Guan Yin lot 88 of 100
The wooden tiger
Lowest (下下). Grade from lot 88 of the related Goodfate edition, whose verse is worded quite differently, so it is not compared line by line below. Grades differ between temples, and many Taiwanese temples print none.
木雕一虎在山林
遠望威容意不禁
縱說不妨終可畏
此身如入大江心
A tiger carved of wood stands in the mountain woods.
Seen from afar, its fierce look is hard to bear.
Though they say it is harmless, you go on fearing it,
And feel as if you stood mid-stream in a great river.
What this lot says
The tiger is carved from wood. It has no teeth that can hurt anyone, yet from a distance it looks real, and the fear it causes feels like being out in deep water.
The advice is to walk closer. Many threats shrink when you look carefully, and others turn out to deserve respect. Either way you gain better information.
If a manager's remark, a rumor or a difficult talk has kept you awake, find out what is actually there. Ask one direct question, or get the facts on paper, and make your plan from those.
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
Pang Hong fears Judge Bao (龐洪畏包公)
Named for this lot in the related Goodfate edition.
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)
木雕一虎在山林 / 遠望威容意不禁 / 縱說不妨終可畏 / 此身如入大江心
Retrieved 2026-11-08
Jiěqiān Gé (解籤閣)
木雕一虎在山林 / 遠望威容意不禁 / 縱說不妨終可謂 / 此身如入大江心
Retrieved 2026-11-08
Where the sources differ
- Line 3 reads 縱說不妨終可畏 in Míguāng and 縱說不妨終可謂 in Jiěqiān Gé.
- The related Goodfate edition has a substantially different verse for this lot.
English translation and commentary are by Cast & Chart.