I Ching Divination

The origins of the I Ching (Book of Changes) reach back to the Shang dynasty (c. 1600–1046 BCE) and the early Western Zhou (c. 1046–771 BCE). Tradition credits King Wen of Zhou with compiling the earliest version. The book is an ancient classic describing the changes of heaven, earth and all things.

The I Ching has long been used for divination — predicting how a situation may develop — and it is also a book that summarizes the patterns behind those predictions.

The most traditional method uses yarrow stalks. The sequence in the Zhouyi is: yarrow — counting — lines — hexagram — text — reading.

The coin method is said to have been created by King Wen, which is why it is also called the Wen Wang sixty-four hexagrams. Its advantage is speed: the whole casting takes only a few minutes, and coins are easy to find. It became one of the most widely used divination methods.

This site demonstrates the coin method, in three stages: casting, reading the hexagram, and interpretation.

Casting: random coin results produce 6, 7, 8 or 9, corresponding to old yin, young yang, young yin and old yang, forming the lines and the hexagram.

Reading: the primary and changed hexagrams are formed, and the number of changing lines determines which hexagram text or line texts are consulted.

This feature is intended to demonstrate the process of I Ching divination. Do not use this site for any activity related to superstition. Hexagram texts, like answer books, horoscopes and personality typologies, are ambiguous; please read the explanation of the Barnum effect.

The Barnum effect is a psychological phenomenon named by psychologist Bertram Forer in honour of P. T. Barnum. People tend to rate vague, general personality descriptions as highly accurate when they believe the descriptions were written specifically for them — even though the same statements could apply to almost anyone. The Barnum effect explains much of the appeal of astrology, divination, personality quizzes and other widely accepted pseudosciences.

Still, these tests can be useful. Like someone who flips a coin to make a decision, what matters is what you were hoping for at the moment the coin left your hand — not the coin's answer. A test can also reveal your subconscious expectations about your own image.

So it is worth looking back at the result together with the process of answering. For a positive suggestion, recognise that it reflects what you hope for yourself, and then act on it. For a negative suggestion, recognise that it is only self-suggestion, and consciously avoid letting it shape you.