I Ching Reading Methods: Takashima, Liu Yao and Plum Blossom

Casting produces the hexagram and any changing lines. Takashima's abbreviated method obtains an upper trigram, a lower trigram, and one changing-line position. Three-coin casting builds six lines through six throws and can produce zero through six changes.

Interpretation is the work of reading that result. A coin cast can be read through the Zhouyi's texts or used to build a Liu Yao chart. Using coins alone does not decide which interpretation method you are practicing.

With the site's one-line result, begin with the main hexagram and read its changing-line text. The judgment and traditional commentaries help explain the situation and the image of the line. Consult the relating hexagram to understand the change.

The Zhouyi's judgments and line texts are the core passages. The Ten Wings include the Tuan commentary on the judgments and the Image commentary on figures and lines. Takashima Ekidan, also called Gaodao Yiduan in Chinese, adds interpretations and recorded consultations. Its cases show how Takashima connected the text to the concern being asked about.

This approach asks what the words describe, why that line matters within its hexagram, and how they bear on this consultation. A passage about waiting may concern a reply, a journey, or an undertaking; the question supplies that setting.

Liu Yao literally means “six lines.” As the name of a divination method, it usually refers to the Na Jia tradition. It assigns calendrical stems and branches to the lines and uses the five phases—wood, fire, earth, metal, and water—to examine their relationships.

The chart identifies self and counterpart positions, traditional relationship categories, and a focal line for the matter asked about. The day and month, the strength of the lines, and changes between them also matter.

A hexagram name and a line quotation therefore leave much of a Liu Yao reading undone. A practitioner needs the chart and its calendrical information, then follows the rules for the subject of the consultation.

Plum Blossom divination, or Meihua Yishu, can form hexagrams from numbers, time, or things encountered in a situation. It considers what the trigram images suggest in that setting.

The reading often distinguishes ti, the subject trigram, from yong, the responding or interacting trigram. Their five-phase relationship is read with the mutual hexagram formed from the inner lines, the changed hexagram, and the surrounding circumstances. The classic's line texts can also be consulted.

Its distinctive feature is how these images and relationships are combined. Learning it involves more than finding a sentence under a hexagram's name.

Suppose you invited someone to meet at the weekend and are wondering whether to send another message today. You receive 31.2 → 28: Influence, second line changing, becoming Preponderance of the Great. Mountain is below Lake; changing line 2 from yin to yang turns Mountain into Wind.

For a text reading, the central passage is Influence's second line: “Influence in the calves. Misfortune. Staying brings good fortune.” The calves suggest an urge to move. Since the invitation is already sent and you have no new details to add, the line favors leaving room for a reply. The relating hexagram's image of an excessive load can also draw attention to how much expectation rests on this answer.

A Liu Yao practitioner would additionally need the chart, date, and the relevant relationship lines before giving a Liu Yao judgment. A Plum Blossom reading would examine the two trigrams as ti and yong, their relationship, and the circumstances of the cast. Those methods reach their judgments through these additional relationships.

For the site's Takashima method, learn to locate the main passage and read its commentary alongside your question. The hexagram-page guide shows that process on an actual example.

To learn Liu Yao, begin with constructing the chart and understanding its relationships. For Plum Blossom, begin with trigram images and ti–yong. Keep the casting record and method together so that another reader can follow how you reached the passages or relationships you used.