Cast & Chart

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?
  1. 1Jiang Gong is made minister
  2. 2Wang Daozhen strays into the peach blossom land
  3. 3Lu Ban opens the mountain
  4. 4Dong Yong meets an immortal
  5. 5Lady Han cherishes the flowers
  6. 6Wang Xizhi goes home
  7. 7Xue Rengui comes home
  8. 8The cuckoo takes the magpie's nest
  9. 9Tao Yuanming admires the chrysanthemums
  10. 10Su Qin fails the exam
  11. 11Emperor Wen of Han admires the willows
  12. 12Li Bai tries to catch the moon
  13. 13Meng Haoran looks for plum blossom
  14. 14Su Dongpo retires to the country
  15. 15Emperor Ming visits the Moon Palace
  16. 16The Imperial Uncle meets Water Mirror
  17. 17Chasing the worthy man under the moon
  18. 18The cuckoo's cry moves the traveller
  19. 19Fuxi draws the eight trigrams
  20. 20Xuemei chooses her husband
  21. 21Wu Zetian admires the flowers
  22. 22Chen Miaochang longs for love
  23. 23Lu Sheng's dream
  24. 24Bai Juyi retires
  25. 25Zhu Hongwu takes the throne
  26. 26Xu Shu goes home
  27. 27The King of Yue restores his state
  28. 28Bai Juyi listens to the pipa
  29. 29Zhang Han longs for the perch
  30. 30Regret at Mawei
  31. 31Cai Zhongxing meets danger
  32. 32Su Wu herds sheep
  33. 33Kongming borrows the east wind
  34. 34Great Shun ploughs Mount Li
  35. 35The monk of Tang fetches the scriptures
  36. 36Pinggui returns
  37. 37Su Dongpo visits the Red Cliff
  38. 38Tao Yuanming resigns his post
  39. 39Yi and Qi give up the state
  40. 40Boya smashes his zither
  41. 41Zhang Qian floats on a raft under the moon
  42. 42Wang Yun presents Diaochan
  43. 43Han Wengong is demoted
  44. 44Judging the flowers in the Tianbao years
  45. 45Wang Zhi meets the immortals
  46. 46Zuo Ci plays a trick on Cao Cao
  47. 47Lu Su demands Jingzhou
  48. 48Zhuo Wenjun sells wine
  49. 49Sima Xiangru writes on the bridge
  50. 50Wu Yuan leaves the pass
  51. 51King Cheng cuts the paulownia leaf and enfeoffs his brother
  52. 52Pangu opens heaven and earth
  53. 53Feng Xuan serves Lord Mengchang
  54. 54Zhuangzi dreams of a butterfly
  55. 55Wu Yinzhi throws in the aloeswood
  56. 56Patriarch Lu's peachwood sword
  57. 57The flower queen is won
  58. 58Jian Shu warns his lord
  59. 59Dong Shi copies the frown
  60. 60Li Bai writes the reply to the foreign envoy
  61. 61Twelve gold tablets recall Yue Fei
  62. 62Confucius keeps to the Way
  63. 63Yan Hui delights in the Way and is content in poverty
  64. 64Meng Zhifan covers the retreat
  65. 65The last ruler loses his state
  66. 66Xizhi gathers the worthies
  67. 67Li Yuanba claims to be the strongest
  68. 68Jiang Taigong achieves his ambition
  69. 69Han Wengong sacrifices to the crocodiles
  70. 70The old man at the frontier loses his horse
  71. 71Zhuangzi saves the carp
  72. 72Waiting by the stump for a rabbit
  73. 73Sun Lin tops the examination
  74. 74Zhu Maichen and his wife part
  75. 75Lun Wenxu teases his wife
  76. 76Self-cultivation and a contented poverty
  77. 77Gongye Chang goes to prison
  78. 78Zeng Dian talks of his aims
  79. 79Zhang Liang awakens to the Way
  80. 80The snake in the cup
  81. 81Zilu and the pheasant
  82. 82Confucius strikes the chime-stone
  83. 83Master Chisong calls him to retire
  84. 84Han Xin leaves Chu for Han
  85. 85Liu Xiang achieves his aim
  86. 86Tao Kan's mother welcomes the guest
  87. 87Lu Shilong receives a guest
  88. 88Hua Mulan joins the army
  89. 89Ji Zha hangs up the sword
  90. 90Red Whisk elopes
  91. 91The lady in the moon
  92. 92Confucius hears the Shao music
  93. 93Confucius hears the music of Zheng and Wei
  94. 94The Bearded Gentleman sails off to Fusang
  95. 95Nuwa smelts stone to mend the sky
  96. 96Wenji longs for Han
  97. 97Kang Shun goes fishing
  98. 98Guan and Bao share the gold
  99. 99Han Wengong meets snow
  100. 100Emperor Ming of Tang admires the flowers