I Ching Divination易占

Casts a hexagram with coins, stalks or numbers, then reads the text of the Zhou Yi.

What it is

Casting is only the method; the reading is always the Zhou Yi. The stalk method appears in the Xi Ci, coins became common later, and Zhu Xi’s Yi Xue Qi Meng set rules for reading changing lines.

How it developed

  1. ZhouZhou YiThe hexagrams and their texts.
  2. Warring States to HanYi ZhuanThe Xi Ci records the stalk count.
  3. HanJing FangSorts the hexagrams into eight palaces and gives lines stems and branches.
  4. SongZhu XiSets out the stalk method and changing lines.
  5. QingZeng Shan Bu YiTeaches Liu Yao through many worked cases.

Sources Siku Quanshu Zongmu Tiyao.