Yue Lao Oracle Lot 21 · Excellent

十畝之間兮，桑者閒閒兮。 Among the ten acres of fields, the mulberry pickers move at their ease.

The lot

Background: what the original says

In the mulberry fields, the leaf pickers work at a relaxed pace, content and unhurried, and call to one another to head home together.

"Between the Ten Acres" is one of the shortest poems in the Book of Songs (Shijing), from the songs of the state of Wei: two stanzas of three lines each. Among ten acres of mulberry trees, the pickers work at an easy pace and call to a companion to head home together; the second stanza moves just beyond the ten acres and repeats the same calm scene.

Readers have long disagreed about its background. The Mao Preface reads it as a complaint about the times: Wei had lost so much land to its neighbors that people had nowhere to settle. Song-dynasty scholars such as Su Zhe and Zhu Xi heard instead someone weary of court life, hoping to retire to the fields with a friend. Either way, the poem holds only mulberry trees, work, and a companion on the road home,. That unhurried companionship is likely why the line found its way into the Yue Lao lots.

What it means

Days that are quiet and steady, with two people comfortable in each other's company, make for a good match.

Reminder: An ordinary life lived in comfort together is worth more than a dramatic romance.

This is a plain reading of the words and their source. How it applies to your own question is best settled with the interpreter at the temple where you drew it.

How to ask Yue Lao for a lot

1. Yue Lao, the Old Man under the Moon, usually has a side shrine inside a larger temple, such as a City God temple or a Mazu temple. Follow the temple's route: pay respects to the main deity first, then go to Yue Lao.
2. Tell Yue Lao your name, birth date and address, describe where you are in love right now, and state the one question you want to ask (for example, "Will this relationship last?" or "When will I meet someone?").
3. Cast the moon blocks (jiaobei, two crescent-shaped wooden blocks) to ask whether you may draw. One face up and one face down means yes; then pull one stick and cast again to confirm it. Many temples ask for three yeses in a row; if not, draw again.
4. Collect the slip with the matching number. Yue Lao lots are quotations from old books, so the meaning often depends on the original passage. If it is unclear, ask the temple's interpreter.

Ask about one thing at a time; the more specific the question, the easier the lot is to apply. Yue Lao lots are for love and marriage only; for other matters, use the temple's general fortune poems.

Common misunderstandings

Previous: Lot 20; next: Lot 22.