Yue Lao Oracle Lot 79 · Good

更灑遍客舍青青，千縷柳色新。 Rain washes the inn, fresh and green once more, a thousand willow strands in new color.

The lot

Text notes (in Chinese): 王維原句作「客舍青青柳色新」.

Background: what the original says

Wang Wei wrote this poem while seeing off a friend, with the willows by the inn bright green after rain. These two lines come from the expanded lyrics added later when the poem was sung as "Three Refrains at Yang Pass," a practice already found in Song and Yuan times.

Wang Wei's poem "Seeing Off Yuan the Second on His Mission to Anxi" was written for a friend otherwise unknown to history, bound for the Tang protectorate in the far west. Seeing him off at Weicheng, Wang Wei describes a light morning rain settling the dust, the willows by the inn freshly green, and urges his friend to drink one more cup, for beyond the Yang Pass there will be no old friends.

The poem became a popular farewell song, "Three Refrains at Yang Pass," with lines repeated in performance; Su Shi even tried to reconstruct how the repetitions went. The two lines on the oracle slip are not in Wang Wei's original. They come from lyrics expanded to fit the tune, preserved in a Song anecdote collection and in the Yuan anthology Yangchun Baixue; later zither versions did likewise. Where the poem lingers on parting, these added lines dwell on the fresh green after the rain.

What it means

After the rain, everything looks new. A parting is not necessarily a bad thing; a fresh chapter is about to open.

Reminder: Meet this new stage with a fresh heart.

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 78; next: Lot 80.