Guan Yin lot 36 of 100
The ape slips its chain
Even (中平). Grade from the related Goodfate edition. Grades differ between temples, and many Taiwanese temples print none.
目前病訟不須憂
實地資財儘可求
恰好繫猿金脫鎖
得歸仙洞去來遊
Do not fret over the illness or lawsuit at hand.
Wealth on solid ground may well be sought.
Just as the tethered ape slips its golden chain
And gets back to its immortal cave to roam at will.
What this lot says
A tethered ape gets free of its golden chain and goes home to its cave. The chain is valuable and it is still a chain, which makes this a picture of release from comfortable restraint.
The first line mentions illness and lawsuits. Treat it as a reminder to keep worry in proportion, and take those matters to a doctor or a lawyer. The second line favors income that rests on something real.
If a well-paid role or an old obligation has you tied down, work out what leaving would cost, and whether steady earnings can come from work that suits you better.
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
Han Xiangzi meets Lü Dongbin (湘子遇賓)
In legend, Han Xiangzi, one of the Eight Immortals, left home to study Daoist arts with Lü Dongbin. The story suits a lot about slipping a chain and going to the immortals' cave.
Source: Wikipedia, Han Xiangzi (a legendary figure)
Where this text comes from
This verse is a traditional temple text with no known author. No single original edition is known and wording differs between temples, so we compare named witnesses and record where they differ.
Míguāng (覓光) (the text shown above)
目前病訟不須憂 / 實地資財儘可求 / 恰好繫猿金脫鎖 / 得歸仙洞去來遊
Retrieved 2026-11-08
Jiěqiān Gé (解籤閣)
目前病訟不須憂 / 實地資財儘可求 / 恰好繫猿今脫鎖 / 得歸仙洞去來遊
Retrieved 2026-11-08
Goodfate (今日運勢), a related edition
眼前病訟不須憂 / 寶地資財盡可求 / 恰似猿猴金鎖脫 / 自歸山洞去來悠
Retrieved 2026-11-08
Where the sources differ
- Line 3 reads 恰好繫猿金脫鎖 in Míguāng and 恰好繫猿今脫鎖 in Jiěqiān Gé.
- Line 1 reads 眼前病訟不須憂 in the related Goodfate edition.
- Line 2 reads 寶地資財盡可求 in the related Goodfate edition.
- Line 3 reads 恰似猿猴金鎖脫 in the related Goodfate edition.
- Line 4 reads 自歸山洞去來悠 in the related Goodfate edition.
English translation and commentary are by Cast & Chart.