I Ching Divination

Reading the Hexagram

Once you have cast your hexagram, the next step is to read and interpret it. For this you will need a copy of the Book of Changes. If you don't have a copy then you can buy one or access an online version, for example here.

Our (randomly selected) example hexagram consists of the Kan trigram above the Tui trigram. This gives hexagram 60 - Chieh (limitation).

So, we now turn to the interpretation of Chieh and read it in relation to our question. That's not all. We have two moving (old) lines: numbers two and four. So we also need to read the extra commentaries "Nine in the second place" and "six in the fourth place".

If our question has a time element then it is traditional to consider the lower lines as nearer the present, the higher ones as further in the future.

The I Ching is all about change. Therefore - except in those rare occasions where there are no old lines in our hexagram - we must move on.

In this case, our hexagram changes from Chieh to hexagram 17, Sui (following). We must now read the commentary on the new resultant hexagram.

In the same way that old lines change into new lines of the opposite type, young lines become old lines of the same type. Some people take no notice of these in the resultant hexagram, others like to read them - in this case they would be nine in the first place, six in the third place, nine in the fifth place and six at the top.

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