PlannedRandom drawLiving tradition
A description for now. An interactive tool for this method is planned but not built yet.
Background
Kau cim is a Chinese fortune-telling practice usually performed in a Taoist or Chinese Buddhist temple in front of an altar. It persists today in temples in Taiwan, Hong Kong, Macau, mainland China and Southeast Asia.
How it works
A cylinder usually holds 100 numbered sticks. After devotions, the querent shakes it until a single stick falls; its number points to one of 100 written oracles, often confirmed by tossing jiaobei blocks.
Notes and limits
Culture: In temples the draw is part of devotion to a deity and the poems are temple-specific. Any version here would be an informal adaptation; a temple consultation is the authentic form.
At a glance
- Also called
- Kau chim, Chien tung, Qiuqian, 求籤, Siam si, Chi chi sticks
- Traditions
- Chinese, Taoist, Chinese Buddhist
- Regions
- East Asia
- You need
- A question, A random draw
- Price
- Free