Guanyin fortune stick
19
Middle stick
At the head of the rapids you push the boat off for home;
wind and waves rise up, and what can you do?
If you want to be safe and steady,
wait for the water to calm before you pass this danger.
jadealmanac.com
Guo Ziyi, the Tang general who put down the An Lushan rebellion, is the story here. He spent decades on campaign under several emperors, was named Prince of Fenyang for his services, and died in 781 in his mid-eighties, one of the few great commanders in Chinese history to outlive his own success with his name and family intact. The rapids in the poem stand for the danger such a career carried, since a general too strong could be destroyed by his own court. Guo survived by steadiness, which is what the poem asks of you while the water is high. The middle grade holds both sides: the current is real, and so is the safe landing for anyone patient enough to wait.
The head of a rapid is where calm river water first drops and speeds up. Launching a boat home from there is the most dangerous moment of a river trip.
Wind and waves rising, with the question of what can be done, admits that some forces cannot be argued with. Temple readers apply it to markets, tempers and politics running high.
Safety and steadiness are named as the goal, which narrows the advice: arrive intact, whatever the speed. Readers take it as permission to choose the cautious option.
Waiting for the waves to settle before passing the danger is the whole instruction. Interpreters note the word pass: the crossing still happens once conditions allow.
急水滩头放船归
风波作浪欲何为
若要安然求稳静
等待浪静过此危
Seven characters a line, as printed in the BW Monastery edition.
Sources for the story: https://www.k366.com/guanyin/28877.htm; https://services.shen88.cn/chouqian/guanyin-19.html; https://www.masterseanchan.com/guanyin-oracle/lot-19/; https://www.fatekeep.com/blog/3640.
Optional: the temple way
At a temple the stick is not yours until two moon blocks agree: one flat side up and one round side up, a holy cup.
Stick 19, "A Boat on Rushing Rapids", is a middle stick, a mixed stick, good with conditions. Launching into fast water, wait out the dangerous stretch; if you ask about plans, now is not the time to act.
Hard to get your wish.
Investments and business not yet successful.
Be careful; don't push ahead rashly.
Draw another stick , or for a straight yes or no, throw the moon blocks
The verse follows the BW Monastery edition of the Guanyin set; the English rendering and reading are Jade Almanac's own. A drawn stick is a tradition and a prompt for reflection, not advice about health, money or the law.
