Yue Lao Oracle Lot 59 · Fair

膾炙所同也，羊棗所獨也。 Fine minced meat is loved by all, wild jujubes were loved by one alone.

The lot

Background: what the original says

Zengzi's father loved wild jujubes, and after his father died Zengzi could not bear to eat them. Mencius explained that minced and roasted meat is something everyone likes, while wild jujubes were his father's own special love.

This exchange appears in the Mencius (Jin Xin, part two). Zeng Xi, father of Confucius's disciple Zengzi, had loved to eat "sheep dates," by one account a small black date, and after his father died Zengzi could not bring himself to eat them. Mencius's puzzled student Gongsun Chou asked which tasted better, minced and roasted meat or sheep dates. Meat, of course, said Mencius. Then why, Gongsun Chou pressed, did Zengzi go on eating meat but not sheep dates?

Mencius answered that meat is something everyone enjoys, while sheep dates were his father's particular taste. It is like the taboo on the names of the dead: one avoids the given name but not the surname, because the surname is shared and the given name belongs to one person alone. The dates were his father's own, and the sight of them brought him back. The passage is about a son's grief; the oracle draws from it the difference between what everyone likes and what one person holds dear.

What it means

What everyone likes is not necessarily right for you; what you alone love is truly yours. Choose a partner by your own heart, not by the crowd's taste.

Reminder: Ask yourself what you like, not what other people think is good.

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 58; next: Lot 60.