How Is an I Ching Reading Different from Liu Yao?
At first the two look alike: you hold a question in mind, toss coins six times and build a hexagram. They do use the same 64 hexagrams, and the casting can be exactly the same. The real difference is how the hexagram is read. Put simply, an I Ching reading reads the text; Liu Yao works with the five elements.
What they share
- Both rest on the 64 hexagrams of the Book of Changes, six lines each, built from the bottom up.
- Both can be cast with three coins: old yang and old yin are moving lines, and flipping them gives the changed hexagram.
- Both ask for one specific question at a time, and advise against asking the same thing again and again.
The differences at a glance
| I Ching reading | Liu Yao | |
|---|---|---|
| Origin | The Book of Changes and its commentaries: the judgements, line texts and the Tuan and Xiang commentaries, complete before the Qin dynasty. | Jing Fang's eight palaces and Na Jia from the Han dynasty, later developed into a full system in works such as the Fire Pearl Forest and Zeng Shan Bu Yi. |
| What you look at | The hexagram name, judgement, image, and the texts of the moving lines. | The branch on each line (Na Jia), the Six Relations, Self and Other lines, Six Spirits and hidden lines. |
| How you judge | By the images and meaning of the text. | By the five elements: how the use god is produced, controlled, clashed or combined by the month, the day and the moving lines, plus voidness and month breaks. |
| Moving lines | Decide which text to read: line texts or the judgement, depending on how many lines move (commonly by Zhu Xi's rules). | Forces in motion: whether the line they change into helps or harms them, and whether they help or harm the use god. |
| Type of question | Only changes the angle of interpretation; the hexagram means the same. | Decides which relation is the use god, so the same hexagram can read very differently for money and for work. |
| Time of casting | Does not affect the reading. | Essential: the month and day set the strength of every line. |
| The answer you get | What the situation means, the attitude to take, things to watch. | Whether it will work out, how smoothly, and where help and obstacles lie. |
| Best for | Direction and mindset, such as "Should I push ahead or hold back at this stage?" | Concrete outcomes, such as whether a contract will close, an exam, a job search, or finding something lost. |
One hexagram, two readings
Say you ask "Is this job worth taking?" and get Obstruction (12) with no moving lines.
An I Ching reading turns to the judgement of Obstruction: above and below do not communicate, the times are closed, and it does not favour the upright person to force things; "the great departs and the small arrives", so you give more than you get. The focus is on attitude: this is not the moment for a big push; hold to your principles and wait.
Liu Yao first dresses the hexagram. Obstruction is the third-generation hexagram of the Qian (Metal) palace; the Self line is line 3, Yi-Mao Wealth, and the Other line is line 6, Ren-Xu Parents. Mao and Xu combine, and Obstruction itself is a six-harmony hexagram. For a job question the use god is Officer, and there are two Officer Fire lines, Yi-Si on line 2 and Ren-Wu on line 4. The next step is to check whether the month and day of the casting support or control them, and whether they are void. The same Obstruction cast in summer, when Fire is strong, may read as likely to work out; cast in winter, when Water controls Fire, it leans the other way.
The I Ching gives you the situation and the attitude; Liu Yao gives you the strength of the matter itself. They answer different layers of the same question.
Can I use both?
Yes, and there is no need to cast twice. Our Liu Yao tool lists the primary and changed hexagrams, and each name opens the I Ching text: use Liu Yao for how things are likely to go, then read the text to think about how to approach it. If you only want clarity on direction and not a verdict, an I Ching reading on its own is enough.
Try them
- I Ching reading: yarrow stalks, three coins or plum blossom, with the judgement, line texts and readings by question type.
- Liu Yao divination: toss online or enter your own tosses; the hexagram is dressed automatically, with the use god and its strength marked.
This is fixed text compiled from general convention, not a reading of any individual and not a prediction. For important decisions, please consult qualified professionals.