Guan Di lot 18 of 100
Both feet on solid ground
Middling (中平, 乙辛). Grades differ between editions, and many Taiwanese temples print none. Shown as Wikisource gives it. Wikisource prints no stem pair for this lot, so 乙辛 is from manekineko.com.tw.
知君指擬是空華
底事茫茫未有涯
牢把腳根踏實地
善為善應永無差
I know that what you aim for is a flower in the air.
Why is it so vague, with no shore in sight?
Plant your heels firmly on the real ground.
Do good, and good will answer, without fail.
What this lot says
This is a lot about unrealistic aims. The verse says what you are pointing at is not solid and asks you to stand on practical ground.
The last line is a plain statement of moral cause and effect. Treat it as advice to do the useful, honest thing in front of you.
A lot is a prompt for reflection. It cannot promise a result, and it is no substitute for medical, legal or financial advice.
The story behind it
Lord Mengchang gathers talent (孟嘗君招賢)
According to the account on Wikisource, Tian Wen, Lord Mengchang of the Warring States period, took in guests from all over, including exiles and those with a criminal record, and treated them well. Thousands of guests ate at his table, and he met all of them as equals.
Source: Wikisource, 關聖帝君靈籤/18, the 故事及記載 section
Where this text comes from
This verse is a traditional temple text with no known author. We read it from two named web transcriptions, Chinese Wikisource (the base text) and manekineko.com.tw. Neither is a scan of a printing, the edition behind them is mixed, and we could not establish whether the two are independent of each other.
Wikisource (關聖帝君靈籤) (the text shown above)
知君指擬是空華 / 底事茫茫未有涯 / 牢把腳根踏實地 / 善為善應永無差
Retrieved 2026-11-09. Transcription licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
manekineko.com.tw (富貴轉運站)
知君指擬是空華 / 底事茫茫未有涯 / 牢把腳根踏實地 / 善為善應永無差
Retrieved 2026-11-09
English translation, meaning and story summaries are by Cast & Chart.