Chinese Jiaobei Blocks and Their Names
Jiaobei (筊杯) are a pair of crescent-shaped blocks used in Chinese temple divination. Each has a flat face and a curved face. The National Museum of Taiwan History has bamboo examples in its collection; wood is also used.
English descriptions call them moon blocks or divination blocks. If you came here to cast them, kaucim.ai has a free online jiaobei tool that works in your browser without an account.
Why the names vary
Jiaobei is the Mandarin name for the objects. 擲筊 refers to the act of casting them. You may encounter spellings such as poe, bwa bwei or bua buey in English descriptions of the practice. These spellings reflect different attempts to write spoken names in Latin letters. They do not identify separate types of oracle.
Sheng bei is a result name. It refers to one flat face and one curved face landing upwards. Searches for “sheng bei online” often lead to the same moon-block tools. For all three results, see the jiaobei meaning guide.
Look at the face pointing up
A red surface does not tell you which result you have. Both sides may be painted. Look for the flat surface or the rounded surface after the blocks have stopped moving.
One of each is sheng bei. Two flat faces give xiao bei, the laughing result. Two curved faces give yin bei, the negative result. Some sources use different names for the yin and yang faces, so the physical descriptions are easier to compare.
An upright block falls outside this ordinary three-result comparison. Ask the temple attendant how that temple handles it.
Blocks and fortune sticks
Moon blocks can accompany a request or a fortune-stick draw. A stick points to a numbered poem; the blocks can be used to ask whether a request or selected stick is accepted. Follow the instructions at the temple you visit.
The number of sticks and the confirmation procedure vary. The Wong Tai Sin collection on this site has 100 poems. The casting guide explains a documented confirmation procedure at Longshan Temple in Taipei.
What the online version does
Our English tool chooses a flat or curved face independently for each block, with equal chances. That model gives a 50% chance of sheng bei and 25% each for xiao bei and yin bei. Physical blocks can behave differently depending on their shape and how they land.
The simulated result cannot tell whether your question is sensible or whether another person will agree with you. Use the yes-or-no question guide to settle what you want to ask before casting.
Sources
- Taipei City tourism office on temple etiquette and moon blocks
- National Museum of Taiwan History bamboo moon blocks
Frequently asked questions
Are jiaobei and moon blocks the same thing?
Yes. Moon blocks is an English name for the crescent-shaped divination blocks called jiaobei. Poe, bwa bwei and bua buey are other spellings you may encounter when reading about the practice.
What does sheng bei mean?
Sheng bei is the affirmative result, with one flat face and one curved face pointing up. It names a result rather than a different set of blocks.
Are jiaobei always made of wood?
Wood and bamboo are both used. The National Museum of Taiwan History holds a pair made from bamboo.
Are online moon blocks free?
The kaucim.ai English moon-block tool is free and works in a browser without an account. It has no paid English reading checkout.