Guan Yin lots · 觀音靈籤

Guan Yin lot 47

Flowers Added to Brocade · Liang Hao passes the examination

上籤Upper Lot in the Hong Kong text

繁體中文

In one line

The late-success lot. Its third line is the whole reading: it is aimed at the person who thinks they have missed their window.

The verse, line by line

  1. 錦上添花色愈鮮

    Flowers added to brocade, the colour brighter still.

  2. 運來祿馬喜雙全

    When fortune comes, rank and horse arrive together.

  3. 時人莫恨功名晚

    Let no one resent a late-won name.

  4. 一舉登科四海傳

    One attempt, the list is passed, and word travels the four seas.

The Chinese is the Hong Kong published text. The English is a plain rendering written by kaucim.ai to carry the sense of each line; it is not an official or literary translation, and a classical verse supports more than one reading.

Hong Kong and Taiwan texts compared

LineHong KongTaiwan
1錦上添花色愈鮮錦上添花色更鮮
3時人莫恨功名晚時人莫訝功名晚

Two characters differ between the published traditions: line 1 reads 愈 ("still brighter") in the Hong Kong text and 更 ("brighter yet") in Taiwan, and line 3 reads 莫恨 ("do not resent") in Hong Kong and 莫訝 ("do not be surprised") in Taiwan. The second of these shifts the line from consolation to reassurance.

Compare the line on your own slip before applying a reading. Lot numbers match across the two traditions; individual characters do not always.

Liang Hao passes the examination

Liang Hao is the Song scholar remembered for passing the imperial examination at an advanced age, in the usual retelling in his eighties. Whether the age is historical is disputed, and it survived because it was useful: he became the standing example cited to candidates who had failed repeatedly.

That is why the verse spends a line telling the reader not to resent a late name. Lot books pair the brocade-and-flowers opening, which is the idiom for good on top of good, with a story about someone who waited decades, so the brightness in line one is not meant to be read as early.

Traditional palace assignment: Hai palace (宮位), one of the twelve branch positions the old lot books use to file each verse.

Reading lot 47

The lot is graded an Upper Lot, and unlike most of the favourable ones it carries a specific emotional address: the third line speaks to someone comparing themselves to people who got there sooner.

If that is the question you brought, the verse's answer is about pacing. It guarantees nothing. "Rank and horse arrive together" in line two is the classical phrasing for status and mobility coming as a pair, which reads as the argument that the delayed version is not a lesser version.

What the four lines do not contain is a date or a promise that a particular attempt succeeds. Liang Hao's story is a story about persisting through repeated failure, and a reading that turns it into assurance about the next attempt has quietly dropped the part that made it worth telling.

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.

Questions about lot 47

What does Guan Yin lot 47 mean?

It is graded an Upper Lot and it is the set's late-success lot. Its third line, telling the reader not to resent a name won late, is aimed at someone who believes they have missed their window, and it argues that the delayed version is not a lesser one.

Who was Liang Hao?

A Song dynasty scholar remembered for passing the imperial examination at an advanced age, usually given as his eighties. The age is disputed, and the story survived because it was the standard example offered to candidates who had failed repeatedly.

Does lot 47 mean I will pass this time?

The four lines carry no date and no assurance about a particular attempt. The story behind the lot is one of persisting through repeated failure, so reading it as a promise about the next attempt drops the part that made the story worth citing.

Text and sources

Chinese text checked against both traditions on 2026-07-25; English edition 2026-09-22. The verses are public-domain classical text. The English rendering, the comparison notes and the reading are written by kaucim.ai. kaucim.ai is independently developed and has no official affiliation with, or authorization from, any temple.

More Guan Yin lots

Look up another lot number. Ten lots are written up in English; all 100 are covered in Traditional Chinese.

Read lot 47 by topic in Traditional Chinese for career, wealth, love, health, study, family and the whole situation.