Lottery poetry

Lottery poetry is a set of lottery and pre-written poems provided as a means of communication between human and gods in a Chinese temple.

A typical lottery poetry; it is considered as a means of communication between human and gods.

Lottery and lottery poetry

The lottery and lottery poems in a Hong-Kong temple.

Lottery poetry is commonly found in a Chinese temple, usually Taoism or folk religion, for believers to practice divination. Bamboo or wooden lotteries are loaded in a bucket. The believer draws one lottery and looks for the corresponding poem to the lottery. The poems are written or printed on a piece of paper, usually 12–15 cm long and 4 cm wide, with a Jueju poem on each piece as the answer to the believer from the gods.

Despite the Cultural Revolution in mainland China during the 1960s and 1970s, lottery poetry still prevails today in temples of Taiwan, Hong-Kong and Macau. Most Taoism temples have lottery poetry to provide religious guidance for the believers.