Wong Tai Sin lot 27 of 100
The King of Yue restores his state
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.
天晴粉蝶翻衣曬
又看庭前蟻陣排
隊伍整齊趨或退
時開時合思何佳
On a fine day, white butterflies flutter and turn as if clothes were being aired.
Then I see ants drawn up in ranks before the courtyard.
The ranks are orderly, now advancing, now falling back.
Now spreading out, now closing up: what a clever arrangement.
What this lot says
Small creatures, butterflies and then ants, are watched with interest. The ants move in good order, advancing and retreating together.
The picture is of discipline and coordination in small things. A middling grade fits: there is order here, and no sign of a large result.
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 King of Yue restores his state (越王復國)
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)
天晴粉蝶翻衣曬 / 又看庭前蟻陣排 / 隊伍整齊趨或退 / 時開時合思何佳
Retrieved 2026-11-09
Luckeyes (算命眼, luckeyes.com)
天晴粉蝶翻衣晒 / 又看庭前蟻陣排 / 隊伍整齊趨或退 / 時開時合思何佳
Retrieved 2026-11-09
Andy.hk (加賀風水)
天晴粉蜨翻衣曬 / 又看庭前蟻陣排 / 隊伍整齊趨或退 / 時開時合思何佳
Retrieved 2026-11-09
Where the sources differ
- Line 1, character 4: fortunesticks.org and luckeyes.com read 蝶; andy.hk reads 蜨. This is the same character in a different written form.
- Line 1, character 7: fortunesticks.org and andy.hk read 曬; luckeyes.com reads 晒. This is the same character in a different written form.
- The allusion in the lot title: the temple's website (Sik Sik Yuen, taonet.siksikyuen.org.hk) names it 蟻子知時.
English translation and commentary are by Cast & Chart.