Wong Tai Sin lot 16 of 100
The Imperial Uncle meets Water Mirror
Good (中吉). Grade as given on the named web transcriptions. We have not seen it on a temple printing, and we do not know that the temple prints one.
天邊鴉背夕陽回
隴外兒童跨犢來
羌笛頻吹聲切耳
短長腔調樂何哉
At the horizon the crows head home against the setting sun.
Beyond the field, boys ride home on calves.
A Qiang flute plays often, sharp in the ear.
Short and long, the tunes are all pleasant.
What this lot says
Evening in the countryside: crows, boys on cattle, flute music. A calm, ordinary end to the day.
The verse is mild and positive, and it is not about any big event. It suggests peace and steady routine.
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 Imperial Uncle meets Water Mirror (皇叔遇水鏡)
A traditional allusion named with this lot. We have not traced the story to a source we could read, so we do not retell it here.
Where this text comes from
This verse is a traditional temple text with no known author, here read from named web transcriptions. We compared the sites character by character and show every difference. We could not establish whether the sites are independent of one another, and we have not read a temple printing.
Fortune Sticks (fortunesticks.org) (the text shown above)
天邊鴉背夕陽回 / 隴外兒童跨犢來 / 羌笛頻吹聲切耳 / 短長腔調樂何哉
Retrieved 2026-11-09
Luckeyes (算命眼, luckeyes.com)
天邊鴉背夕陽回 / 隴外兒童跨犢來 / 羌笛頻吹聲切耳 / 短長腔調樂何哉
Retrieved 2026-11-09
Andy.hk (加賀風水)
天邊鴉背夕陽回 / 隴外兒童跨犢來 / 羌笛頻吹聲切耳 / 短長腔調樂何哉
Retrieved 2026-11-09
Where the sources differ
- The allusion in the lot title: the temple's website (Sik Sik Yuen, taonet.siksikyuen.org.hk) names it 牧童歸家.
English translation and commentary are by Cast & Chart.