《灵济真君注生堂灵签》

First: Most Auspicious

To dream last night of a bear and a brown bear is an auspicious omen, and the household will soon welcome a joyful event. Confucius and Shakyamuni themselves bring the child in their arms; this must be a qilin child sent from Heaven.

Second: Middling

Do not suppose that bearing a daughter is unworthy of praise. A hui—a small snake—appears unmistakably in the dream, and this too is an omen. When the child later marries, she may rise to distinction, like a cluster of flowers north of Agarwood Pavilion, bright and delightful.

Third: Lower Middling

The descendants of your house will continue generation after generation; blessings and offspring seem granted by Heaven. One only fears some hindrance at the time of birth, so further good deeds should be done and peace and safety sought in prayer.

Fourth: Lowest

Wind and rain darken the scene, and the flowers open wearily. Not long after they bloom, they fall upon the green moss. Why wear the yinan herb any longer—the daylily, once believed to bring the birth of a son? The matter seems wholly fixed by fate long ago.

Fifth: Greatly Auspicious

Descendants succeed one another through the generations; the family’s good name is handed down, and its blessings endure. Two jade swallows fly in together, an auspicious omen. Before long the child’s loud cry will be heard. The yinan herb should be worn early; this, too, was ordained by fate long ago.

Fifth: Greatly Auspicious

Descendants succeed one another through the generations; the family’s good name is handed down, and its blessings endure. Two jade swallows fly in together, an auspicious omen. Before long the child’s loud cry will be heard. A bow of mulberry wood should be hung up early, in hope that the child will later go out toward the four quarters, win merit, and establish himself.

Sixth: Inauspicious

Bearing a boy is not wholly excellent, nor is bearing a girl fully complete, and troubles may yet rise out of level ground. If the protection of the gods is not sought early, how can one pass through in safety, as a lone boat crosses a perilous shoal?

Seventh: Highest

A single wutong tree shades the garden wall, and on its branches a yuezhuo—a legendary bird of good omen, often classed with the phoenix—has already shown a fortunate sign. This time an extraordinary child will be received, the skull firm and outstanding, with prospects beyond all limit.

Eighth: Middling

The matter hangs between belief and doubt, and further delay makes it still harder to decide; the signs of Yin-Yang, of odd and even, cannot yet be read clearly. You are now told plainly: beside the water, a spray of lotus is about to bloom.

Ninth: Highly Auspicious

Although the term of pregnancy has been delayed, it has now arrived, and ample vitality will show itself before long. At delivery, when she “sits on the grass”—in ancient times a woman in labor sat on the ground or on a straw mat to await the birth—there should be no cause for worry. Jade fruits, rhinoceros coins, and the like must be prepared in good time.

Tenth: Lower Middling

To plant a lotus on stone is to have little hope of fruit. The Jing (scripture) given here runs on from the wording of the previous lot; the content seems disordered, and the meaning may be incomplete.

As the time of birth draws near, sit calmly on the straw and await delivery; there is no need to worry. Offerings such as jade fruit and rhinoceros-horn coins should be prepared early.

Tenth Lot, Middling-Low

Planting lotus on stone makes it hard for lotus seeds to form; and how could chrysanthemums planted in water ever bloom?

Even if one prays for the aid of the gods, a hui-snake (a small snake) will still be clearly seen in a dream. This lot suggests that what is sought will not easily be granted.

Eleventh Lot, Middling-Neutral

Spring comes to the garden, and rain and dew are already ample; the crabapple is the first to put forth a single flowering branch.

Do not assume there will be glad news merely because one carries yinan grass (a plant once believed to be an omen of bearing a son). This matter advances slowly, and in the end it still depends on the will of Heaven.

Twelfth Lot, Upper, Greatly Auspicious

To cast off the old and begin anew has, since ancient times, been the principle of renewal and fresh establishment. The spring breeze is mild, bringing joy and ease.

The qilin will break free of its golden lock, come to your household, and become the family’s treasure. This lot takes the qilin as a figure for the birth of a noble son.

Thirteenth Lot, Lowest

The faults and setbacks that fate has brought are already more than enough; why divine again and again over whether the child will be a boy or a girl?

Whether before noon or after, word will come of itself. Then, beneath a bright moon and a clear breeze, children will be born one after another.

