Cast & Chart

Laughing throw

Xiào jiǎo. Unclear. Ask again or rephrase.

How it falls. Both blocks flat side up. Chance on any throw: 1 in 4.

A throw is a traditional way of reflecting on a question. It cannot decide health, money, law, marriage or children.

About this throw

A laughing throw is when both blocks land flat side up. On this page it comes up in one throw out of four. In temple practice it is read as unclear: the blocks neither agree nor refuse. Accounts describe the god as smiling at the question, not following it, or still considering.

The usual response is to ask again. Check whether the question was clear, whether it asked two things at once, and whether you already know the answer and are hoping to hear something else. A narrower or more direct wording often makes a better question, and you can throw again once you have changed it.

Accounts differ on this result. Those from Taiwan read it as a sign to ask again or to state the request more clearly, and one encyclopedia lists an emphatic no among its meanings. That encyclopedia also swaps the names, giving two round sides as the laughing throw and two flat sides as the angry one. This site follows the accounts from Taiwan. If you are in a temple, follow the custom of the place.

Where this text comes from

The description of the blocks and of how each throw is read follows the accounts linked here, which mostly describe practice in Taiwan. Temples differ on the details noted in the text, and one of these sources names the laughing and yin patterns the other way round. The chances given are for the throw on this page. The wording is our own.

The Chinese names are the ones commonly used at temples. The English names and all of the wording are our own plain summary.