Guan Yin lot 98 of 100
The bird and the net
Lowest (下下). Grade from the related Goodfate edition. Grades differ between temples, and many Taiwanese temples print none.
經商出入事遲疑
恐惹閒愁與是非
如鳥飛投羅網陷
相看能有幾人知
In trade, in coming and going, you hesitate,
Afraid of stirring idle grief and gossip.
Like a bird that flies into the fowler's net:
Of those who watch, how many understand?
What this lot says
A bird flies into a net, and the people nearby hardly notice. The verse places this beside someone who is hesitating over a business matter and fearing talk.
The hesitation may be useful. Slow down, check what you are flying toward, and avoid moves that depend on trust you have not tested.
If a deal or a partnership feels unclear, read the terms, ask a neutral person to look them over, and feel free to walk away. Keep your plans quiet until they are firm.
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
Ji Ping meets disaster (吉平遇難)
In the novel Romance of the Three Kingdoms, the physician Ji Ping joins a plot to poison Cao Cao's medicine and is caught when the plot is betrayed; the history behind the tale records a failed revolt by Ji Ben in 218. A scheme exposed from inside suits a lot about a net no one sees.
Source: Wikipedia, Ji Ben
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)
經商出入事遲疑 / 恐惹閒愁與是非 / 如鳥飛投羅網陷 / 相看能有幾人知
Retrieved 2026-11-08
Jiěqiān Gé (解籤閣)
經商出入事遲疑 / 恐惹閒愁與是非 / 如鳥飛投羅網陷 / 相看能有幾人知
Retrieved 2026-11-08
Goodfate (今日運勢), a related edition
經商出入事遲疑 / 恐惹閑愁起是非 / 如鳥飛投羅網陷 / 相看能有幾人知
Retrieved 2026-11-08
Where the sources differ
- Line 2 reads 恐惹閑愁起是非 in the related Goodfate edition.
English translation and commentary are by Cast & Chart.