Quick Guide
The I Ching, or Yijing, is an ancient Chinese text built around 64 six-line figures called hexagrams. Britannica lists it among the Five Classics of Confucianism, attributes its main body by tradition to King Wen in the 12th century BC, and dates the commentaries to later periods. People consult it by tossing three coins or sorting yarrow stalks to build a hexagram, then reading the passage attached to it. Used this way it is a reflection tool: it can prompt a fresh look at a question, but it does not predict events, assess health or replace a doctor, a counsellor or your own judgment. This page covers the history, how the hexagrams are built, how the two consulting methods work, and where the boundaries sit.
Many people who enjoy Reiki, meditation or tarot eventually come across the I Ching. It is older than any of those practices, it has a reputation for depth, and the first encounter can be confusing: a book of short, poetic passages, a diagram of broken and solid lines, and instructions about coins or stalks. This guide explains what the text is, where it comes from and how a consultation works in plain terms.
It also draws a clear line. Reading a hexagram can be an interesting and calming way to think about a question. It is not a form of assessment. A passage cannot tell you whether a symptom is serious, whether a relationship is safe or whether a decision will succeed. Keeping that boundary clear is what makes the practice useful rather than misleading.
What the I Ching is: a short history
Yijing means roughly Classic of Changes, and the name I Ching is an older spelling of the same words. According to Britannica, it is one of the Five Classics, the group of ancient texts that became the foundation of Confucian learning. The main body of the text, the hexagrams with their short judgments and line statements, is traditionally attributed to King Wen, a founder of the Zhou dynasty in the 12th century BC. The commentaries that explain and expand the text were written later, over several centuries, and they are the part that gives the book much of its philosophical flavour.
That history matters for one practical reason. A modern reader of a passage about patience or timing is reading three layers at once: a very old core, later commentary and a translator’s choices. None of them was written about the reader’s particular life, and treating the text as a message addressed to you is an interpretive step you take, not something the book claims for itself.
- LinesA solid line stands for yang and a broken line for yin. Every figure in the book is built from these two marks.
- TrigramsThree lines make a trigram, and there are eight possible trigrams, each with a traditional image such as heaven, earth, water or mountain.
- HexagramsTwo trigrams stacked together make a hexagram. With six lines there are 64 combinations, and each has a name, a judgment and six line statements.
- CommentariesLater writers added explanations of the images and judgments, which is why editions differ so much in tone and length.
How a hexagram is built and read
A hexagram is read from the bottom line upward, so the first line you cast is the lowest one. Each line can be young or old. A young line is stable. An old line is called a changing line, and in a traditional reading it flips to its opposite, which produces a second hexagram. Readers treat the first hexagram as the present situation, the changing lines as points of movement, and the second hexagram as where things may be heading. All of that is a structured way of thinking about a question. The structure is the value; the prediction is not.
Editions vary a great deal. Some stay close to the ancient wording and feel terse; others expand every passage into modern advice. Note which kind you have, because an expansive edition gives you the editor’s view as well as the text. Keeping the quoted passage and your own reaction on separate lines in a notebook shows where one ends and the other begins.
Two ways of consulting the text
Both traditional methods do the same job: they produce six lines, one at a time, with a chance element that decides whether each line is yin or yang and whether it is changing. Neither method requires special coins or special stalks, and neither one is more accurate than the other, because accuracy is not what a consultation measures.
The coin method. Take three ordinary coins. Toss all three together and give each coin a value, usually three for heads and two for tails. Add the three values. A total of six is an old, changing yin line; seven is a young yang line; eight is a young yin line; nine is an old, changing yang line. Draw that line at the bottom, then toss again five more times, drawing each new line above the last. The whole process takes two or three minutes.
