Wong Tai Sin lot 29 of 100
Zhang Han longs for the perch
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.
鱸魚作膾菊花黃
美酒盈樽近晚涼
泛棹正當潮上候
這般佳景樂無央
Perch is sliced for a feast and the chrysanthemums are yellow.
Fine wine fills the cup as the evening turns cool.
Set the oar afloat just as the tide is rising.
With a scene as fine as this, there is no end to the joy.
What this lot says
Good food, good wine and a well-timed boat on the tide. Everything in the verse is in season.
It reads as a favourable lot about enjoying what the moment offers and moving with the tide rather than against it.
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
Zhang Han longs for the perch (張翰思鱸)
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)
鱸魚作膾菊花黃 / 美酒盈樽近晚涼 / 泛棹正當潮上候 / 這般佳景樂無央
Retrieved 2026-11-09
Luckeyes (算命眼, luckeyes.com)
鱸魚作膾菊花黃 / 美酒盈樽近晚涼 / 泛棹正當潮上候 / 這般往景樂無央
Retrieved 2026-11-09
Andy.hk (加賀風水)
鱸魚作膾菊花黃 / 美酒盈樽近晚涼 / 泛掉正當潮上候 / 這般佳景樂無央
Retrieved 2026-11-09
Where the sources differ
- Line 3, character 2: fortunesticks.org and luckeyes.com read 棹; andy.hk reads 掉. This is a different character.
- Line 4, character 3: fortunesticks.org and andy.hk read 佳; luckeyes.com reads 往. This is a different character.
- The allusion in the lot title: the temple's website (Sik Sik Yuen, taonet.siksikyuen.org.hk) names it 王羲之賞菊.
English translation and commentary are by Cast & Chart.