Zhaxi Doje, 30, who owned a small shop selling joss sticks and candles, Buddha statues and Buddhist ornaments for three years in the Guozijian Alley near the temple, also invited a "master" into his shop to choose names for people and companies.

"Almost every shop has a master. If we don't, we will be less competitive," he says.

He and the "master," who came from nearby Hebei Province, split the profits.

But Zhang Helin scorns his competitors as unprofessional.

"I learnt fortune-telling from my father. It's a patrimonial business in our family, but not for them," he says.

He says he has changed some people's names to help them to live better lives, but refuses to discuss them on the grounds of client confidentiality.

Meanwhile, websites on traditional naming methods have flourished. A Google search of "naming" turns up more than 9 million results. The Websites, like the one Yao used to check her own name, offer naming and name-checking services and fortune-telling using a person's name and birth times.

Yao believes ancient Chinese culture is convincing, although she and her whole generation were never educated about this.

"I think it's the charm of traditional culture," she says.

But she thinks many of the Websites and shops are fake, and many of the "masters" have taken up the business without really understanding the "I Ching" and relevant theory.

Wang Daliang agrees. "For the companies, naming is just a business. Their 'masters' titles are fraudulent."

He says modern parents want special names for their children and turning to the fortune-teller is just one approach.

"Some swindlers take advantage of parents' good intentions," he says.

However, the traditional approach can also be safe.

It didn't take long for Zhao Renwei and his wife to name their son who was born in April, with the help of another ancient Chinese book.

The boy was named Zifei, after the first two words in ancient philosopher Chuang-tzu's famous saying, "You are not a fish -- how do you know what fish enjoy?"

The other reason was that according to the boy's position in the family lineage, the boy's middle name is fixed on Zi.

These traditions were almost eradicated during the "cultural revolution" (1966-1976) as an old way of life.

Zhao's name is also simple, besides the fixed middle name, the other character of his given name wei means "great", a commonly used character for a man's name.

"We like reading, so we want to gave our son a name that means something," he says.

Yao Xue finally found a senior Taoist priest through a friend to help name her baby, who is now known as Wang Zhirui, with no "fire" component in the two given characters.

The priest explained that adding "fire" directly to the name was unnecessary. The child's destiny should be examined in a comprehensive way, including shape, sound, stroke and meaning of the characters, and Zhirui was good according to her "eight characters."

Yao says she couldn't fully understand the reason, but she and her husband liked the name as zhi means knowledge and rui intelligent.

"I believe he (the priest) is a real master, and that the name he has given is really good," Yao says.

(Shanghai Daily June 16, 2009)