunks of worthless ore earn the heartfelt gratitu 1.2kReads—Score17214d adds
- 170 The Way of Changes Can Reach the Divine 易可通神 If you seek the spark of wisdom, step into this book. It shares only profound teachings, suited to those with spiritual insight and mature minds. These are lessons from my own experience. I will write with care, and you can read with care. That's how fate works: it comes unbidden, sparked by a single thought, and deepens into devotion... May we help one another flourish and find fulfillment. 3.3kReads7.4Score67714d adds
- 171 The Art of Reading People 观人有道 The Daoist Five Arts are Mountain, Medicine, Destiny, Physiognomy, and Divination, representing Heaven, Earth, Humanity, Ghosts, and Immortals respectively. The Immortal Way is Mountain: focusing on cultivation, talismans, martial arts, geography, and feng shui. The Human Way is Medicine: focusing on healing, Daoist medicine, Chinese medicine, acupuncture, pulse diagnosis, and prescriptions. The Divine Way is Destiny: focusing on fortune-telling, the Eight Characters, Zi Wei astrology, and more. 13.7kReads9.0Score1.9k14d adds
- 172 The Maoshan Secret Arts Passed Down in My Family Changed My Life 祖传的茅山秘术改变了我的一生 He grew up with his grandfather. When his grandfather died in the boy's seventh year, a twist of fate led him to discover a book his grandfather had left behind: The Secret Arts of Maoshan. From then on, the course of his life changed... 1kReads—Score10514d adds
- 173 Contemplation on Returning to the Source 妄尽还源观 A book that reveals the truth about the universe and life. This is a book that helps you know yourself, attain insight into yourself, realize your true nature, and awaken. It can help all those with the right karmic connections. The Path to Awakening and Growth The seven-year-old Dragon Girl became a Buddha in an instant, realizing her true mind upon hearing the true Dharma. She cast aside the thousand-year-old dragon pearl at once, and her greed and attachments vanished in an instant. With her 2.8kReads8.6Score34614d adds
- 174 The I Ching's Blind Images 易经瞎象传 The Book of Changes: A Fool’s Commentary | This is just something I came up with by “blindly mulling over” the hexagrams myself. I never asked anyone to treat it as a “serious interpretation of the classics.” From hexagrams to line statements, I’m unpacking the yin and yang as I see them; from words to principles, I’m writing down the answers in my heart. There’s no polite “please forgive me if this isn’t well written,” just the honest “I interpret it, I enjoy it.” Read it if you like; if not, w —Reads—Score—14d adds
- 175 A Tujia Daoist by the Wu River 乌江边的土家道士 A graduate of a top university, unable to pass the civil service exam after years of trying and considering his family circumstances, accepts his family’s legacy and becomes a home-based Taoist priest. This Tao is not that Tao: it’s nothing like the Taoist priests we normally imagine. There are no strict rules and taboos, nor any grand mission to save all humanity. Yet this Tao is also that Tao: he wears the same robes, communicates with the realms of yin and yang, and does what he can to help. 832Reads6.5Score10414d adds
- 176 I Was Common as Dirt, Yet I Became an Immortal 我本庸俗却成仙 [Want to learn immortal cultivation and the Dao? Give it a look!] I yearn to become an immortal. Cultivating the truth and comprehending the Dao have been my lifelong dream, and I practice immortal cultivation in the real world. This is an unknown story, yet one brimming with wonder... Birth, aging, sickness, and death go on without end; cultivate the truth and comprehend the Dao to transcend them. I was once ordinary, yet became an immortal, neither suffering nor indulging in pleasure. I yearn 599Reads—Score14414d adds
- 177 Cultivation Begins as a Medicine Boy 修仙从药童开始 After the death of the grandfather who raised him, Su Yun, a village boy, leaves his mountain home with the family heirloom, the Desolate Cauldron, and enters the wondrous world of immortal cultivation. He begins his training as a lowly medicine apprentice. Put medicinal herbs into the Desolate Cauldron, and it can produce whatever pill you need. Step by step, the humble apprentice finds his own path to immortality in a world of scheming cultivators, a path unlike that of any other ordinary mort 256Reads6.4Score—14d adds
