Liu Yao

Toss the coins or enter your lines, and the chart is laid out by the Na Jia method.

What it answers
Whether one matter leans well or meets resistance.
What you need
A question, chosen from the list before you toss.
What you get
The full chart, a trial reading and every reason behind it.
What are you asking about?
Choose before you toss. Health, lawsuits, pregnancy and investment are not offered.
Your six lines
Line 6
Line 5
Line 4
Line 3
Line 2
Line 1

Sample cast

坎

水火既濟 After Completion

Becomes 澤雷隨 Following

坎 palace · Month branch 戌 · day 乙酉 · Empty: 午, 未

Reading

Trial

Leaning well: the news is likely to come

The use god has more help than hindrance. Each line below is a reason; mind the ones marked −.

  • ·
    The use god is the Parents line (申 Metal), at line 4.Use god chapter: for letters and documents, take the Parents line
  • ＋
    The 戌 month feeds the Parents line (申 Metal).Month chapter: a weak line the month feeds grows strong
  • ＋
    The 酉 day supports the Parents line (申 Metal).Day chapter
  • ＋
    The Parents line (申 Metal) is born or at its peak on a 酉 day: full of force.Life stages chapter
  • ＋
    The use god is tied to your self line, the Siblings line (亥 Water): it holds, feeds or combines with it, or as money overcomes it. This lands on you.
  • －
    Your self line the Siblings line (亥 Water) moves and becomes 辰 Earth, which overcomes it: something on your side holds you back. Do not rush.Change chapter

Worked out by the rules of Zeng Shan Bu Yi. A trial, not a verdict. Checked against the book's cases with recorded outcomes: about eight in ten of its "leaning well" calls came true.

In plain words

The situation

The thing is done.

What you can do

Now guarding it matters most. Do not relax into disorder.

Moving line · 3

Big goals take long effort; don't rely on unreliable people.

Moving line · 4

Things look whole but have leaks; stay alert all day.

Where it is heading

This calls for adapting and following well.

For culture and reflection only. Our own plain summary, not a translation.

SpiritRelative and branchLineBecomes
Black TortoiseSiblings 子水應
White TigerOfficer 戌土
Soaring SnakeParents 申金Use god亥水Siblings
Hook ArraySiblings 亥水Hidden Wealth 午火世辰土Officer
Vermilion BirdOfficer 丑土
Azure LoongChildren 卯木

What the five relatives stand for

Parents
Parents, elders, documents, houses.
Siblings
Peers, rivals, loss of money.
Officer
Officials, work, husbands, worry and illness.
Wealth
Money, goods, wives.
Children
Children, helpers, ease, medicine.

A traditional method, shown for culture, not advice.

Understanding Liu Yao

Liu Yao, or Six Lines, reads a hexagram differently from the Zhou Yi. It gives each line a stem, a branch and an element, then compares them with the month and day of the casting. The method goes back to Jing Fang of the Han, and later books such as Huo Zhu Lin and Zeng Shan Bu Yi set it out.

How it works

  1. Cast six linesThree coins, from the bottom line up. Old lines are moving lines.
  2. Find the palaceAll sixty-four hexagrams belong to eight palaces, and the palace gives the element.
  3. Set the Na JiaEach line takes a stem and branch from its trigram.
  4. Name the relativesEach line’s element is compared with the palace.
  5. Place Self and OtherThe place in the palace sets the Self line. The Other line is three places away.
  6. Add the spiritsThe day stem sets the six spirits, from the bottom line up.

How to read it

  1. Start with the Self lineIt stands for you. The Other line stands for the other side.
  2. Choose the relative for your questionFor work look at Officer, for money at Wealth, for documents at Parents.
  3. Look at moving linesThese are the lines that act.
  4. Compare with the month and dayZeng Shan Bu Yi puts most weight on the month and day.

Our method

Check
All 253 charts we could extract from Zeng Shan Bu Yi match: relatives, branches, Self, Other and changed lines. They cover 63 of the 64 hexagrams.
Palaces
The eight palace table in Zeng Shan Bu Yi, also found in Jing Fang.
Hidden lines
A missing relative is taken from the pure hexagram of the palace, as Huo Zhu Lin describes.
Reading
A trial. Choose what you are asking about first. Following Zeng Shan Bu Yi, we take the use god and weigh the month, the day, empty branches, moving lines and how the use god changes, citing the chapter for each reason. We only say "leaning well", "no clear help" or "much stands in the way", never that something will or will not happen. Checked on 77 cases from the book with recorded outcomes that we had not looked at: 31 of the 39 "leaning well" calls came true, where about six in ten of those cases came true overall. Timing is not covered.

Common questions

How is this different from the three coin tool?

The coin tool reads the Zhou Yi text. This one reads stems, branches and relatives.

Why does the time matter?

The month and day of the casting set the spirits and empty branches.

Is my cast saved?

No. It stays in your browser.

Why can I not ask about health or lawsuits?

These matters are too serious for one cast to stand in for a doctor, a lawyer or other professional advice, so we leave them out.

Sources

  • Zeng Shan Bu Yi, online transcription on Wikisource, not yet checked against print.
  • Huo Zhu Lin, Wikisource.
  • Jing Shi Yi Zhuan, Sibu Congkan text on Wikisource.