Cast & Chart

Omikuji lot 70 of 100

The Red Doors Swing Shut

凶 Kyo, Bad fortune

雷發庭前艸

炎火向天飛

一心來趕禄

爭奈掩朱扉

Thunder breaks over the grass before the hall;

flames fly up toward the sky.

With a single mind you hurry after a stipend;

what can be done when the red doors close?

What this lot says

Thunder goes off right above the grass of the courtyard, and fire shoots upward. Into this comes someone rushing with only one aim, a paid position. By the final line the red-painted doors are closed against this person.

The violent weather of the opening couplet gives way to a quiet and final barrier, and all that urgency reaches a shut door. For these images the book prints Kyo, Bad fortune.

In a modern setting, this resembles a hard push toward a post or an opening while the surroundings are in uproar. What has the speed of the pursuit kept you from noticing about the door?

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.

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.