Hong Kong and Taiwan texts compared
| Line | Hong Kong | Taiwan |
|---|
| 1 | 千年古鏡復重圓 | 菱花鏡破復重圓 |
|---|
| 3 | 自此門庭重攺換 | 自此門閭重改換 |
|---|
| 4 | 更添福祿在兒孫 | 更添福祿與兒孫 |
|---|
Hong Kong begins with an ancient mirror, 千年古鏡; Taiwan begins with a broken flower-shaped mirror, 菱花鏡破. Both sources grade this an Upper Lot. Their last lines also differ by 在 and 與, so compare all four lines on your slip.
Compare the line on your own slip before applying a reading. Lot numbers match across the two traditions; individual characters do not always.
Yulian reunites with Shipeng
The attached story is the reunion of Qian Yulian and Wang Shipeng in the play The Thorn Hairpin. Separation and pressure to remarry stand between them before they meet again. It is a dramatic story, not a record of what will happen to the person holding this lot.
The mirror supplies the verse with its central image. Something divided can become whole. The Taiwan first line names a broken, flower-shaped mirror; the Hong Kong line calls the mirror ancient. Both lead into the same explicit language of marriage in line two.
Traditional palace assignment: Zi palace (宮位), one of the twelve branch positions the old lot books use to file each verse.
Reading lot 4
For a relationship question, start with what would have to change if you resumed it. Line three gives the household a new arrangement. A reunion that simply repeats the circumstances of the separation leaves that part of the verse unanswered.
The poem does not establish whether the other person wants to return. If contact is welcome, a conversation can establish that. If they have asked for distance, the favourable grade supplies no permission to ignore it.
For a work question, the mirror can be read as a reflection on a returning opportunity or a repaired collaboration. Check the new terms before relying on the familiarity of the old arrangement.
A verse can give you a frame for thinking about a situation. It cannot report what another person has decided, and it cannot confirm that a particular event will happen.