- 178 A Female Feng Shui Master's Work Diary 一个女风水师的工作日志 The author met a feng shui master and exchanged contact information with her. After seeing her work journal, the author found some of its contents worth reading. They also carry on traditional culture, so the author is sharing them here with her permission. 426Reads8.2Score—14d adds
- 179 Feng Shui for Beginners 零基础学习风水 My name is Chen Ping'an... Understand this novel, and your destiny will change forever... Even complete beginners can learn simple, practical feng shui secrets... If you want to change something in your life, you really should give it a read! 217Reads7.0Score3414d adds
- 180 A Handy Guide to I Ching Ramblings 易学碎碎念宝典 [A practical guide to the I Ching + fortune-telling + feng shui + luck + arrangement + adjustment + psychology] How can you harness good fortune and make life better with every step? How can the I Ching move beyond ancient books and become an everyday tool for seeing through patterns and solving problems? This is my open-source I Ching project. I'm sharing the underlying principles of Bazi, feng shui, Plum Blossom numerology, and physiognomy with you. Practical and verifiable. No obscure termi 443Reads8.5Score9614d adds
- 181 The Mystical Yellow Emperor's Yinfu Scripture 玄学黄帝阴符经 The Yellow Emperor Xuanyuan: Leader of the ancient Huaxia tribal alliance and the common ancestor of the Huaxia people in China's remote antiquity. First among the Five Emperors, he is revered as the “cultural progenitor of China.” An emperor embodies virtue, the Way, and Heaven; he holds the highest position. “From ancient times to the present, only our Huaxia endures.” When in doubt, study Daoism at once. Those who observe the past and understand the Way find joy in both the great and the smal 13Reads—Score814d adds
- 182 My Fortune-Telling Is So Accurate, the Government Has Its Eye on Me 算命太准，被国家盯上了 Lin Xiaoman is a country girl who just graduated. Her only special talent is “being eerily accurate when she speaks.” On a high-speed train, she sees a masked woman across from her with blood-red words floating over her head: “Will die in three hours.” She recognizes those eyes: they belong to top-tier star Bai Lu. After hesitating for three seconds, she hands her a note. Bai Lu changes her route and escapes disaster. But Lin Xiaoman, for “revealing heavenly secrets,” gets a nosebleed and slee 5.1kReads7.7Score65314d adds
- 183 Pingfan Hongliu’s New Novel: The Prequel to Zifan 平凡洪流的新书紫凡前传 Zifan: The Three-Part Feng Shui and Earth Veins Saga In the twenty-eighth year of the Zhiyuan era, a purple aura descended upon Lanxi, Wuzhou, and the orphan Zifan was born with a heavenly destiny. As a child, he helped overcome a locust plague and learned to read the earth's veins. As a young man, he traveled far to study, glimpsing the mysteries of the Great Way in the Book of Changes and the Tao Te Ching, while also uncovering secrets about his long-lost elder sister in the imperial palace. 10Reads—Score—14d adds
- 184 The Lost Divine Clan: The Dawn of Time 遗失神族之天荒 [No System + Traditional Cultivation + The Blurb Is Weak, Please Read the Story] While others cultivate in pursuit of immortality, Lu Xuan cultivates in search of death. Every time he breaks through to a new realm, heavenly punishment descends. For fifteen years, his master has made him hide his cultivation, while his master's wife has set up hundreds of spirit-sealing arrays, all to stop him from advancing. But what is destined to come will come in the end. At the tenth level of Qi Refining, he —Reads—Score114d adds