The yarrow-stalk method. This is the older and slower approach. Start with fifty stalks, set one aside, and divide the remaining 49 into two piles at random. A series of counting-off steps removes small groups of stalks, and the number left after three rounds decides the line. The process is repeated for each of the six lines, so a full consultation can take twenty minutes or more. Many people choose it precisely because the slowness feels like a meditation.
| Feature |
Three coins |
Yarrow stalks |
| Time for six lines |
About two to three minutes |
Often twenty minutes or more |
| Equipment |
Any three coins |
Fifty thin sticks or stalks |
| Chance of changing lines |
Equal for yin and yang |
Weighted differently, which some readers prefer as the traditional pattern |
| Feel of the process |
Quick, easy to learn, good for beginners |
Slow and deliberate, closer to a ritual |
| What it tells you |
Which passage to read and reflect on |
Which passage to read and reflect on |
The last row of the table is the important one. Whichever method you use, the result is a passage to think about. The method chooses the passage; you do the thinking.
Reading a hexagram as reflection, not prediction
- Write the question first. Keep it about your own choices and attitudes, such as how to approach a difficult week, rather than about events you cannot control or other people’s intentions.
- Cast the lines and record them. Note the hexagram number, the edition you are using and any changing lines, so you can return to the entry later.
- Read the passage slowly, then put the book down. Write what the words brought to mind in your own language before reading any commentary.
- Separate the text from your reaction. Quote the passage on one line and your thoughts on the next. Your thoughts are the useful part.
- Choose one small, ordinary action. A conversation, a boundary, a rest, a task you have been avoiding. The passage is a prompt; the action is yours.
- Review after a week. Ask whether the reflection helped you think more clearly. Do not ask whether the prediction came true, because no prediction was made.
This method works just as well with a poem or a tarot card, and that is not a weakness. It shows that the benefit comes from pausing, framing a question and writing an honest response, skills you keep whatever the tool. Our guide to tarot, psychology and mental wellness describes the same approach with a different set of images, and our page on developing your intuition with simple exercises explains how to tell a useful hunch from wishful thinking.
What a consultation can and cannot do
Three different things are often bundled into the word helpful. A consultation can be interesting, because the text is old and rich. It can be personally meaningful, because a passage prompts a memory or a question you had been avoiding. It cannot be clinically effective, because no passage has been shown to improve a defined health outcome. Feeling calmer after a reading is real, and it is also what you would expect from twenty quiet minutes with any thoughtful text. Our summary of mind-body approaches and what the evidence supports shows how modest the research is even for well-studied practices such as meditation, and the I Ching has no comparable research at all.
- Use it to frame a question you have been circling without naming.
- Use it to slow down before a decision you are tempted to rush.
- Use it as a journaling prompt alongside meditation, a walk or a Reiki session.
- Do not use it to judge a symptom, decide on medication or choose a supplement.
- Do not use it to assess another person, their feelings or their intentions.
- Do not let anyone use it on you as proof that a practice, a purchase or a course of action is right.
Safety and boundary note. A hexagram is a prompt for reflection, not a diagnosis, and no reading should delay care for a physical or mental health concern. If you are consulting the text because you feel low, anxious or overwhelmed, the NIMH guide to caring for your mental health explains when ordinary stress has become something to talk about with a professional. If you are in crisis or thinking about harming yourself, call or text 988 in the US to reach the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline at any hour. If a practitioner uses a reading to tell you that a health problem has a spiritual cause, ask for evidence about that specific claim, and keep decisions with the people trained to make them with you.
Where the I Ching sits beside Reiki and similar practices
Reiki and the I Ching come from different places and do different things. Reiki is a Japanese hands-on relaxation practice; our review of Reiki research and its limits explains that it has not been clearly shown to be effective for any health-related purpose, that there is no scientific evidence for the energy field it describes, and that no harmful effects have been reported. The I Ching is a text, and consulting it is a reading and writing exercise. Some people cast a hexagram before a session to set an intention or afterwards to reflect. That pairing is fine as a personal ritual. It is not a treatment, and neither practice makes the other more accurate or more effective.