Fourteenth Lot, Neutral

The course of all things in the world is in the end governed by the creative transformations of Heaven; one should also, after bathing and purifying oneself, pray and inquire of the deities.

The lot text speaks plainly: after the Mid-Autumn Festival, when cloud and mist have scattered, a bright moon will appear in the yaokong (a sky like the realm of the immortals).

Fifteenth Lot, Highest

A jade swallow clearly flies into one’s embrace; a mortal’s doubts need remain no longer.

Kin and friends should prepare congratulatory gifts early. This is a good omen. After bathing and purifying oneself and praying to the deities, one will receive a clear instruction: after the Mid-Autumn Festival, the clouds disperse and the sky clears, and the bright moon hangs on high.

Fifteenth Lot, Highest

A jade swallow clearly flies into one’s embrace; a mortal’s doubts need remain no longer.

Kin and friends should prepare congratulatory gifts early, for the household will have a person of outstanding talent whose name stands foremost in the age.

Sixteenth Lot, Auspicious

Auspicious Qi (vital energy) fills the courtyard, and a propitious dream once confirmed the omen of the star Taibai.

A noble son will surely be born in time to come. Do not resent a household of modest means for the addition of one more child.

Seventeenth Lot, Low

A person’s allotted fate comes sometimes early and sometimes late; why weigh what is empty against what is real, and guess over and over?

Remember the words of the worthies of old: climbing a tree to seek fish will, in the end, yield no fish.

Eighteenth Lot, Middling-Neutral

Whether the green peach blooms in full still depends on whether it can vie in beauty with the host of flowers; and when has the red osmanthus ever put forth flowering branches all at once?

The auspicious event has not yet arrived; do not count on it for now. One must still wait patiently for autumn.

Nineteenth Lot, Middling-Neutral

If one can go on accumulating hidden virtue in secret, the household will gradually flourish in able people, and sons and grandsons will be worthy and refined, like jade trees and fragrant orchids.

As for carrying on the ancestral rites and continuing the family line, there now seems to be hope. Why worry about ending up like the guoluo—the slender-waisted wasp said in legend to adopt the larvae of other insects—and having to raise someone else’s child in order to perpetuate one’s descendants?

Twentieth Lot: Lowest

A single cloud covers the moon, and the sky has grown dim and unclear. Flowers wither in the cold wind, and fruit is hard to form.

Crows and magpies crowd together to roost and clamor together; for the moment, good and ill fortune cannot yet be clearly discerned.

Twenty-first Lot: Lower Middling

Of late one’s fortune remains unfavorable. It is useless merely to speak of a “dragon colt” or a “phoenix chick”—metaphors for outstanding children—appearing in the household.

If you wish to ask about the good or ill fortune of the matter at hand, you must still do more good and accumulate blessings, quietly praying for the protection of the gods.

Twenty-second Lot: Middling

The matter of the child in the womb has its own causes. Of late you have often seen a hui, a small snake, in your dreams.

In the future you may perhaps see a person of high standing who rides in a yuxuan—the carriage used by noblewomen in ancient times, here standing for distinguished status—and not the offspring of an ordinary household.

Twenty-third Lot: Upper Middling

Orchids and osmanthus give off fragrance, surpassing ordinary flowers and trees. From this point the Xie family, a lineage famed for producing talented sons generation after generation, will enjoy good prospects.

Do not worry because bearing fruit and spreading shade come rather late. The arrangement of all things has its own season; there is no need to be anxious.

Twenty-fourth Lot: Lowest

Without tilling or weeding, one merely waits by a tree stump for a rabbit—and the rabbit simply does not come.

How laughable that someone, intent only on gazing greedily at the Mid-Autumn moon, loses the priceless pearl in the dish.

Twenty-fifth Lot: Middle

The fruit tree, meeting spring, has already sprouted; with the further nourishment of rain and dew, it can continue to grow.

When fine fruit forms on the branches, you will still have a chance to pick it. Only do not be startled into panic by the mere rustle of wind in the grass.

Twenty-sixth Lot: Highly Auspicious

A young colored phoenix grows facing the morning sun. Its feathers gradually fill out, and its patterned splendor begins to show.

Waiting for this matter is not easy, yet the blessings accumulated by your family over generations will bring assistance.