- 185 Divine Art of Reading the Heavens 窥天神测 Words spring from the heart, and writing gives the heart form. The characters a person writes are intricately connected to their fortunes, misfortunes, and fate. Thus, the art of fortune-telling through written characters came into being. My journey down this path began when I accidentally fell into my grandmother's coffin, only to discover a young woman inside, her clothes in disarray… 985Reads8.8Score10614d adds
- 186 Cultivation Is a Philosophy 修仙是门哲学 This is my story of cultivating immortality, an unknown story, a story full of mystery... [Short Story Collection] [At the End of Science Lies the Supernatural] [Understand the stories in this book, and you can cultivate immortality] I am a real cultivator living in the modern world... I seek to become an immortal, free and joyful as the heavens. Cultivate immortality through science, ascend through physics. 350Reads—Score10614d adds
- 187 A Taoist Prodigy in Feng Shui 道家天才风水师 [Feng Shui and Geomancy, Eight Characters and Destiny, Physiognomy, Folk Secret Arts, Qimen Dunjia, Zhuyou Healing, Daoist Magic] First comes fate, then luck, then feng shui; fourth, accumulate good deeds in secret; fifth, study; sixth, choose a name; seventh, read faces; eighth, honor the gods; ninth, befriend benefactors; tenth, nourish the body. This book has a lighthearted, humorous style, similar to the Happy Ghost and Uncle Nine film series. It features Daoist magic, physiognomy, Zhuyou he 2.7kReads6.7Score29114d adds
- 188 Half Farmer, Half Taoist 半农半道 A record of life’s fleeting moments, a modern-day Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio! In the Age of Declining Dharma, beneath the White Lotus, the greatest hermits hide in plain sight. The truly gifted master Suan Potian and his young apprentice Liu Yi, with help from Captain Liu of the J Team, travel through all kinds of strange tales. They fish drowned souls from the water, battle spirit mediums, drive out evil, escort ghosts and capture monsters; they read the veins of yin energy, set the ea 308Reads—Score—14d adds
- 189 The Little Taoist Comes Down the Mountain: My Love in the Mortal World 小道士下山之我的红尘情缘 [Fortune-telling + urban life + multiple heroines + martial arts] The day Zhang Qingfeng was born, his maternal grandfather took him away and abandoned him. His master later brought him back to a Taoist temple, where he learned martial arts and a little fortune-telling and character analysis. At seventeen, his master sent him down the mountain to resolve his own entanglements in the mortal world. 1.7kReads8.6Score17114d adds
- 190 The Platform Sutra of the Sixth Patriarch 六祖法宝坛经 Opening Verse The supreme, profound, wondrous Dharma is rarely encountered, even in a hundred million kalpas. Now that I can see, hear, receive, and uphold it, may I understand the Tathagata's true meaning. The true nature of the universe: those who hear this true Dharma can awaken and be reborn, break free from the illusory cycle of reincarnation, and attain liberation and freedom! 426Reads—Score10214d adds
- 191 At Fifty, I Understood Fate: Reflections of an Ordinary Person 五十知天命：一普通人的心悟实录 Chen Yuan is an ordinary college graduate. Using himself as a test subject, he continually reflects and seeks proof in the course of his everyday life, exploring the journey toward uncovering the ultimate formulas of the universe and human existence. 1Reads—Score—14d adds
- 192 The Perfect Dharma Body 完美法身 This is a story about the true experiences of a modern-day cultivator! Ever since I was little, there has been a dark passage inside me, giving me a life unlike anyone else’s! At twenty-four, I encountered a once-in-a-millennium stroke of fate, and my master bestowed upon me a spirit of intelligence and wisdom. From then on, I embarked on a path of cultivation, feeling my way forward on my own. After turning thirty, I spent ten years comprehending the Dao and cultivating the three hun souls and 95Reads6.4Score—14d adds
- 193 Notes of a Northern School Feng Shui Master 北派风水师笔记 I'm a poor kid from a mountain village in Northeast China. To get enough to eat, I teamed up with Third Uncle to help people bury their dead and find burial sites as a yin-yang master. Some people call us feng shui masters. From south to north, I've met all kinds of people: scheming, treacherous, and ready to risk everything for money! I've also been dragged into one predicament after another... Looking back on everything I've been through over the years, one question has begun to haunt me day a 3.9kReads6.9Score29714d adds
