TL;DR: In the I Ching, every consultation is answered with a hexagram made of six lines. Lines can be solid (yang) or broken (yin), and the hexagram is built from the bottom up by tossing three coins six times. Lines valued 6 and 9 are "changing lines": they transform the sign into a second hexagram and give the reading its direction. The first sign describes the present; the second, where things are heading.
What Is a Hexagram?
A hexagram is a sign made of six lines stacked one above the other. A solid line represents yang, the active principle that sets things in motion; a line broken in the middle represents yin, the principle that makes room and receives. All the combinations six lines can take produce the 64 hexagrams, and the Book of Changes gives each of the 64 signs a name, a judgment, and line-by-line commentary.
In fact, every hexagram is built from two three-line building blocks. These triplets, called trigrams, number eight: heaven, earth, thunder, water, mountain, wind, fire, and lake. The lower trigram describes the inner face of the situation, the upper trigram its outward face, and eight times eight combinations map out the 64 signs.
Casting a Hexagram with Three Coins
Preparation
Three coins of the same kind are enough. Lift your question out of the yes-or-no mold and frame it as open-ended: instead of "Should I take this job?", a question like "If I take this job, what kind of process awaits me?" suits the language of the book far better.
The toss and its values
You will toss the coins six times; each toss produces one line, and the hexagram is built from the bottom up. Tails counts as 2, heads as 3; the three coins add up to 6, 7, 8, or 9. A 7 is stable yang (a solid line), an 8 stable yin (a broken line). A 9 is changing yang and a 6 is changing yin; these two are the keystones of the reading.
Changing lines and the second hexagram
A changing line is, as the name says, a line in the middle of transformation: a 9 turns from solid to broken, a 6 from broken to solid. Flip the changing lines and a second hexagram emerges. Tradition reads the first as the present situation and the second as the direction of travel, while the commentaries on the changing lines themselves name the point that needs attention right now. If no line changes, the answer is single and the situation is considered still.
The Best-Known Hexagrams
| No. | Name | Core Theme |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | The Creative (Ch'ien) | Pure yang; a strong beginning, a time to lead |
| 2 | The Receptive (K'un) | Pure yin; supporting, letting conditions ripen |
| 3 | Difficulty at the Beginning | Birth pangs; order sprouting inside chaos |
| 11 | Peace (T'ai) | Heaven and earth in harmony; a fertile season of open flow |
| 12 | Standstill (P'i) | Blockage; a phase for waiting rather than forcing |
| 24 | Return (Fu) | The sign of the winter solstice; what was lost coming back |
| 29 | The Abysmal (K'an) | Danger repeated; water to be crossed carefully, step by step |
| 42 | Increase (I) | A wind of growth; generosity returning many times over |
| 63 | After Completion | The work is done but the order is young; small oversights grow |
| 64 | Before Completion | The last step at the threshold; a warning against declaring victory early |
All 64 signs are far richer than this table; the point is not memorization but seeing what kind of language the signs build together. Someone who consults often eventually stops remembering the hexagrams one by one and starts remembering the transitions between them.
A Sample Reading
Say you consulted about a new partnership and cast hexagram 12, Standstill, with its second line changing. The first message is plain: the flow is blocked right now, and this is not the moment to force it. The changing second line adds that whoever waits patiently will find small but solid support. Flip the line and the second hexagram that emerges gives the direction of travel: the blockage is not permanent, only a passing season.
Is the I Ching Fortune-Telling or Counsel?
The Book of Changes works less like a prophetic text announcing the future and more like a mirror of wisdom consulted at the moment of decision. A hexagram tells you not what will happen, but the nature of the situation you are in and the attitude that fits it. This is why the same sign can give two different counsels to two different questions; a reading is always made together with the context of the question.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do you need coins to cast a hexagram?
No. The classical method uses yarrow stalks; three coins are its faster descendant. What matters is not the tool but the clarity of the question and the order of the tosses.
Can the same question be asked again?
Tradition advises against repeating the same question; one of the book's own signs even chides the insistent questioner, gently. Consulting again when circumstances have changed, however, is entirely natural.
Is the reading incomplete without a changing line?
No. The absence of changing lines shows the situation is still; a single hexagram, together with its judgment, is a complete answer.
If you would like to wander the vocabulary of the signs, have a look at our I Ching glossary, and for the book's history, continue with our guide to the Book of Changes.