Twenty-seventh Lot: Middling

One may smile at those who have been overjoyed for days on end: they call the birth of a girl “playing with the tile” and the birth of a boy “playing with the jade”—the ancient expressions for the birth of a daughter and a son.

So long as the child is born safely and smoothly, those throughout the household need not be alarmed or anxious.

Twenty-eighth Lot: Upper Middling

A family that accumulates good deeds will have lasting blessings. Indeed, like seeking a pearl in the sea, one finally obtains the treasure.

Yet even good things may meet with obstacles. One must still do one’s utmost to practice goodness and accumulate blessings, praying for the protection of the gods.

Twenty-ninth Lot

The original text lists only the lot number and does not include a verse.

Twenty-eighth Lot: Upper Middling

A family that accumulates good deeds will have lasting blessings. Indeed, like seeking a pearl in the sea, one finally obtains the treasure.

But you should be on guard, for happy matters often meet with obstacles, and you ought to do your utmost to pray that the deities bestow blessing and aid.

Twenty-Ninth Lot: Middle-Low

Last night you dreamed that red flowers were pinned all over your body, and today you have come here to inquire whether the outcome is auspicious or inauspicious. It seems you have come to ask because of doubt in your heart; the origin of the matter appears to concern the person beside the broom.

Thirtieth Lot: Lowest

Morning and evening alike, there is no need to worry too much; you need only act at ease and let things follow their natural course. You go into the sea seeking a pearl and do not find it, and instead meet the further peril of river-fire joined to stone-skin.

Thirty-First Lot: Highly Auspicious

In the unseen, the hidden virtue you have stored up will quietly protect you. After you have walked the rugged road, a level highway will at last appear ahead. Before long you will need to recruit field laborers; prepare early arrows made of fleabane grass and a bow made of mulberry wood, as ritual articles for praying that a son be added to the family.

Thirty-Second Lot: Middle-Low

Bright moonlight shines into the inner chamber. You hope to dream of bears—in ancient times often a symbol of bearing a boy—yet the dream instead grows confused. Do not sigh that what you seek has not been granted; you must still accumulate blessings in secret and quietly pray for help and protection.

Thirty-Third Lot: Upper-Middle

When the season of fortune arrives, matters will naturally take a turn. You may burn incense and pray, yet you need not always put questions to the deities; the deities will of themselves accord with human wishes. Before long you will succeed in recruiting field laborers, which means a son will be added to the household.

Thirty-Fourth Lot: Lowest

You till with diligence, hoping for a harvest in autumn, and suppose the fields will grow thick with cornel and rice stalks. From now on do not grow weary of this; go often to look after them. You must also guard against two oxen coming to spoil the crops.

Thirty-Fifth Lot: Upper-Middle

Entering the mountains to gather fruit, you can obtain uncut jade worth a succession of cities; seeking in the water, you can also find a luminous pearl that lights a carriage. Jade fruit, rhinoceros coins, and the other things required for the rite of praying for a child should be made ready early; an auspicious qi already fills the courtyard.

Thirty-Sixth Lot: Middle-Upper

When fortune is low, even true gold looks dull; when the favorable time comes, even the iron tree can bloom. Now happy events will arrive one after another, and you will no longer lament in vain as before.

Thirty-Seventh Lot: Middle-Low

For thirty years your fate has been adverse. You have exhausted thought and strength and still seen no result. Then one day, happening to travel the South Sea, you pick up a luminous pearl and hold it in your hand. This means that an opportunity may appear when least expected.

Thirty-Eighth Lot: Middling

Face to face with another, you start to speak and then stop, unable to make your words clear; you hold malt candy in your mouth, yet have not swallowed it.

It is impossible to say when an auspicious matter will arrive; one can only wait, again and again, for news between dawn and dusk.

Thirty-Ninth Slip, Lowest

The “three worms” in the body (a notion of disease-causing worms found in ancient medical texts) disturb the blood and Qi (vital energy), and the affair therefore gives rise to many complications. Hidden harm comes one instance after another, so that peace of mind is hard to find.

Even if flowers have opened and fruit has set for the moment, when the time comes to pick it one may still be unable to eat it.

