Wong Tai Sin lot 80 of 100
The snake in the cup
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.
飛觴對舞幾時賒
弓影橫杯誤作蛇
猜透詩中玄妙訣
泰來否極事無差
Cups are passed and dancers face one another: how far off could that be?
The reflection of a bow lay across the cup and was mistaken for a snake.
Work out the hidden key in this poem:
after the worst comes the best, and the matter holds true.
What this lot says
The title refers to a man who mistook the reflection of a bow for a snake in his cup. The verse says a fear can be a misreading.
The final line gives the lot its good grade: the low point turns into the good one. Read it as encouragement to check what you are afraid of.
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 snake in the cup (杯弓蛇影)
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)
飛觴對舞幾時賒 / 弓影橫杯誤作蛇 / 猜透詩中玄妙訣 / 泰來否極事無差
Retrieved 2026-11-09
Luckeyes (算命眼, luckeyes.com)
飛觴對舞幾時賒 / 弓影橫杯誤作蛇 / 猜透詩中玄妙訣 / 泰來否極事無差
Retrieved 2026-11-09
Andy.hk (加賀風水)
飛觴對舞幾時賒 / 弓影橫杯誤作蛇 / 猜透詩中元妙訣 / 泰來否極事無差
Retrieved 2026-11-09
Where the sources differ
- Line 3, character 5: fortunesticks.org and luckeyes.com read 玄; andy.hk reads 元. This is a different character.
- The allusion in the lot title: fortunesticks.org names it 杯弓蛇影; luckeyes.com and andy.hk name it 樂廣釋疑.
- Line 2, character 6: the temple's website (Sik Sik Yuen, taonet.siksikyuen.org.hk) reads 食 where the three sites read 作.
English translation and commentary are by Cast & Chart.