Wong Tai Sin's 100 lots
The Wong Tai Sin lots (黃大仙靈籤) are a set of 100 numbered sticks, each tied to a four-line verse of seven characters. The set is associated with the Wong Tai Sin temple in Hong Kong. Hold a question in mind, shake the cup, and read the verse for the stick that rises. Moon blocks confirm the lot, as they do at a temple.
Where the verses come from: we read them from named web transcriptions and compared those against one another, line by line. We could not establish whether the sites copied from one another, so agreement between them is not proof of an original printing, and we have not read a temple printing ourselves. Each lot page names the sites and shows where they differ. The English is our own translation.
Draw a lotWhat are these fortune sticks, and where did they come from?- 1Jiang Gong is made minister
- 2Wang Daozhen strays into the peach blossom land
- 3Lu Ban opens the mountain
- 4Dong Yong meets an immortal
- 5Lady Han cherishes the flowers
- 6Wang Xizhi goes home
- 7Xue Rengui comes home
- 8The cuckoo takes the magpie's nest
- 9Tao Yuanming admires the chrysanthemums
- 10Su Qin fails the exam
- 11Emperor Wen of Han admires the willows
- 12Li Bai tries to catch the moon
- 13Meng Haoran looks for plum blossom
- 14Su Dongpo retires to the country
- 15Emperor Ming visits the Moon Palace
- 16The Imperial Uncle meets Water Mirror
- 17Chasing the worthy man under the moon
- 18The cuckoo's cry moves the traveller
- 19Fuxi draws the eight trigrams
- 20Xuemei chooses her husband
- 21Wu Zetian admires the flowers
- 22Chen Miaochang longs for love
- 23Lu Sheng's dream
- 24Bai Juyi retires
- 25Zhu Hongwu takes the throne
- 26Xu Shu goes home
- 27The King of Yue restores his state
- 28Bai Juyi listens to the pipa
- 29Zhang Han longs for the perch
- 30Regret at Mawei
- 31Cai Zhongxing meets danger
- 32Su Wu herds sheep
- 33Kongming borrows the east wind
- 34Great Shun ploughs Mount Li
- 35The monk of Tang fetches the scriptures
- 36Pinggui returns
- 37Su Dongpo visits the Red Cliff
- 38Tao Yuanming resigns his post
- 39Yi and Qi give up the state
- 40Boya smashes his zither
- 41Zhang Qian floats on a raft under the moon
- 42Wang Yun presents Diaochan
- 43Han Wengong is demoted
- 44Judging the flowers in the Tianbao years
- 45Wang Zhi meets the immortals
- 46Zuo Ci plays a trick on Cao Cao
- 47Lu Su demands Jingzhou
- 48Zhuo Wenjun sells wine
- 49Sima Xiangru writes on the bridge
- 50Wu Yuan leaves the pass
- 51King Cheng cuts the paulownia leaf and enfeoffs his brother
- 52Pangu opens heaven and earth
- 53Feng Xuan serves Lord Mengchang
- 54Zhuangzi dreams of a butterfly
- 55Wu Yinzhi throws in the aloeswood
- 56Patriarch Lu's peachwood sword
- 57The flower queen is won
- 58Jian Shu warns his lord
- 59Dong Shi copies the frown
- 60Li Bai writes the reply to the foreign envoy
- 61Twelve gold tablets recall Yue Fei
- 62Confucius keeps to the Way
- 63Yan Hui delights in the Way and is content in poverty
- 64Meng Zhifan covers the retreat
- 65The last ruler loses his state
- 66Xizhi gathers the worthies
- 67Li Yuanba claims to be the strongest
- 68Jiang Taigong achieves his ambition
- 69Han Wengong sacrifices to the crocodiles
- 70The old man at the frontier loses his horse
- 71Zhuangzi saves the carp
- 72Waiting by the stump for a rabbit
- 73Sun Lin tops the examination
- 74Zhu Maichen and his wife part
- 75Lun Wenxu teases his wife
- 76Self-cultivation and a contented poverty
- 77Gongye Chang goes to prison
- 78Zeng Dian talks of his aims
- 79Zhang Liang awakens to the Way
- 80The snake in the cup
- 81Zilu and the pheasant
- 82Confucius strikes the chime-stone
- 83Master Chisong calls him to retire
- 84Han Xin leaves Chu for Han
- 85Liu Xiang achieves his aim
- 86Tao Kan's mother welcomes the guest
- 87Lu Shilong receives a guest
- 88Hua Mulan joins the army
- 89Ji Zha hangs up the sword
- 90Red Whisk elopes
- 91The lady in the moon
- 92Confucius hears the Shao music
- 93Confucius hears the music of Zheng and Wei
- 94The Bearded Gentleman sails off to Fusang
- 95Nuwa smelts stone to mend the sky
- 96Wenji longs for Han
- 97Kang Shun goes fishing
- 98Guan and Bao share the gold
- 99Han Wengong meets snow
- 100Emperor Ming of Tang admires the flowers