Guanyin Oracle · Lot 48

Balanced

What it means

A lot of great transformation. You stand at a turning point; dare to leave the old frame and you can fly higher than anyone. Ban Chao left his copying desk and won fame across ten thousand miles. Change is the key: don't fear it; choose your direction and take flight.

By matter

Line by line

1. 鵾鳥秋光化作鵬
   In autumn light the great fish turns into a roc.
2. 遨翔得意盡飛騰
   Soaring with joy, flying as high as it likes.
3. 直沖萬里雲霄外
   Straight up ten thousand miles, beyond the clouds.
4. 任是諸禽總不能
   No other bird can match it.

Classic commentary

此卦昆鵬興變之象。凡事有變動事。

昆化為鵬。萬禽不能。桂香一折。福祿自增。

The image: the great fish becoming the great bird; change is coming. The verdict: no other bird can do what the transformed roc does; once you pluck the cassia branch, blessings grow.

The story · Ban Chao Throws Down His Brush

Ban Chao of the Eastern Han was poor and copied documents for the government. One day he threw down his brush: a true man should win glory abroad like Zhang Qian, not spend his life at an inkstone. He was later sent to the Western Regions, won over more than fifty states with wit and courage, and was made Marquis of Dingyuan.

Reference: Lot 48 of the Guanyin Oracle at Mengjia Longshan Temple, Taipei, with its traditional image, verdict, guidance and story. Story summaries are our own.