- 194 The True Awakening of the Supreme Old Lord's Daoist Heart 太上老君道心启真 Take the void and the natural way as its guiding principle; take clarity, purity, inaction, and non-interference as its substance. Act without intention or attachment; unite with the One, and all things are accomplished. The Supreme Lord Lao, the foremost teacher of the Dao, embodies profound virtue that flows far and wide. His every word and deed contains the ultimate principles of the Great Dao. The Lord Lao often presents himself with a calm and peaceful bearing, every gesture displaying comp 1.8kReads6.8Score35014d adds
- 195 The Ruyi Teahouse 如意茶馆 In a lively old town stands a century-old teahouse where residents and passing travelers come to rest. Who could have guessed the true meaning of the words “as you wish”? As you wish, as he wishes, or... as it wishes! 5Reads—Score—14d adds
- 196 The Maoshan Daoist: Quest for the Tripod Across the Nine Provinces 茅山道士，九州寻鼎记 It is only natural for Maoshan to have Daoist priests, and it is easy enough to accept that ghosts and monsters exist in the world. But a Dragon Palace in Weishan Lake? Does that surprise you? Chen Gangdan, whose ancestors belonged to the imperial family, was blessed in misfortune as a child when he was taught Maoshan magic. But he unexpectedly discovered that his bloodline was deeply afflicted by a curse. The same curse had also befallen two other people. What secret do they share? How can the 9Reads—Score—14d adds
- 197 The Xuanpin Teahouse 玄牝茶馆 [The author's profession is unusual; this book is best suited to readers in the field] (This is a mid-length novel, with an upper part, a lower part, and a prequel. I'm typing away as fast as I can!) Feng Cai is a hereditary ritual master in a folk religious sect. After receiving a favor from someone, he opens a teahouse in the capital. Though this quiet teahouse sits in a bustling part of the city, it takes on all sorts of baffling commissions... Young woman: “Hello, could you get me into a top 73Reads7.1Score—14d adds
- 198 Chronicle of the Nine Netherworlds' Investiture of the Gods 九幽封神记 [Living Human Yin-Difference] [Dream Cultivation] [Primordial Spirit Awakening] [Mortal Body Ascends to Sainthood] [Mystery and Political Intrigue] [Adorable Spirit Beasts] [Karma and Retribution] [Godhood in the Underworld] Huang Xiaomi, an ordinary young woman from the mortal world, was little more than a drudge, until a blood-red nightmare sent her down the path of cultivation in the netherworld. She braved secret realms where death awaited at every turn, passed selection after selection by b 18Reads—Score—14d adds
- 199 Heaven-Defying Comprehension, and You Call This Mediocre Aptitude? 悟性逆天，你管这叫资质平平？ [A Schemer + Cautious + No Good-for-Nothing Hero + Ruthless + Immortal Jade Space + Slow Burn + Invincible Mortal Cultivation] In the Three Thousand Worlds, at the Spirit Sword Sect, Li Qingshan sold his land deed and used his family’s heirloom jade to bribe an outer sect elder, hoping to pull strings and bypass the aptitude test. That way, he could enter the inner sect directly and become an inner sect disciple. But to his surprise, the outer sect elder took his money and then did nothing. Li Q 323Reads—Score—14d adds
- 200 Seeking the Dao in the Sea of Qi 气海问道 Qi Sea: The Way is a systematic treatise on Qi cultivation that transcends any single school or tradition. It does not rely on any particular religious or metaphysical system. Instead, drawing on the intersection of human life sciences, traditional energy philosophy, and modern mind-body practices, it builds a complete system of Qi cultivation that is logically rigorous, clearly structured, and amenable to practical verification. The book presents Qi as the common origin of the universe and all 34Reads—Score—14d adds
