Yue Lao Oracle Lot 22 · Excellent, great fortune

久旱逢甘雨，他鄉遇故知。洞房花燭夜，金榜掛名時。 Sweet rain after a long drought, an old friend met in a faraway land, candles lit in the bridal chamber, your name posted on the list of successful scholars.

The lot

Background: what the original says

The poem lists life's four great joys: rain after a long dry spell, running into an old friend far from home, the wedding night, and passing the imperial examinations.

These four lines are so widely known that they are simply called the "Poem of Four Joys." Tradition credits them to Wang Zhu of the Northern Song dynasty, and they were included in the Poems of a Child Prodigy (Shentong shi). Yet when the Southern Song scholar Hong Mai recorded them, he called them only an old saying and named no author, so their origin remains uncertain.

Hong Mai also noted that some wit had added a matching "Poem of Four Sorrows": a widow weeping with her child, a general captured by the enemy, a palace lady who has lost favor, and a candidate who failed the exam. Of the four joys, rain after drought belongs to heaven, an old friend met far from home to friendship, and exam success to a career; the wedding night sits in the middle, and that is the joy the Yue Lao lot has in mind.

What it means

Happy events are on their way to your door, with good news in both love and career.

Reminder: When good things come, be grateful and do not let success go to your head.

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 21; next: Lot 23.