For a full list of fortunes and accompanying
destinations, refer
here:
Traditionally
referred to as kau cim, but known
alternately as chien tung or Chinese
fortune sticks in the West, the sticks are
usually made of bamboo and number about a
100 in each cup( we're working towards that
number).
How it's
done: Think of a question silently (and
resolutely, as there are to be no changes in
the question once you've begun shaking the
can of sticks. In this instance, we'd made
it easy for you and pre-selected the
question- 'Where should (I) go next?') Begin
shaking the sticks. The solitary stick that
falls out of the canister represents your
'fortune'. In the instance where multiple
sticks fall out of the canister, these
multiple sticks and the fortunes they
represent will not count and you'd have to
repeat the process of shaking the can of
sticks all over again. Aside: On our
site, the can throws out just one stick by
default although the online equivalent of
the invalid result is probably the
'undefined' result. The fortune (stick), once
cast, will be your fortune and you're not to
repeat the process again in the quest of
finding a more favourable fortune.
The solitary
stick(with a number) is then presented to an
interpreter who would, with the help of a
book of Chinese phrases and stories and
usually in return for a small fee, interpret
your fortune based on the number on the
stick. Because the interpretation of
fortunes is an art and never a science,
different interpreters will tend to
interpret the same number differently and it
is acceptable practice to run your fortune
stick by multiple interpreters.
Where it's
practiced: Most well-known destination
for kau cim is in the Wong Tai Sin temple of
Hong Kong, located on the north of Kowloon.
However, the practice of kau cim can also be
found in the Buddhist temples of Singapore,
Malaysia and Thailand.
