Cast & Chart

Omikuji lot 32 of 100

The Craftsman Finds Jade

吉 Kichi, Good fortune

似玉藏深石

休將故眼看

一朝良匠別

方見寳光寒

Like jade hidden deep in stone.

Do not look at it with the old eyes.

One morning a fine craftsman tells it apart,

and only then its treasure gleams cold.

What this lot says

A piece of jade lies buried within rock, and the verse asks for a fresh way of looking at it. A skilled worker eventually recognizes what it is. Its cold shine appears only after that recognition.

For this lot the book prints Kichi, Good fortune, though printings differ and another gives Han-kichi, Half good fortune. The jade is valuable from the start, yet everything depends on someone competent noticing, which may be why the grades part ways.

Read as a modern reflection, this is about worth that needs a trained eye before it counts in the world. Whose old eyes are you still using on yourself?

A lot is a prompt for reflection. It cannot promise a result, and it is no substitute for medical, legal or financial advice.

The printed text

No differences from the 1684 printing are recorded for this lot.

Marginal note as printed: 百籖作半吉

Credits

The verse and grade were read from the two scanned printings named here. The title, translation and reading are our own and modern.

Our own English. The kana commentary printed under each verse in the old books was not read.