Kau chim

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Kau chim
Chien Tung sticks, cylindrical container with 18 inscribed sticks, China, 1800–1920
Traditional Chinese	求籤
Simplified Chinese	求签
Literal meaning	Request or beg a stick
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin qiúqiān Yue: Cantonese Sidney Lau kau4 chim1

Kau chim, kau cim, chien tung,^[1] "lottery poetry" and Chinese fortune sticks are names for a fortune telling practice that originated in China in which a person poses questions and interprets answers from flat sticks inscribed with text or numerals. The practice is often performed in a Taoist or Buddhist temple in front of an altar. In the US, a version has been sold since 1915 under the name chi chi sticks. It is also sometimes known as "The Oracle of Kuan Yin" in Buddhist traditions, a reference to the bodhisattva Guanyin. It is widely available in Thai temples, known using the Teochew dialect as siam si (Thai: เซียมซี). The similar practice is also found in Japan, named O-mikuji.