Guan Yin lots · 觀音靈籤
Look up your Guan Yin lot in English
If you drew a lot in front of Guan Yin, start with the number on the slip. Each page here carries the four-line verse in Chinese, a plain English rendering, the grade, the story behind the lot, and the wording differences between the published Hong Kong and Taiwan texts. Ten lots are written up in English so far; all 100 are covered in Traditional Chinese.
Lots available in English
- Lot 1 · 上籤 Upper LotHeaven and Earth Open · Zhongli attains the Way
- Lot 12 · 上籤 Upper LotAdversity Passes, Ease Arrives · Wu Ji meets his teacher
- Lot 21 · 上籤 Upper LotDragon and Phoenix Matched · Li Dan's dragon-and-phoenix match
- Lot 23 · 中籤 Middle LotReaching for the Cassia · Huai De is taken as a son-in-law
- Lot 45 · 上籤 Upper LotGentleness Outlasts Force · Emperor Renzong meets an immortal
- Lot 46 · 中籤 Middle LotThe Old Tree Flowers Again · Fishing on the Wei River
- Lot 47 · 上籤 Upper LotFlowers Added to Brocade · Liang Hao passes the examination
- Lot 50 · 中籤 Middle LotFree Across the Lakes · Tao Zhu retires to the Five Lakes
- Lot 55 · 上籤 Upper LotPassed Down Through the House · King Wu of Zhou takes the throne
- Lot 80 · 上籤 Upper LotSun and Moon Over Clear Sky · Zhiyuan enlists
For any other number, read all 100 lots in Traditional Chinese. The Chinese pages also offer drawing a lot online and readings by topic.
Check which set your slip belongs to
Four different verse sets are in common use, and their numbering does not line up. Looking up a number in the wrong set returns a verse that has nothing to do with the one you drew. Look for the name on the slip or on the cylinder before you use the number.
| Set | Lots | Where you meet it |
|---|---|---|
| 觀音靈籤 Guan Yin | 100 | Guan Yin halls across Hong Kong, Taiwan, Singapore and Malaysia |
| 黃大仙靈籤 Wong Tai Sin | 100 | Wong Tai Sin temples · read those in English |
| 車公靈籤 Che Kung | 96 | Che Kung Temple · five lots in English |
| 六十甲子籤 Sixty Jiazi | 60 | Mazu, City God and Wang Ye temples · Traditional Chinese |
Our comparison of the Guan Yin and Wong Tai Sin sets goes through the practical differences if your slip does not say.
Two traditions, one lot number
The Guan Yin hundred has been reprinted for centuries, and the text drifted. The version published by the Chinese Temples Committee in Hong Kong and the version circulated in Taiwan differ in individual characters, and occasionally in the sense of a whole line. Lot 23 is the clearest case in this batch: line three reads 忽遇 (unlooked for) in the Hong Kong text and 謀望 (what you plan for) in the Taiwan text, which changes whether the news in that line is a surprise or the thing you were already working toward.
Lot 55 goes further and the two traditions disagree on the grade: Hong Kong prints it an Upper Lot, Taiwan a Middle Lot, over identical verses. Each lot page here records its own differences rather than silently choosing one text, so you can match what is actually printed on your slip.
How to read the verse you drew
Read all four lines before you read the grade. In this set the grade describes the tone of the verse, and several of the favourable lots attach a condition in their third or fourth line that the grade alone does not show. Lot 45 puts its instruction first and its good news last; lot 50 hangs everything glad in its final line on a conditional in the line before it.
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. Where an old reading carries a claim we would not make ourselves, we say so on the page rather than passing it along.
Sources
Text checked 2026-07-25 · English edition 2026-09-22
The Chinese verses follow two published traditions, compared character by character: the Chinese Temples Committee’s Guan Yin lots in Hong Kong and the hundred-lot text published by Taiwan’s temple directory. Both are linked from every lot page, with the Taiwan link pointing at that specific lot.
The full collation is published as data. Across all 100 lots, 68 carry a different verse between the two traditions, 32 differ at the level of individual characters, and 16 are graded differently. The versioned Hong Kong–Taiwan comparison dataset is downloadable as JSON and CSV, and it excludes our own readings.
The English renderings and readings are written by kaucim.ai and are not translations of any temple’s own English material. kaucim.ai is independently developed and has no official affiliation with, or authorization from, any temple.
Questions about Guan Yin lots
How many Guan Yin lots are there?
The Guan Yin set has 100 numbered lots, each with a four-line verse, a grade of Upper, Middle or Lower, and a story attached to it. Wong Tai Sin also uses 100, Che Kung uses 96, and the Mazu set uses 60, so a number from one set gives the wrong verse in another.
What is the difference between a Guan Yin lot and kau chim?
Kau chim is the practice: shaking a cylinder until one numbered stick falls out. The Guan Yin hundred is one of the verse sets that a number can be looked up in. Temples that use this set are found across Hong Kong, Taiwan, Singapore and Malaysia.
Why do two temples give different words for the same lot number?
The Guan Yin hundred exists in more than one published text, and the wording drifted over centuries of reprinting. We record the differences between the Hong Kong and Taiwan texts on each lot page, character by character, including lot 55 where the two traditions disagree on the grade itself.
Is this an official temple reading?
No. kaucim.ai compiles the verses independently and writes the English readings itself. We link the two published sources we check against. There is no affiliation with, or authorization from, any temple.
Are the English readings free?
Yes, and no account is needed. Online drawing, the seven question-topic readings, and paid personalized readings currently run on the Traditional Chinese pages.