In this post I will translate a buddhist divinatory text, The Divine Jiaobei of Guanyin. This occurs as part an appendix to Guanyin's lot oracle 觀音靈簽, or the Divine Lots of the Goddess of Mercy.
Digression: The Divine lots of Guanyin
The Divine Lots of the Goddess of Mercy are worth a post to themselves, but it is worth describing them briefly: They are part of the genre of chinese religious texts, lot oracles. There are several of them, each under the patronage of a deity. Major ones are that of Lord Guan, Wong Tai Sin (in Hong Kong) and this one, under the patronage of Guanyin. To operate these texts, the devotee takes a cylinder filled with slats of bamboo, each numbered, before the patron god's statue. He shakes the cylinder until one slat falls out, and he finds the correspondingly numbered entry in the lot oracle book for the god's answer. In some temples, the books are dispensed with: the prophesies are printed out on small slips of paper, and the devotee (or temple attendant) picks out the appropriate slip
This practise might strike the readers as un-buddhist or overly superstitious, but this forms part of religious life in many chinese communities. The author, who grew up in Singapore, was regularly taken by his parents to the most famous temple in the country, Kwan Im Thong Hood Cho Temple -- or as we called it 四馬路觀音廟 - four-horse-road Guanyin Temple (four-horse-road being the chinese name for Waterloo street) -- to pray, and every time he was there, there was a soothing, swirling sound of the bamboo slats rattled in the brass containers, clutched by hundreds of anxious devotees. That temple's lot oracle was - indeed, still is- the most famous in Singapore, consulted on occasion by civil servants in times of crisis-- and for good reason, for its predictions never failed. The well-worn texts were consulted by everyone, even by people like my parents who (at the time) had never read any other buddhist text, let alone the orthodox sutras. Alas, with the pandemic, the rattling of slats has quietened down: now the temple management prohibits the lot oracle from being consulted in weekends, but technology has stepped up: there is a thriving Facebook group dedicated to people asking for interpretations of their lots.
To my knowledge the jiaobei oracle that's translated in this post is not used in the Kwan Im Thong Hood Cho Temple. If it is, it is done privately by devotees, and not with support of the staff.
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This post is not about the divine lots, but instead a completely different-- and much simpler-- technique, involving Jiaobei, or moon blocks. These are crescent-shaped blocks, that have one concave and one flat face. These can be used to answer yes/no questions of the gods, as described in the wikipedia article linked above.
This post will translate a slightly more complex oracle, one that involves tossing the jiaobei thrice, and reading the resulting pattern of tosses to determine the answer to your question. The author knows of at least one other oracle, called 土地杯 - The Earth Gods' Jiaobei, which is found in chinese almanacs, and the author hopes to translate soon.
As the Jiaoei have two sides, (flat =yang , convex = yin), there are three possible ways a pair can fall: In my translation I will refer to them thus:
Two Yin 陰陰 => T
Two Yang 陽陽 => H
One Yin and one Yang 陰陽, called 勝 "victorious" => X
As the jiaobei are tossed thrice, there are a total of 27 possible combinations for this oracle. (I should also note that if you do not possess jiaobei, it is perfectly possible to operate this oracle using a pair of coins, with the Yin side being tails, and the yang side being Heads.)
At the start of each lot (called in the Chinese a "Gua" 卦; the same term as the Hexagrams of the Yijing) is a short description of how [un]favourable is the result. 3 terms are used: Upper 上, the best Middling 中 and Lower 下, the worst. These terms are sometimes combined, eg: 中下 "Middle lower", i.e. middling to bad.
The 28th and 29th entries deal with the situation where the moon blocks do not land on their sides, but rather land on their edges; a very rare event that's usually considered auspicious, but here takes an extremely ominous cast. Their wording is also ambiguous: The words "Yin standing" could mean both blocks standing on their yin edge, or one yin block and one standing block. In any case there seems to be no entry for the situation
* 𢃇 (⿰巾里) the cantonese char. for “Sail”
* A reference to the top line of the hexagram Qian, "Heaven" 亢龍有悔 "Arrogant dragon will have cause to repent" (Wilhelm)
6.下卦 Lower 陽陽陰 HHT 徒勞無功。因愛成仇。莫管問非。隐者為高 The road is weary and fruitless, From love comes hatred. Do not ask into rumors and disputes Those who conceal come up tops.
