Wong Tai Sin lot 20 of 100
Xuemei chooses her husband
Middling (中平). 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.
天上仙花難問種
人間塵事幾多更
前程已註公私簿
罰賞分明濁與清
Flowers of heaven: it is hard to ask what seed they came from.
In the human world, how many dusty affairs have shifted.
Your future is already written in the public and private ledger.
Reward and punishment are plain, as are the clear and the muddy.
What this lot says
The verse says some things cannot be traced to their cause, that human affairs keep changing, and that actions are recorded in a ledger with clear rewards and penalties.
It is a lot about accountability. A middling grade fits that: the outcome depends on conduct more than on luck.
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
Xuemei chooses her husband (雪梅招親)
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)
天上仙花難問種 / 人間塵事幾多更 / 前程已註公私簿 / 罰賞分明濁與清
Retrieved 2026-11-09
Luckeyes (算命眼, luckeyes.com)
天上仙花難問種 / 人間塵事幾多更 / 前程已注公私簿 / 罰賞分明濁與清
Retrieved 2026-11-09
Andy.hk (加賀風水)
天上仙花難問種 / 人間塵事幾多更 / 前程己註公私簿 / 罰賞分明濁與清
Retrieved 2026-11-09
Where the sources differ
- Line 3, character 3: fortunesticks.org and luckeyes.com read 已; andy.hk reads 己. This is a different character.
- Line 3, character 4: fortunesticks.org and andy.hk read 註; luckeyes.com reads 注. This is the same character in a different written form.
- The allusion in the lot title: fortunesticks.org and luckeyes.com name it 雪梅招親; andy.hk names it 裴度為相.
- The allusion in the lot title: the temple's website (Sik Sik Yuen, taonet.siksikyuen.org.hk) names it 天上仙花.
English translation and commentary are by Cast & Chart.