Guan Di lot 86 of 100
A boatload of goods
Highest (上上, 壬己). Grades differ between editions, and many Taiwanese temples print none. Shown as Wikisource gives it. Wikisource prints no stem pair for this lot, so 壬己 is from manekineko.com.tw.
一舟行貨好招邀
積少成多自富饒
常把他人比自己
管須日後勝今朝
A boat of goods invites buyers.
Small amounts add up and bring wealth by themselves.
Always measure others by yourself,
and the days ahead must surely surpass this morning.
What this lot says
This is a lot about steady, small gains. The verse says a little added to a little makes plenty.
Its last two lines ask you to treat others as you would treat yourself, and look to better days ahead. It is not financial advice. For a real financial decision, speak to a qualified adviser.
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
Guan Zhong and Bao Shu trade together (管飽為賈)
According to the account on Wikisource, when Guan Zhong and Bao Shu were in business together, Guan Zhong took more of the profit and Bao Shu understood that he was poor. Bao Shu later recommended him as chancellor of Qi.
Source: Wikisource, 關聖帝君靈籤/86, 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)
一舟行貨好招邀 / 積少成多自富饒 / 常把他人比自己 / 管須日後勝今朝
Retrieved 2026-11-09. Transcription licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
manekineko.com.tw (富貴轉運站)
一舟行貨好招邀 / 積少成多自富饒 / 常把他人比自己 / 管須日後勝今朝
Retrieved 2026-11-09
Where the sources differ
- Line 1: a note in Wikisource's transcription gives 般 for 舟, apparently a variant reading.
- Wikisource prints 管飽 in the story title, which we read as 管鮑 (Guan and Bao).
English translation, meaning and story summaries are by Cast & Chart.