Fortieth Slip, Average

Like the sun-bird (a bird symbolizing the sun in ancient legend) spreading its wings and flying toward the Li position due south, one of the directions of the Bagua (Eight Trigrams), the matter has already become clear and need not be doubted.

The omen spoken of as “casting the swallow and hanging the bell” seems to be two auspicious signs answering one another; yet one must still pray if peace is to be protected and worry kept away.

Forty-First Slip, Average

News of offspring has been slow to come; there is no need for suspicion. The timing of human birth seems to have been arranged long beforehand by the work of Creation.

If one wishes to see clearly the principle of Yin-Yang, of firmness and yielding, now before one’s eyes, it is like Yin Jing (essence—the feminine yin vital essence) flying into one’s embrace last night: the matter bears its own signs.

Forty-Second Slip, Upper-Middle

One plants flowers with set intent, yet they do not bloom; a willow branch stuck in at random instead grows into a stretch of green shade.

Now the east wind is lending its help, and both planting flowers and setting willows can turn out as one wishes.

Forty-Third Slip, High-Middle

Your family’s standing is eminent and your store of blessing deep. Children like a phoenix chick or a dragon’s colt (figures for outstanding offspring) can, one may trust, be sought and obtained.

If you wish to know when this matter will become clear, it will be within about two or three days.

Forty-Fourth Slip, Middle

The spring deity, the Lord of the East, is gradually spreading warmth; the scenery is lush and full, stirring one’s spirits.

One must still pray to the gods for protection, lest trouble rise from level ground.

Forty-Fifth Slip, Average

With guan-grass spread below and xun-grass covering above, the sleeper dozes in a daze; yet in the dream one clearly sees a snake turn into a dragon.

This omen foretells the birth of a noble daughter. In time she will ride in a yuxuan (the carriage used by noblewomen in ancient times) and be granted the title of shuren (a rank for titled ladies of old).

Forty-Sixth Slip, High-Middle

From ancient times, when yin Qi reaches its extreme it turns and gives rise to yang Qi; now the gentleman’s fortune, too, is gradually improving.

The omen of the yellow turtle in the dream has not yet come true, yet at the ear one already hears the sound of the fetus within the womb.

Forty-Seventh Slip, High-Middle

This omen comes from the “Earth and Lake, Approach” hexagram of the Yijing (Jing, the Classic of Changes). When the matter develops to the point of drawing near, every aspect will proceed smoothly and in accord with one’s wishes.

What had been longed for over many years lingered about the heart like a dream; today, brushing aside the sand, one has at last found gold.

The Forty-Eighth Lot: Great Auspiciousness

The good matter stands perfectly clear before the eyes, and one may prepare jade fruit and rhinoceros coins (offerings and coins used in sacrifice or ritual). The two lines “过门谁敢题凡乌，头玉晓晓信可伶” are unclear in meaning and seem marred by corruption or omission, so that their general sense is difficult to determine with certainty.

The Forty-Ninth Lot: Middle-Low

The news is vague and indistinct, and no fixed time has yet been set for when it will arrive; coming here, the heart again gives rise to many doubts. This is plainly not the cassia tree of the legend of Donglin Temple; moonlight shines upon a branch of tumi blossom.

The Fiftieth Lot: Low-High

Good things have all along tended to meet with setbacks. One labors to seek jade and pursue pearls, yet the result may be nothing but wasted effort. Last night, viewing the moon in the rear garden, one clearly saw Chang’e within the moon.

The Fifty-First Lot: Low-Low

The sun has risen high, and the mist of the spring day gradually disperses; in the distance the green mountains stretch on in ranges, and the flowing water runs long. Let the fisher not say that there are no fish to be sought here: since this place has no fish, do not lower the hook here any longer.

The Fifty-Second Lot: Auspicious

When a pear is cut open, a red snake is seen; this is an auspicious omen sent down by the divine spirits, come to your household. In time the child will grow up outstanding, the family fortunes will flourish, bringing glory to the ancestors and benefit to later generations—truly worthy of praise.

The Fifty-Third Lot: Upper-Middle

The light of spring has not yet passed; the Qi (vital energy) of Yin-Yang responds each to the other, harmonious and well attuned. Before the hall a tangbing feast is laid (the banquet with which people in ancient times celebrated the birth of a son); guests fill the hall and one after another sing the song congratulating Xu Qing on the birth of his two sons.

