Yue Lao Oracle Lot 68 · Good, steady

苟有可觀，皆有可樂，非必怪奇瑋麗者也。 If there is anything worth seeing, there is something to enjoy, it need not be strange, rare, or splendid.

The lot

Text notes (in Chinese): 流通本作「茍有可觀。皆有右樂，匪必瑰奇假麗者也」，依蘇軾原文改.

Background: what the original says

Su Shi writes that everything has something worth seeing, and wherever there is something worth seeing there is something to enjoy; it does not have to be unusual or lavish.

In 1074 Su Shi was transferred from lovely, comfortable Hangzhou to govern Mizhou in Shandong. There he found failed harvests, bandits, piles of lawsuits, and an official kitchen so bare that he often ate wolfberry and chrysanthemum leaves. People assumed he was miserable, yet after a year he looked healthier and his white hair was turning dark again.

He repaired an old terrace on the northern city wall. From it he and his guests looked out to the mountains and the Wei River, recalling the general Han Xin and his sad end. On snowy mornings and moonlit nights he was up there, serving garden vegetables, fish from the pond and his own wine. His brother Su Zhe, then in Jinan, wrote a rhapsody about it and named it the Terrace of Transcendence. Su Shi's essay opens by saying that everything has something worth seeing, and so something to enjoy; unhappiness comes from letting things rank us instead of standing above them.

What it means

Your partner does not need to be perfect or outstanding. If they have good qualities, you can be happy together; contentment is what brings joy.

Reminder: Look more at the good in the other person.

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 67; next: Lot 69.