How The Fortune Temple Began

The idea for The Fortune Temple began with a memory from Chongqing, China.

Years ago, while walking through the old streets of Shibati (十八梯), I came across an outdoor fortune-stick box in a little side street. It wasn’t inside a temple. There was a place to leave a donation, and you could shake the box and draw a fortune stick.

I made my offering, shook the box, and drew a stick. I received a fortune, but at the time, I couldn’t fully translate or understand its message.

Life went on, and the fortune became a memory.

Then, just recently, I found an old box filled with memories. Inside, I discovered that fortune again. This time, I was able to translate it properly.

Its message was to pause, remain patient, and not make changes.

And what struck me was that, at the time, that was exactly what I had done. I had paused. I had stayed where I was.

But a year later, my life went through an enormous amount of change.

Holding that old fortune again made me wonder what a new one might have said at that later point in my life. I wished I had known that I could return to the same simple ritual, shake the box again, and draw another stick.

That thought stayed with me.

What if other people could have that experience, too?

What if someone living far from home could reconnect with a familiar tradition? What if anyone, wherever they lived, could take a quiet moment to draw a fortune and reflect on its message as they moved through a new chapter of life?

That was how The Fortune Temple began.

The Fortune Temple is an independent digital experience inspired by traditional Chinese fortune-drawing practices. It offers a way to explore this tradition from wherever life takes you.

For those living far from home, it can be a small connection to cultural roots, family memories, and familiar rituals. For others, it can be an opportunity to discover a tradition they may never have experienced in person.

A fortune cannot tell us exactly what the future holds. But its message can give us a moment to pause, reflect on where we are, and consider the path ahead.

Our hope is to make this experience accessible to people around the world while treating the traditions that inspired it with respect.

Revenue from Fortune Token purchases helps maintain The Fortune Temple, improve the service, and support the development of other useful digital tools for the public.

The Fortune Temple began with an old fortune, rediscovered in a box of memories, and the wish to draw another when life had changed.

Now, I hope it can offer other people a similar moment: a little space for reflection, a connection to tradition, and a reminder of home, wherever home may be.