Guanyin fortune stick
78
Upper stick
Cold water not yet boiled into scalding broth,
neither cold nor hot, simply lukewarm.
To travel the world without any trouble,
you need a hundred skills strong inside you.
jadealmanac.com
Editions call this stick the Rescue at Lintong, an episode from the popular Sui and Tang novels. Late in the Sui, Li Yuan was traveling with his household past Lintong Mountain when armed men burst from the woods and surrounded them. Qin Qiong, also called Qin Shubao, was napping in a nearby shrine to Wu Zixu, heard the fighting, rode down alone, cut through the attackers and saved the whole family. Li Yuan went on to found the Tang, and Qin Qiong became one of its great generals. One edition muddles the roles, but the core is the same. It fits an upper stick about skill carried in the body: Qin Qiong had no rank and no plan that day, only his ability, and it was enough to change his life.
Cold water not yet boiled is water that has not been pushed to extremes. Readers understand it as a sign that the matter is still workable, neither scalding nor frozen.
Lukewarm, neither hot nor cold, is the even middle that Chinese ethics praises. Readers hear moderation: handle the situation calmly, without anger or chill, and it settles in your favor.
Traveling the world without trouble is the old ideal of the capable wanderer. Readers take this line as permission to move, apply or venture out, since the stick is graded upper.
A hundred skills strong in the body means ability you carry with you wherever you go. Readers stress that the good fortune here rests on competence, not on luck or connections.
冷水未烧白沸汤
不寒不热有温凉
要行天下无他事
为有身中百艺强
Seven characters a line, as printed in the BW Monastery edition.
Sources for the story: zhouyi.cc Guanyin lot 78: https://www.zhouyi.cc/lingqian/guanyin/5461.html; buyiju.com Guanyin lot 78: https://www.buyiju.com/guanyin/78.html; ttlingqian.com Guanyin lot 78 (cites the novel Shuo Tang): https://www.ttlingqian.com/guanyin/78.html; masterseanchan.com Guanyin oracle lot 78 (gives a different version of who rescued whom).
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 78, "Doing Things Plainly and Well", is a upper stick, a favorable stick. A prisoner meets a pardon, an illness meets a good doctor; for wealth and plans, a patron shows the way.
Well matched.
Your wishes are met; trade succeeds.
Your career grows smoothly; studies stay steady.
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.
