Interpreting: The Original and the Resulting Hexagram

Nine and six change; seven and eight do not

The paper holds six numbers from bottom to top, each 6, 7, 8 or 9. Odd numbers are yang, so 7 and 9 are drawn as yang lines; even numbers are yin, so 6 and 8 are drawn as yin lines. The hexagram so drawn is the original hexagram, běnguà 本卦: the present shape of the matter.

Nines and sixes are changing lines. Why? Yang has 7 and 9; nine is the larger, so it is “old yang”. Yin has 6 and 8; treat yin as negative, and −6 is greater than −8, so six is “old yin”. The Yi uses the old and not the young, because what is old is about to change: nine is like midsummer, six like deep winter, and at the extreme things reverse. Seven (young yang) and eight (young yin) are still developing, so they stay.

Turn every nine into yin and every six into yang, draw again, and you have the resulting hexagram, zhīguà 之卦. Zhī 之 means “to go toward”: the resulting hexagram is where the matter is heading, its next development. If there is no 6 or 9 among the six numbers, there is only the original hexagram.

The whole process runs in one line: numbers, then a figure, then one particular judgment or line statement, then interpretation. The answer finally lands on one of the sixty-four judgments or one of the 384 line statements.

Zhu Xi's seven rules

There can be anywhere from zero to six changing lines. Which text to read follows Zhu Xi's rules, which long practical experience has shown to work remarkably well.

No changing lines: read the judgment of the original hexagram. Nothing has moved, so no single line is singled out; the judgment gives the overall shape of the matter. One changing line: read that line's statement in the original hexagram, and nothing else. Two changing lines: the upper of the two governs, whether yin or yang. Lines move upward, and the higher of the two is the one in force. Three changing lines: read the judgment of the original hexagram, then the judgment of the resulting hexagram, with the original as primary. Three is half: the present shape is about to turn, the resulting hexagram shows the direction of the turn, and you should prepare for it. Four changing lines: of the two unchanged lines in the resulting hexagram, read the LOWER one. The hexagram has already turned; moving upward through the new figure, the first unchanged line you meet is the lower one. Five changing lines: read the single unchanged line in the resulting hexagram. With five lines changed the original has little force left; the one line that stayed is what acts in the new figure. Six changing lines: read the judgment of the resulting hexagram. Everything has changed, so naturally the resulting hexagram leads. Tradition makes a special case of Qian and Kun: all nines in Qian, read “Using nines: a flock of dragons appears without a head; auspicious”; all sixes in Kun, read “Using sixes: favourable for lasting steadfastness”.

Worked example: Following becomes Adornment

Suppose the numbers, bottom to top, are 7, 8, 6, 9, 9, 6.

Step one: draw the original hexagram. 7 yang, 8 yin, 6 yin, 9 yang, 9 yang, 6 yin. The lower three, yang-yin-yin, are Zhen; the upper three, yang-yang-yin, are Dui. Lake over Thunder: Suí 隨, Following.

Step two: find the changing lines. The 6, 9, 9, 6 in the third, fourth, fifth and top places: four changing lines. The 7 in the first place and the 8 in the second do not change.

Step three: draw the resulting hexagram. The third line, 6, turns from yin to yang; the fourth, 9, from yang to yin; the fifth, 9, from yang to yin; the top, 6, from yin to yang. Bottom to top the new figure reads yang, yin, yang, yin, yin, yang: Li below, Gen above. Mountain over Fire: Bì 賁, Adornment.

Step four: apply the rule. With four changing lines, read the lower of the two unchanged lines (the first and second) in the resulting hexagram: Adornment, first line. “He adorns his toes; he leaves the carriage and walks.” The Small Image: “it is right that he not ride.”

Here the original hexagram, Following, carries little weight, but it should still be drawn, so you know the matter began in the shape of Following and is turning toward Adornment. The answer lands on Adornment's first line: start from the lowest and plainest place, and better to walk on your own feet than ride in a carriage that is not yours.

Further principles for interpretation

The rules decide which sentence to read. Understanding that sentence takes a few more principles.

First the hexagram, then the line. The hexagram is the shape of the matter; the line is the specific outcome. Even with one changing line, think first about the situation the whole hexagram describes.

Note which trigram changes. The inner (lower) trigram is closer to you and stands for yourself; the outer (upper) one stands for your surroundings. If the inner stays and the outer changes, you have not changed but your circumstances have. If the outer stays and the inner changes, ask what has recently changed in you: a new school, a move, a new job.

Answer the question that was asked. A handbook may gloss a line separately for prospects, money, home and health. If you asked about prospects, read prospects, and do not frighten yourself with the health column. If a line seems unrelated to your question on its surface, go back to the image, the two trigrams and the line's position. The clearer the question, the easier the match.

Keep “ominous” in proportion. It means only that what you intended will not go as you hoped; it is not catastrophe arriving. Do not look for ornaments or talismans to “neutralise” it; what will happen will happen. If you draw ominous, wait at least three months and see.

The final rule is iron: a cast with any error in the counting is not interpreted. A stalk dropped, a group of four miscounted, the Supreme Ultimate stalk put back by mistake: interpret such a figure and the reading means nothing. Better to calm yourself and cast another day.