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I Ching Reading

Yarrow stalks and an open book on a writing desk

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Free · one a day. Past casts are saved in Me → My Star Path
  1. 1Write down one questionOne matter at a time, as specific as you can. Your question stays in your browser.
  2. 2Divide the stalks yourselfOf fifty stalks one is set aside; divide, hang one, count by fours, set the remainder aside. Three changes make a line.
  3. 3Read the line that mattersZhu Xi’s method picks the text to read. Sign in and Xingge explains it with your chart in mind.

The 64 hexagrams

In King Wen order. Tap one for its Judgment, six lines and plain reading.
  1. 1Qian
  2. 2Kun
  3. 3Zhun
  4. 4Meng
  5. 5Xu
  6. 6Song
  7. 7Shi
  8. 8Bi
  9. 9Xiao Xu
  10. 10Lü
  11. 11Tai
  12. 12Pi
  13. 13Tong Ren
  14. 14Da You
  15. 15Qian
  16. 16Yu
  17. 17Sui
  18. 18Gu
  19. 19Lin
  20. 20Guan
  21. 21Shi He
  22. 22Bi
  23. 23Bo
  24. 24Fu
  25. 25Wu Wang
  26. 26Da Xu
  27. 27Yi
  28. 28Da Guo
  29. 29Kan
  30. 30Li
  31. 31Xian
  32. 32Heng
  33. 33Dun
  34. 34Da Zhuang
  35. 35Jin
  36. 36Ming Yi
  37. 37Jia Ren
  38. 38Kui
  39. 39Jian
  40. 40Xie
  41. 41Sun
  42. 42Yi
  43. 43Guai
  44. 44Gou
  45. 45Cui
  46. 46Sheng
  47. 47Kun
  48. 48Jing
  49. 49Ge
  50. 50Ding
  51. 51Zhen
  52. 52Gen
  53. 53Jian
  54. 54Gui Mei
  55. 55Feng
  56. 56Lü
  57. 57Xun
  58. 58Dui
  59. 59Huan
  60. 60Jie
  61. 61Zhong Fu
  62. 62Xiao Guo
  63. 63Ji Ji
  64. 64Wei Ji
How the yarrow method counts
  1. 大衍之數五十，其用四十九
    Take fifty yarrow stalks. Set one aside, unused, for the Great Ultimate, and work with the other forty-nine.
  2. 分而為二以象兩
    Divide the stalks into two piles at random: the left stands for Heaven, the right for Earth.
  3. 掛一以象三
    Take one stalk from the right pile and hold it by the little finger: the Human, completing Heaven, Earth and Human.
  4. 揲之以四以象四時
    Count off the left pile in fours, like the four seasons.
  5. 歸奇於扐以象閏
    The one to four left over go between the fingers, like a leap month. Count the right pile the same way.
  6. 三變而成爻
    The first change always removes 5 or 9 stalks, the second and third 4 or 8. After three changes 36, 32, 28 or 24 remain; divided by four that gives 9, 8, 7 or 6.
  7. 十有八變而成卦
    From the bottom up, three changes for each of six lines: eighteen in all. Nine is old yang and six old yin, and both change; seven is young yang and eight young yin, and they stay.
Which line to read (Zhu Xi’s method)
No changing lines
Read the Judgment of the primary hexagram.
One
Read that line in the primary hexagram; the Judgment is background.
Two
Read both changing lines of the primary hexagram; the upper one leads.
Three
Read both Judgments together: the primary hexagram is the present and your side; the resulting one is what comes later and the outside.
Four
Read the two unchanging lines of the resulting hexagram; the lower one leads.
Five
Read the one unchanging line of the resulting hexagram.
All six
Qian reads "All nines", Kun reads "All sixes"; any other hexagram reads the Judgment of the resulting hexagram.

FAQ

How is the yarrow method different from tossing coins?

Coin tossing is a later shortcut. The yarrow method is the oldest one on record, from the Great Commentary, and its odds are uneven: old yin is rarest (1 in 16), young yin most common (7 in 16). So you get fewer changing lines than with coins, and the reading is steadier. Here every line comes from the actual remainders of your divisions, not from a random number.

Why only one reading a day?

Meng (Youthful Folly) puts it plainly: the first casting is answered; asking again and again is disrespect, and disrespect gets no answer. One a day asks you to think the hexagram through instead of shopping for a different answer.

Does where I divide change the result?

Your touch point is spread across the eight stalks around it, so the odds of 9, 8, 7 and 6 are the same wherever you divide. What decides the result is the count you split off in that moment.

Does the AI reading use my chart?

If you are signed in and have made your Zi Wei Dou Shu chart, the reading says how the matter tends to play out for you, but the outlook and whether to go ahead always follow the hexagram. Readings and follow-ups share your Ask allowance: some free each week, then credits.

A hexagram answers one question; your chart shows the whole of you and your year.

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Chart settings (advanced)

Schools differ on a few rules. Keep the defaults if unsure; change them if your chart doesn't match one from another site.

I Ching divination is part of a long cultural tradition. The readings here are a modern way to think it through; the decision is yours.