Mazu Kau Chim
Mazu Kau Chim Sign 85
Sign 85 of 100
The verse
命犯孤辰只合休鴛鴦兩下遂溪流枯楊豈肯重生葉風雨飄零空自愁
In English
Fate meets the lonely star; it is best to stop.Mandarin ducks go down separate streams.How could a withered poplar willingly grow leaves again?Wind and rain scatter; sorrow remains empty.
Textual notes
A character in the source is unclear even in variant dictionaries; common versions use 孤, so 孤 is adopted here.
The twelve aspects
A temple slip does not give one answer. The same four lines are read differently depending on what you came to ask about, and these are the twelve readings traditionally set down for this sign.
- Career and Recognition
- No strength in youth; old age brings futile labor.
- Business
- Business is uneven and dull.
- Pregnancy and Children
- Flowers in a mirror and moon in water; only self-inflicted sorrow.
- Health
- The illness is deep; medicine has no effect.
- Marriage
- The timing is not met; good things are hard to complete.
- Travel
- At sunset on an exhausted road, only trouble is found.
- Household
- Family style is thin; the gate is cold.
- Wealth
- Climbing a tree to seek fish; labor brings nothing.
- Current Fortune
- Disaster comes later; resolving it brings no benefit.
- Lost Item
- Hard searching still does not reveal where it went.
- Farming
- Crops are entirely withered; there is nothing to say.
- Legal Matters
- Meeting official trouble may bring accidents.