Guan Yin lots · 觀音靈籤
Guan Yin lot 55
Passed Down Through the House · King Wu of Zhou takes the throne
上籤Upper Lot in the Hong Kong text中籤Middle Lot in the Taiwan text
繁體中文
In one line
A household lot about continuity and sufficiency. Its last line is the unusual part: it answers with ordinariness where you expect an event.
The verse, line by line
父賢傳子子傳孫
A worthy father hands to the son, the son hands to the grandson.
衣食豐隆只靠天
Food and clothing come in plenty, and heaven is what they rest on.
堂上椿萱人快樂
In the hall the elders are content.
飢飧渴飲睏時眠
Eat when hungry, drink when thirsty, sleep when tired.
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
The two traditions differ here more than anywhere else in this batch, and they differ on two things at once. The Hong Kong text grades this lot an Upper Lot and the Taiwan text grades it a Middle Lot, and the four lines are worded differently as well. The largest gap is in line three: the Hong Kong text has 堂上椿萱, the elders of the house in the hall, while the Taiwan text has 金馬玉堂, the Golden Horse Gate and the Jade Hall, the Han offices that stand for high appointment. Hong Kong ends the line on parents at ease; Taiwan ends it on office held. The reading below follows the Hong Kong text, so check which one your slip carries before applying it.
| Line | Hong Kong | Taiwan |
|---|
| 1 | 父賢傳子子傳孫 | 相傳罔替子孫贊 |
|---|
| 2 | 衣食豐隆只靠天 | 衣祿豐盈富在天 |
|---|
| 3 | 堂上椿萱人快樂 | 金馬玉堂人快樂 |
|---|
| 4 | 飢飧渴飲睏時眠 | 飢時吃飯困時眠 |
|---|
Compare the line on your own slip before applying a reading. Lot numbers match across the two traditions; individual characters do not always.
King Wu of Zhou takes the throne
King Wu of Zhou takes the throne his father King Wen prepared, which is why the verse opens on inheritance across generations and not on a single achievement. The allusion concerns a transfer that held, and says nothing about the conquest.
In the Hong Kong text, 椿萱 in the third line is the classical pairing for both parents, the toon tree for the father and the day-lily for the mother, so the line is specifically about the older generation being at ease. The fourth line then drops the register entirely into eating, drinking and sleeping, which in a set of lots full of thrones and examinations is a deliberate landing.
Traditional palace assignment: Chou palace (宮位), one of the twelve branch positions the old lot books use to file each verse.
Reading lot 55
This is the lot where the two published traditions disagree about the grade itself, and where the verses also diverge. The Hong Kong text grades lot 55 an Upper Lot; the Taiwan text grades it a Middle Lot. If you are matching a paper slip, both the grade and the third line depend on which tradition the temple follows, so read the comparison above before the reading below.
Under the Hong Kong text, which is what follows here, the lot answers a question about the household with sufficiency: enough food and clothing, the older generation at ease, rest when tired. If you asked about a family matter, that is a genuinely favourable answer and also a plain one, and the last line reads as an argument against looking for a dramatic sign.
The Taiwan text points the same lot somewhere else. With 金馬玉堂 in line three the subject is office and standing, not parents, which turns a household lot into a career one. That is also the more likely reason the Taiwan tradition grades it lower: promised office is a heavier claim than a quiet house, and a middle grade sits more comfortably under it.
In either version, line two is the one to hold loosely. Provision resting on heaven describes a household provided for. It is not a plan, and a plan is still the thing you have to make.
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 55
Is Guan Yin lot 55 an Upper Lot or a Middle Lot?
It depends on the tradition. The published Hong Kong text grades it an Upper Lot and the published Taiwan text grades it a Middle Lot. The two also carry different wording for all four lines, so this is not a case of one verse with two labels. It is the only grade disagreement in this batch of ten, and 16 of the 100 lots disagree on grade overall.
What does lot 55 mean for family?
Under the Hong Kong text it answers with sufficiency and not increase: provision, elders at ease, and rest. Line three uses 椿萱, the toon tree and the day-lily, the classical pairing for both parents. The Taiwan text replaces that line with 金馬玉堂, the Han offices that stand for high appointment, which moves the lot from the household to a career reading.
Why is the last line of lot 55 so plain?
Eating, drinking and sleeping in their proper time is the landing the verse chooses after three lines about inheritance and plenty. In a set full of thrones and examinations, the ordinariness is the point, and it reads as an argument against hunting for a dramatic sign.
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.
