筊杯 · jiǎo bēi · the moon blocks

Moon Blocks

Jiaobei are a pair of crescent blocks, each rounded on one side and flat on the other, used in Chinese folk religion and in Taoist and Buddhist temples to ask a single yes or no question. You hold both in cupped hands, say who you are and what you wish to know, then let them drop. One round and one flat is shèngjiāo (聖筊), the sacred yes. Both rounded is xiàojiāo (笑筊), the laughing answer, a gentle sign to ask again more plainly. Both flat is yīnjiāo (陰筊), a quiet no. For weighty questions the tradition seeks three sacred falls in a row. Here the blocks speak; the choice stays in your hands.