Yue Lao Oracle Lot 29 · Fair, steady

有意栽花花不發，無心插柳柳成蔭。 The flowers you tend with care refuse to bloom, the willow twig you stuck in idly grows into shade.

The lot

Background: what the original says

What you work hard to arrange does not always bear fruit, while something you did without a second thought may flourish.

This couplet, "Plant flowers with care and they may not bloom; stick in a willow twig without a thought and it grows into shade," is one of the best-known Chinese proverbs. It appears in the Expanded Collection of Wise Sayings (Zengguang xianwen), an anonymous primer of maxims and folk sayings already in circulation by the late Ming dynasty.

The saying itself is older. In the Yuan-dynasty drama Judge Bao Beheads Lu Zhailang, a character recites a nearly identical couplet on entering the stage. In Tang Xianzu's Ming play The Tale of Nanke (Nanke ji), scene eight closes with these lines, after two fairy maidens at a Buddhist lecture in Yangzhou unexpectedly settle on the down-and-out scholar Chunyu Fen as the right husband for their princess. Behind it lies plain farming experience: willow cuttings root almost anywhere, while flowers can fail despite careful tending. The lot applies it to love that arrives on its own schedule.

What it means

Trying too hard can backfire. Relax and let things take their course; the right connection may show up somewhere you never expected.

Reminder: Do not treat every date like an exam.

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 28; next: Lot 30.