Guan Yin lot 64 of 100
A golden fish in the net
Lowest (下下). Grade from the related Goodfate edition. Grades differ between temples, and many Taiwanese temples print none.
譬若金鱗放碧漪
暗遭羅網四邊圍
思量無計翻身出
命到泉關苦獨悲
Like a golden-scaled fish let go in green ripples,
Unseen, the nets close in on every side.
It thinks and finds no way to turn and get free.
Fate has come to the gate of the springs, and it grieves alone.
What this lot says
The fish was released and thought it was free. Then the net came from all sides at once. The final line uses the ancient image of the underworld gate for the feeling that there is nowhere left to go. It is a picture of being cornered and says nothing about anyone's lifespan.
A trapped fish thrashes alone. A person can stop, look and ask.
If debts, a contract or a bad work situation have closed around you, write down exactly what binds you and bring it to someone qualified or someone you trust. You do not have to carry it by yourself.
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
Zhu Maichen and the water spilled before his horse (朱買臣馬前覆水)
Zhu Maichen, a Han dynasty official, cut firewood in his poor early years, and his wife left him before he rose. In later stage versions she asks to return, and he has water poured before his horse to say that spilled water cannot be gathered back. The ending suits a lot about a situation that has closed around someone.
Source: Wikipedia (Chinese), 朱買臣
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)
譬若金鱗放碧漪 / 暗遭羅網四邊圍 / 思量無計翻身出 / 命到泉關苦獨悲
Retrieved 2026-11-08
Jiěqiān Gé (解籤閣)
譬若金鱗放碧漪 / 暗遭羅網四邊圍 / 思量無計翻身出 / 命到泉關苦獨悲
Retrieved 2026-11-08
Goodfate (今日運勢), a related edition
譬若金鱗放碧漪 / 暗遭羅網四邊圍 / 思量無計翻身出 / 命到泉關苦獨悲
Retrieved 2026-11-08
English translation and commentary are by Cast & Chart.