Guan Di lot 28 of 100
No lineage for high office
Good (上吉, 丙辛). Grades differ between editions, and many Taiwanese temples print none. Shown as Wikisource gives it. Wikisource prints no stem pair for this lot, so 丙辛 is from manekineko.com.tw.
公侯將相本無種
好把勤勞契上天
人事盡從天理見
才高豈得困林泉
Dukes, marquises, generals and ministers were not born from a special seed.
Offer your hard work up to Heaven.
Human affairs are all seen in the pattern of Heaven.
How could great talent be kept down among the hills and streams?
What this lot says
This is a lot of encouragement for someone without connections. The verse says rank is not a matter of birth and that diligence is noticed.
Its last line says ability will not stay hidden. If you are working toward recognition, it reads as a vote for persistence.
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
Sima Xiangru writes on the bridge (相如題橋)
According to the account on Wikisource, Sima Xiangru of the Han dynasty was poor and had studied for years. Crossing a bridge on his way into Shu, he wrote on a pillar that he would not cross it again except in a high carriage, and he later rose to high favour.
Source: Wikisource, 關聖帝君靈籤/28, 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)
公侯將相本無種 / 好把勤勞契上天 / 人事盡從天理見 / 才高豈得困林泉
Retrieved 2026-11-09. Transcription licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
manekineko.com.tw (富貴轉運站)
公侯將相本無種 / 好把勤勞契上天 / 人事盡從天理見 / 才高豈得困林泉
Retrieved 2026-11-09
English translation, meaning and story summaries are by Cast & Chart.