What both share, at their best, is a pause. A quiet half hour, a question held lightly and a willingness to notice what comes up suit most people, and the ideas in our guide to non-attachment apply well here: hold the passage loosely, take what is useful and let the rest go.
Key Takeaways
- The I Ching is an ancient Chinese classic of 64 hexagrams, traditionally attributed in its main body to King Wen, with commentaries added later.
- Each hexagram is six lines built from two trigrams, read from the bottom up, with changing lines that can point to a second hexagram.
- Three coins give a quick consultation and yarrow stalks a slow one, but both simply choose a passage for you to reflect on.
- A reading can be interesting and personally meaningful; it cannot assess health, predict events or judge another person.
- Keep the quoted text and your own reaction on separate lines, choose one small action, and leave medical and mental health decisions with professionals.
Related reading
Frequently Asked Questions
1. What is the I Ching?
The I Ching, or Yijing, is an ancient Chinese text built around 64 hexagrams, each with a short judgment and six line statements. Britannica lists it among the Five Classics of Confucianism.
2. Who wrote the I Ching?
Tradition attributes the main body of the text to King Wen in the 12th century BC. The commentaries that accompany it were written later over several centuries, so the book as we have it has more than one layer.
3. What is a hexagram?
A hexagram is a figure of six lines, each either solid for yang or broken for yin. It is made of two three-line trigrams stacked together, and the 64 possible combinations give the book its 64 chapters.
4. What is a changing line?
A changing line is one that the casting method marks as old rather than young. In a traditional reading it flips to its opposite, which produces a second hexagram that readers treat as the direction of movement.
5. How does the three-coin method work?
Toss three coins, count three for each head and two for each tail, and add the values. Six and nine are changing lines, seven and eight are stable lines. Draw the first line at the bottom and repeat five more times.
6. How does the yarrow-stalk method work?
Fifty stalks are used, one is set aside, and the rest are divided and counted off in a set sequence three times to produce each line. It takes much longer than coins and many people value it as a slow, meditative process.
7. Is one method more accurate than the other?
No. Accuracy is not what a consultation measures. Both methods choose a passage for you to read and reflect on; the reflection is where any value comes from.
8. Can the I Ching predict the future?
There is no evidence that it can, and this guide does not present it that way. Reading a passage can help you think about a question more clearly, which is a different and more realistic benefit.
9. Can the I Ching tell me anything about my health?
No. A hexagram cannot assess a symptom, choose a treatment or decide whether something is urgent. Health questions belong with a doctor, and mental health concerns with a doctor or counsellor.
10. How should I word a question for a reading?
Keep it about your own attitude or next step, such as how to approach a busy month, rather than about other people’s intentions or events you cannot control. Questions about your own choices produce more useful reflection.
11. Which edition of the I Ching should I use?
Any edition works for reflection. Note whether it stays close to the ancient wording or expands passages into modern advice, because expansive editions give you the editor’s interpretation as well as the text.
12. Can I combine the I Ching with Reiki?
You can cast a hexagram before or after a Reiki session as a personal ritual for setting an intention or reflecting. Neither practice makes the other more effective or more accurate, and the combination is not a treatment.
13. What if a reading makes me feel worse?
Put the book down and treat the feeling as the useful information. A passage that unsettles you is a sign to talk things through with someone you trust, and if low mood or anxiety is persistent, speak with a professional.
14. Does feeling calmer after a reading show that the text works?
It shows that twenty quiet minutes with a thoughtful text can be calming, which is a real benefit. It does not show that the text has special knowledge or that it has changed anything about your circumstances.
Final thoughts
The I Ching rewards curiosity. Its history is long, its structure is elegant, and a slow consultation with coins or stalks can be a calming way to sit with a question. The practice stays healthy when the boundary stays clear: the text chooses a passage, you do the reflecting, and decisions about your health, relationships and safety stay with you and the people qualified to help. Read it, enjoy it, write down what it stirs, and keep your own judgment in charge.
Evidence statements checked against Britannica and NIMH on 30 September 2026.
