The I Ching (易经, Book of Changes) is one of the oldest texts in the world and the foundation of classical Chinese divination. Its core system is the 64 hexagrams — patterns of six lines, each either solid (Yang ⚊) or broken (Yin ⚋) — that encode a complete map of situations, transitions and archetypal dynamics.
Before the hexagrams, there are eight trigrams (八卦, Bā Guà) — three-line configurations that form the building blocks of the I Ching:
Each hexagram is formed by stacking two trigrams — one below, one above — giving 8 × 8 = 64 possible combinations.
The Six Lines method (六爻, Liù Yáo) is the most widely practised form of I Ching divination in classical Chinese metaphysics. Rather than reading the hexagram poetically through its text, Liu Yao reads it dynamically through the relationships between the six lines.
In Liu Yao, each line is assigned:
A question is answered by identifying the Subject Line (主爻) — the line representing the querent or the matter in question — and the Object Line — the line representing the other party or outcome. The relationship between these two lines, and any changing lines, reveals the answer.
When casting with three coins, certain throws produce a changing line — old Yang (三枚正面) or old Yin (三枚反面). Changing lines transform the hexagram into a second hexagram. The primary hexagram shows the current situation; the changed hexagram shows the direction or outcome. A reading with no changing lines indicates a stable, unchanging situation.
The 64 hexagrams are not arbitrary — they form a complete system of all possible states of change. Classical I Ching scholars saw the hexagrams as encoding the complete vocabulary of human experience: creation and destruction, advance and retreat, clarity and confusion, full engagement and strategic withdrawal. Each hexagram has its time and its lesson.
I Ching (易经, Book of Changes) is a classical Chinese divination text with 64 hexagrams. Practitioners cast a hexagram using coins or yarrow stalks to answer a specific question.
Liu Yao (六爻) is a sophisticated I Ching method that assigns each line to an earthly branch. It reads the hexagram through branch relationships — combinations, clashes and harmonies — to give a detailed situational answer.
There are 64 hexagrams, each formed from two of the eight trigrams stacked on top of each other. Each has a name, a judgment and six line texts.
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