Yue Lao Oracle Lot King

佳偶天成，神仙美眷也。夫復何求？ A perfect match, made by heaven, a pair as blessed as the immortals, what more could anyone ask?

The lot

Text notes (in Chinese): 旗山天后宮本首句作「佳偶耶？」.

Background: what the original says

The top lot of the Yue Lao set does not borrow from an old book. It simply says outright that this is a match made in heaven, a couple as blissful as a pair of immortals.

The top lot quotes no classic, but its figure, the Old Man under the Moon (Yuelao), comes from The Inn of Betrothal, a tale in Li Fuyan's Tang-dynasty collection Xu Xuanguai Lu. Wei Gu, orphaned young and eager to marry, had failed at every proposal. In 628, lodging near Songcheng, he went before dawn to a temple gate to meet a go-between and found an old man reading by moonlight in a script Wei could not read. The old man said he kept the records of all marriages and tied future spouses together by the feet with red cords that no feud, rank or distance could undo. Wei's wife, he said, was a three-year-old girl carried by an old vegetable seller. Wei sent a servant to kill the child, but the blade only struck her brow. Fourteen years later a prefect gave Wei his niece in marriage; she always wore a flower ornament between her eyebrows. The local magistrate named the lodging the Inn of Betrothal.

What it means

This is a union heaven itself arranged, a partner as fitting as any immortal couple. There is nothing more you need to go looking for.

Reminder: The right person is already in front of you, so stop shopping around and put your heart into the relationship.

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 100; next: Lot 1.