Guan Yin lot 45 of 100
Softness overcomes the strong
Highest (上上). Grade from the related Goodfate edition. Grades differ between temples, and many Taiwanese temples print none.
溫柔自是勝強剛
積善于門太吉昌
若是有人占此卦
宛如止渴遇瓊漿
Gentleness by nature overcomes the hard and strong.
A house that stores up good is greatly blessed.
If anyone should draw this lot,
It is like finding nectar when you thirst.
What this lot says
The verse says softness overcomes what is hard, and that a household which keeps doing good gathers blessing. It closes with a thirsty person finding sweet drink.
The advice is about method. In a dispute or hard conversation, a gentle approach often opens more than force, and kindness built up over years gives you something to draw on when you need it.
If you are facing a stubborn boss, relative or client, try lowering your voice and asking what they need. Keep doing small decent things for the people around you. Relief, when it comes, often arrives through those ties.
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
Renzong acknowledges his mother; Zhang Liang receives the book (仁宗認母；張良受書)
In a legend behind the second title, Zhang Liang fetched a shoe an old man had dropped, passed three tests of patience and received a book of strategy, an episode long told as a folk tale about humility. It suits a lot that puts gentleness above force.
Source: Wikipedia, Zhang Liang (Western Han)
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)
溫柔自是勝強剛 / 積善于門太吉昌 / 若是有人占此卦 / 宛如止渴遇瓊漿
Retrieved 2026-11-08
Jiěqiān Gé (解籤閣)
溫柔自是勝強剛 / 積善于門太吉昌 / 若是有人占此卦 / 宛如止渴遇瓊漿
Retrieved 2026-11-08
Goodfate (今日運勢), a related edition
溫柔自是勝強剛 / 行善于門大吉昌 / 若是有人占此卦 / 宛如正渴遇瓊漿
Retrieved 2026-11-08
Where the sources differ
- Line 2 reads 行善于門大吉昌 in the related Goodfate edition.
- Line 4 reads 宛如正渴遇瓊漿 in the related Goodfate edition.
English translation and commentary are by Cast & Chart.