The Fifty-Fourth Lot: Low

Much sand has been sifted, yet gold has never appeared; regrettably, neither the plans nor the actions accord with one’s wishes. Continue to seek the protection of the divine spirits. The phrase “石皮川火” is feared to encroach; what it refers to is unclear, and it may be a particular ill omen, or the wording may be corrupt and incomplete.

The Fifty-Fifth Lot: Middle-Upper

Even with thick cushions spread, rare delicacies set out in abundance, and a dwelling in a splendid residence, none of this makes one feel that all is complete so much as having a child. Best of all would be to obtain a child like the fine jade of Kunlun; whether one can obtain such a child still depends on the blessings accumulated by the ancestors.

The Fifty-Sixth Lot: Lower-Middle

The heart wavers, unfixed, at once glad and startled with doubt; whether this good matter can in the end succeed has not yet been decided. The peaches and plums in the rear garden are about to bear fruit; one only fears that a gust of wind will come and that in the end they will fail to set fruit.

The Fifty-Seventh Lot: Low-Low

Looking out over the Yangtze, the eye cannot find its end; the water is vast and far-reaching. The autumn wind passes over the reeds on both banks, and they rustle desolately.

By midnight the river is cold and the fish will not take the bait. Though the fisherman lowers his hook alone, his effort is wasted. The matter is already plain.

The peach and plum trees in the back garden are about to bear fruit, but one gust of wind may come and keep the fruit from ever setting.

Lot 57: Lowest of the Low

Looking out over the Yangtze, the eye cannot find its end; the water is vast and far-reaching. The autumn wind passes over the reeds on both banks, and they rustle desolately.

By midnight the river is cold and the fish will not take the bait. Though the fisherman lowers his hook alone, his effort is wasted.

Lot 58: Middling

At dawn, a magpie calls beside the pillar of the front hall, as if announcing good news: a child as fine as a jade tree will soon be born at your door.

You must still rely on the protection of hidden merit (yin gong, good deeds done quietly without seeking reward) accumulated over the years, so that joy is not followed by fright on account of thin fortune.

Lot 59: Highly Auspicious

Good deeds bring abundant blessings of their own accord; the whole hall is filled with laughter as the family plays with the newborn child. The gui and zhang (ancient jade ritual tablets, used here to stand for a precious child) also symbolize the child's worth.

Tomorrow there will be further happy news worth praising: a jade ring is drawn out from a hollow in a tree, and so it is learned that the child's surname is Yang. This borrows the ancient story of a jade ring found in a tree hollow, by which a family name was identified.

Lot 60: Upper Middle

You know best what weighs on your heart, and the hidden virtue accumulated by your ancestors will quietly protect you.

Can one ask in a dove's nest and learn that a fine hawk has been born there? Could a tiger's den fail to produce young leopards? The meaning is that your family may also bring forth outstanding talents.

Lot 61: Inferior

The road ahead is rugged and has not yet become level; misty rain veils the way forward.

If you hurry along now, you are more likely to stumble and suffer a setback. Why not slow your pace and proceed at ease?

Lot 62: Middling to Upper

Burning incense, tapping the teeth, and praying to the spirits: how can these compare with diligently sowing the field of blessings (fu tian, cultivating good fortune through good deeds and accumulated merit)?

Most of what you seek at present can be fulfilled, like a red lotus blooming amid fire, remarkable and rare. A red lotus opening in flames describes a good outcome emerging from adversity.

Lot 63: Lowest of the Low

The curtain is rolled high to welcome the coming of spring, but sadly this spring light does not yet belong to you.

Planting a lotus in stone while hoping it will yield roots to harvest can never end as you wish; even if you labor in heart and body, you only add to your toil.

Lot 63: Lowest of the Low

The curtain is rolled high to welcome the coming of spring, but sadly this spring light does not yet belong to you.

Planting a lotus in stone while hoping it will yield roots to harvest can never end as you wish; even if you labor in heart and body, you only add to your toil.

Lot 64

Spring grows deeper beyond the courtyard. You may use the season to sweep away the moss and plant the peach and plum trees in good time.

If Dongjun (the Lord of the East, the ancient legendary deity who governs spring) truly accords with human wishes, then in the end the flowering trees will bloom once more.