Six Lines Method (Liu Yao)

A hexagram has six yin or yang positions. Number them from the bottom: lines 1–3 form the lower trigram and lines 4–6 the upper trigram. A broken line is yin; an unbroken line is yang. This structure does not by itself specify a casting or interpretation method.

In the Na Jia tradition commonly called Liu Yao, a reader assigns stems and branches to the lines, identifies the hexagram palace, classifies relationships and examines the casting month and day. The separate chapters of Zeng Shan Bu Yi show these as additional procedures rather than information already contained in six coin totals.

Meihua Yishu also produces six-line figures, but its received text describes number and time methods, using division by eight for trigrams and division by six for a moving-line position. It is a different casting framework. Having six lines does not make every Meihua or text-based I Ching reading a full Na Jia reading.

Choose the face convention before casting. Here heads (H) = 3 and tails (T) = 2. Sum three coins on each throw. This example uses invented teaching data, not a reading for a real person. Zeng Shan Bu Yi describes a marked-face/back-face convention; modern heads and tails must be mapped explicitly instead of assumed equivalent.

• 6 = old yin: broken in the primary figure, changes to unbroken.
• 7 = young yang: unbroken and unchanged.
• 8 = young yin: broken and unchanged.
• 9 = old yang: unbroken in the primary figure, changes to broken.

1. Throw 1: T T T = 2 + 2 + 2 = 6 → line 1, old yin, changes.
2. Throw 2: H T T = 3 + 2 + 2 = 7 → line 2, young yang.
3. Throw 3: H H T = 3 + 3 + 2 = 8 → line 3, young yin.
4. Throw 4: H H H = 3 + 3 + 3 = 9 → line 4, old yang, changes.
5. Throw 5: H T T = 3 + 2 + 2 = 7 → line 5, young yang.
6. Throw 6: H H T = 3 + 3 + 2 = 8 → line 6, young yin.

Build from the bottom upward. The primary pattern is yin–yang–yin / yang–yang–yin: Kan (water) below Dui (lake), forming hexagram 47, Kun (困), conventionally called Oppression or Exhaustion. Flip both old lines, 1 and 4; keep lines 2, 3, 5 and 6 unchanged. The changed pattern is yang–yang–yin / yin–yang–yin: Dui below Kan, hexagram 60, Jie (節), conventionally called Limitation.

Na Jia is an assignment system for stems and branches on the inner and outer trigrams. In the eight-palace approach illustrated by Zeng Shan Bu Yi, the primary hexagram’s palace element supplies the reference for classifying each line’s element. The reference is not simply the Heavenly Stem of the casting day.

• Parents (父母): the element that generates the palace element.
• Siblings (兄弟): the same element as the palace element.
• Descendants (子孫): the element generated by the palace element.
• Wealth (妻財): the element controlled by the palace element.
• Officials/Ghosts (官鬼): the element that controls the palace element.

These are the five conventional relationship labels called Six Relatives. Shi (世) and Ying (應) are separate position markers, established through the palace arrangement. A Shi or Ying line also has a relationship label; the markers are not a sixth element relationship. Shi is commonly used for the querent, while the role of Ying depends on the question.

Yong Shen (用神) is the focus selected for the matter being asked about. The Use-Spirit chapter gives different selections for people, documents, wealth and other topics. Month and day are then considered through traditional strength, generation, control and clash rules. They contextualize a chart; they do not replace the palace-based relationship assignment.

For example, a question about a document requires explaining why the document is associated with a particular focus, which line supplies it and which calendar rules are being used. Attaching a label such as “wealth” to every question is not a complete reading. Our coin example stops before this stage because it supplies no casting date or full assignment chart.

1. Write one specific question and its practical context. Record the casting date and calendar convention if you intend to use Na Jia analysis.
2. Fix the two coin-face values, then record every three-coin result and total in throw order. Put the first throw at the bottom.
3. Construct the primary figure and mark every 6 or 9. Change all marked lines to construct the changed figure; a cast with no 6 or 9 has no changing lines under this rule.
4. Identify both trigrams and verify the hexagram names. For a text-based reading, consult the relevant received texts and state your rule for handling multiple changing lines.
5. For a Na Jia reading, add an explicit assignment chart, palace reference, relationship labels, Shi/Ying, selected Yong Shen and month/day rules before offering an interpretation.
6. Keep the cast, textual interpretation and real-world observations distinct. Revisit the question using evidence about the actual situation.

• Reversing throw order changes the figure. The first throw is the bottom line even when a drawing lists line 6 first.
• Changing every yin or every yang line is incorrect. Only old yin (6) and old yang (9) change in the three-coin rule.
• Choosing just one moving line can produce a different changed hexagram when several old lines occur.
• A figure alone cannot establish a full Na Jia interpretation; assignments, palace and calendar conventions must be visible.
• Classical case narratives document traditional practice. They do not establish a measured prediction accuracy or guarantee an event.

Use symbolic interpretation to formulate questions you can investigate: what is the constraint, what information is missing and which action can be tested? Decisions about money, health or another person still need evidence from that situation.

Choose Coin Casting on the divination page to simulate six three-coin throws. The current tool records six line values and computes the upper and lower trigrams, then requests a simplified explanation. Its interface highlights one moving-line position. It does not provide a verified full Na Jia chart with deterministic stem/branch, Six Relatives and Shi/Ying assignments.

For this two-moving-line example, use the full six-value record to check both changes. A single highlighted position cannot represent both. Under the traditional coin rule, a cast containing only 7 and 8 is static; a moving-line suggestion in a simplified tool should not be treated as evidence of an old line.

Zeng Shan Bu Yi supplies the bottom-up casting procedure, trigram shapes, moving-line rules and the separate relationship, position, focus and calendar chapters. The I Ching entries for Kun and Jie check the two named figures. Meihua Yishu, volume one, documents the contrasting number/time procedures.

The linked Wikisource material is a modern transcription of received texts and contains identified editor additions. We use the named classical chapters for method descriptions and do not attribute modern editor notes to the original authors. This page paraphrases the procedures; the example totals and diagram are authored for teaching.