Guan Yin lot 65 of 100
Joy that is not yet joy
Lowest (下下). Grade from the related Goodfate edition. Grades differ between temples, and many Taiwanese temples print none.
眼前歡喜未為歡
危不危兮安不安
割肉成瘡因甚事
不如守舊得安全
Joy before your eyes is not yet joy.
In danger and yet not, at peace and yet not.
Why cut sound flesh and make a wound?
Better to keep to the old way and stay safe.
What this lot says
Something pleasant is in front of you and the verse will not call it pleasure yet. The second line wobbles on purpose, neither safe nor unsafe. The third uses an old figure of speech for damaging something sound to no purpose.
The advice is to do no harm to what is working in order to chase what looks good today.
If a quick deal, a flattering offer or a sudden change of plan has you excited, wait before giving up something solid to get it. Ask what you would have to sacrifice, and whether you could get it back.
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
Sun Bin traps Pang Juan (孫臏困龐涓)
At Maling in 342 BC, Sun Bin cut the number of his cookfires each day so that Pang Juan believed the Qi army was melting away. Pang Juan hurried after what looked like an easy win and rode into an ambush, which is the warning in this lot's first line.
Source: Wikipedia, Battle of Maling
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)
眼前歡喜未為歡 / 危不危兮安不安 / 割肉成瘡因甚事 / 不如守舊得安全
Retrieved 2026-11-08
Jiěqiān Gé (解籤閣)
眼前歡喜未為歡 / 危不危兮安不安 / 割肉成瘡因甚事 / 不如守舊得安全
Retrieved 2026-11-08
Goodfate (今日運勢), a related edition
眼前歡喜未為歡 / 危不危兮安不安 / 割肉成瘡因甚事 / 不如守舊待時來
Retrieved 2026-11-08
Where the sources differ
- Line 4 reads 不如守舊待時來 in the related Goodfate edition.
English translation and commentary are by Cast & Chart.