So let’s say you finally grabbed yourself a copy of the I Ching. You open up and realize that it’s full of hexagrams with descriptions tied to each of them. Then how do you consult it? Lucky for you, there are all kinds of ways to consult it.
The most traditional way to consult it is listed here: https://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/I_Ching/The_Ancient_Yarrow_Stalk_Method
I am sure that if you take a look at the steps, you will find that it is pretty time consuming. After all, you literally have to construct each line of a hexagram at a time. Then, what do you do if you do not want to use the traditional yarrow stalk method?
There is a simplified method for consulting the I Ching that uses yarrow stalks as well. This method has been known in Japan since the 18th century. My research led me to this book: https://dl.ndl.go.jp/pid/760010/1/2 by Arai Hakuga. This method was later used by Takashima Kaemon, also from Japan, for his work Takashima Ekidan, which is a compilation of case studies of Takashima consulting the I Ching, for numerous uses, stretching from business to politics. If you are curious for an English translation of this method, check out this link: https://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/I_Ching/The_Modified_Yarrow_Stalk_Method
This method is faster than the previous one. Instead of constructing each individual line at a time, this method allows us to construct three lines at a time. However, there is an extra step to determine the changing line for the hexagram that the first method doesn’t require. This method also comes with the caveat that there can be only one changing line per hexagram, while the former method allows for multiple changing lines in a single hexagram.
What if you don’t have any yarrow stalks? Can you still consult the I Ching? Of course! There are other ways as well, such as using a series of coin flips to build up your hexagram. Take out your wallet, pick three coins, shake it around, and reveal it. For each head you see, add 3. For each tail you see, add 2. If your total is 6, then you have a changing yin. If your total is 7, you have a yang. If your total is 8, you have a yin, and if your total is 9, you have a changing yang. Repeat this 5 times for the remaining lines to make a hexagram.
That being said, there is an alternative viewpoint which assigns the value of 2 to heads and the value of 3 to tails, and uses the total values as above. Which method is more accurate, I do not know. Feel free to experiment with both techniques and let me know in the comments below.
What if you do not have any coins? Fret not, there are other techniques as well. In fact, in the Chinese book 梅花易數 (Mei Hua Yi Shu), also known as Plum Blossom Numerology, other methods are listed, that use whatever is around you. You can use the current date, you can use the number of strokes in a name, and you can even rely on the number of knocks on your door to come up with a hexagram (this is an actual example in the book) to come up with two or three numbers that you can use to set up a hexagram for the I Ching.
How does this work?
Let’s say someone gives you three numbers, 26, 75, and 22. We take the first number, divide it by 8, and take the remainder. For the math and computer science nerds out there, this is the modulo function. So if you take 26 and divide by 8, you will get 3 with a remainder of 2. Refer to the chart below to get the upper trigram for our hexagram.
| Remainder | Trigram | Character |
| 0 | ☷ | 坤 (kun) |
| 1 | ☰ | 乾 (qian) |
| 2 | ☱ | 兌 (dui) |
| 3 | ☲ | 離 (li) |
| 4 | ☳ | 震 (zhen) |
| 5 | ☴ | 巽 (xun) |
| 6 | ☵ | 坎 (kan) |
| 7 | ☶ | 艮 (gen) |
This tells us that our upper trigram will be ☱. Repeat the same for the second number. 75 modulo 8 is 3, which tells us that our bottom trigram will be ☲. We combine ☱ and ☲ together to get ䷰, which is 革 (skinning).
To get the changing line for our hexagram, we take the third number, 22, and modulo 6 it. This gets us 4, which means our changing hexagram would be the 4th line from the bottom. You can then look up in your copy of the I Ching or online to see what the 4th line for the skinning hexagram represents.
What if you only have two numbers? How will you get the third number for determining the changing line? Fret not. You can just add up the first two numbers to obtain the third number.
What if you lost your copy of the I Ching? Can you still get a rough idea of whether your hexagram and changing line is auspicious or inauspicious? Yes. The Mei Hua Yi Shu covers a method to do that, involving the interaction of the five elements. I will cover this in another blog post.