Guan Yin lot 94 of 100
The qin and its listener
Even (中平). Grade from the related Goodfate edition. Grades differ between temples, and many Taiwanese temples print none.
小人君子別賢愚
事有差訛合是非
琴遇知音當鼓操
爭如定靜得便宜
The petty and the noble, the wise and the foolish, stand apart.
When matters go astray, right and wrong get tangled.
A qin that meets one who hears should be played.
Yet how could that match the gain of being calm and still?
What this lot says
A qin should be played for someone who understands it. The verse honors that kind of listener, and then, in its last line, says that staying calm may serve you better for the moment.
The first two lines explain why. People differ, and right and wrong have become tangled, so speaking freely carries a cost.
In a disagreement at work or in the family, pick the one person who will actually hear you and talk to them. Keep quiet with the rest until the facts have settled.
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
The qin finds one who understands (琴遇知音)
In the old story, the qin player Bo Ya found that only his friend Zhong Ziqi could hear the mountains and rivers in his music, and he broke the instrument when Ziqi died. It suits a lot that values the one listener who understands.
Source: Wikipedia, Bo Ya
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)
小人君子別賢愚 / 事有差訛合是非 / 琴遇知音當鼓操 / 爭如定靜得便宜
Retrieved 2026-11-08
Jiěqiān Gé (解籤閣)
小人君子別賢愚 / 事有差訛合是非 / 琴遇知音當鼓操 / 爭如定靜得便宜
Retrieved 2026-11-08
Goodfate (今日運勢), a related edition
小人君子别賢愚 / 事有差訛合是非 / 琴遇知音當鼓操 / 争如定靜得便宜
Retrieved 2026-11-08
Where the sources differ
- Line 1 reads 小人君子别賢愚 in the related Goodfate edition.
- Line 4 reads 争如定靜得便宜 in the related Goodfate edition.
English translation and commentary are by Cast & Chart.