7.上上卦。Upper Upper 陽勝陽 HXH 貴人在上。始終扶持。一勝居中。動而有濟。 A noble person on high At start and finish, supports [the endeavour]. Victory is centered, Through movement, progress.
8.上卦Upper 勝勝陽。 XXH 本為協吉。更遇貴人。所謀遂意。百事皆春。 From the start, Cooperation is auspicious. A Noble Person will be met. All plans will go as you wish Springtime for the hundred matters.
9.下卦。Lower 勝陰陰。XTT 凡事慾慾。未得成就。改舊更新。割肉成瘡 Wishing earnestly in all things, But nothing will come to completion. Out with the old and in with the new, Cutting the flesh will bring boils.
10.下卦。 Lower勝陽陰。 XHT 蛟龍影日。黑白難分。始末有阻。諸事不成。 The Jiao-dragon shades the sun, Black and white are hard to distinguish. In beginning and ending, obstacles, All matters are not completed.
11.中上卦 Middling Upper 勝陰勝。XTX 始終皆利。內防小人。邪難正入。喜氣洋洋。 Profit in beginning and end, Beware of inferior people within. Hard for evil to enter directly, Auspiciousness all round.
12.下卦。Lower 陰陰陰。TTT 龍戰千野。其血立黃。占者得此。難免災殃。 Dragons battle in the thousand fields, Their blood is yellow.* The querent who receives this, Can hardly avoid disaster.
* a reference to the top line of the Qian hexagram
14.下卦。Lower 陰陽陰。 THT 凶暴做事。難逢貴人。正不勝邪。偽中誤真。 Things done in evil and violence, Hard to meet a noble person Good does not vanquish evil, False centeredness is mistaken for the true
17.上卦。Upper 陽陽勝。HHX 拔茅連茹。氣類[感?]召。上下和平。此為吉兆。 “When ribbon grass is pulled up, it brings up the sod.”* All things respond & are summoned [according to] their Qi. Above and below are in harmony, This is an auspicious omen.
* A a quote from the hexagram Tai “peace”. The 3rd character of the 2nd line is unclear; I think it is 感, "respond"
18.上卦 upper 陽勝勝 HXX 貴人主事。斟酌無差。 文書得意。和合一家。 A Noble benefactor comes to your aid, Your considerations will not come up short. In books and writing, you will gain benefit, The family will be in harmony.
19.中卦。Middle. 陽陰陽。HTH 事初宜喜。終然亦吉。中有小人。謹防無失， Joy at the beginning Auspicious at the end In the middle, inferior persons; Be prudent, and there will be no loss
20.下卦。Lower 陽陰陰。HTT 君子用心。小人重逢。凡事不吉。阻滞不通。 The superior person must be careful Inferior people come in droves In all matters, not auspicious, Blockages, stagnation, obstruction.
21.下卦Lower 勝勝陰 XXT 始為謀望。終是禍端。後有小人。反生不遂。 At the beginning, one has plans and hopes, At the end, disaster strikes, Behind there are inferior people, All matters do not go to plan.
23.中平卦。 Middle-level. 陰陽陽。THH 微風翳鏡。寸雪蓋日。事宜勤始。先凶後吉。The gentle wind obscures the mirror An inch of snow covers the sun, Labour is best when things are begun, Inauspicious at first, auspicious later.
24.下卦。 陰陰勝。 TTX 動必防危。進必有災。謙謙等待。祈保中吉。 When moving, you must protect against danger, In going forwards, there will be disaster. Wait patiently and modestly, Pray for protection to centre fortune.
25.中卦Middle 陰勝勝。 TXX 浮雲將散。 月初依還。初為晦滯。後乃光輝。 The floating clouds soon scatter, At the beginning of the month, things return.* At first, obscurity and delay, In the end, glory and brilliance.
* alternately "as the Moon starts to wax from the beginning of the moth"
26.中卦。Middle. 陰勝陰。TXT 始終失着。祈保前諧。喜却終吉。末後無殃。 At the beginning and end, losses Pray for protection of the former harmony. Joy first, an auspicious end, No disasters afterwards.
27.下卦。Lower 陰陽勝。THX 事雜小吉。尚有支持。陰陽交錯。反受災厄。 In miscellaneous matters, slightly auspicious, There will be yet some support. Yin and Yang improperly matched, On the contrary, disaster afterwards.
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