Fang-shih

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Fang-shih (Fangshi) (Chin., ‘master of techniques’). Shamanistic controllers of magic in China in the centuries BCE (though their techniques continued in popular religion long after). They were guides to the islands of the immortals ( Fang-chang, P'eng-lai, and Ying-chou), and custodians of the techniques which secure both life and immortality.