How to Cast a Liu Yao Hexagram: Three Coins and Six Tosses

The first time I cast a Liu Yao hexagram, two of the three coins went down between the sofa cushions.

As I was crawling back out, something suddenly became clear to me: there is no difficulty at all in the act of tossing the coins; what is difficult is knowing, before you toss them, what you actually want to ask.

Where Liu Yao comes from

Traditionally, divination with the I Ching included casting with yarrow stalks and judging from the hexagram and line texts; two branches later became current among practitioners, the Wen Wang Ke method and Mei Hua Yi Shu. What marks out the Wen Wang Ke method is its use of Na Jia, reading the six lines together with the heavenly stems and earthly branches, the five phases, the Six Relatives, the Self and Response lines and other factors (Source 1).

That is what we now call Liu Yao.

The usual steps of casting

First, prepare three coins (or use small change in their place), a pen and a sheet of paper.

Second, get the question clear in your mind — ideally in one sentence, and attached to a specific person and matter.

Third, put your palms together, shake the three coins evenly and throw them out, and record the result once.

Fourth, record from the bottom upwards: the result of the first throw is the initial line, and the result of the sixth throw is the top line. After six throws, a Liu Yao hexagram has taken shape.

Fifth, arrange the stems and branches, the five phases, the Six Relatives and the Self and Response lines onto it by Na Jia, and only then begin to read (Source 1).

Throughout the whole process, the third and fourth steps are only recording; the fifth step is the reading. Many beginners spend all their effort on "how to toss them accurately", when in fact the way of recording is fixed and there is no technique to it at all.

Three things that matter more than the tossing

The first: the question has to be specific. A question such as "how will my luck run this year" has no landing place, and whoever reads it can only offer empty words; "should I take this position" can land on a specific person, a specific time and a specific matter.

The second: do not toss again and again over the same question. Tossing until you are satisfied turns the result into a menu of options. Most traditional accounts say "do not divine where there is no matter to ask about", and that is what they refer to.

The third: the result is not a promise. What a hexagram gives is the relations and the posture of the present moment, not "this is how it will be". My own practice is to treat the hexagram as a mirror and, after looking, to ask myself one question — how do I intend to use this reminder.

One small detail

Putting my phone on silent before casting is a habit I have kept for many years. Not for the sake of ritual, but because in those few minutes you have to think the question right through. A question you cannot think through clearly leaves you with a hexagram you will not understand either.

Later I fished those two coins back out from between the sofa cushions and put them in my pen holder. What they remind me of is not "toss them accurately", but that the question should be thought through before the tossing — and that has nothing to do with whether you cast a hexagram or not.

Tools on this site (for entertainment)

This site offers an entertainment-oriented process: describe your situation clearly → get a method suggestion → read the chart and the interpretation → export the result if you want to keep it. The content is for entertainment and self-reflection only; it promises no prediction and is not decision advice.

This article was last checked on 19 September 2026. Traditional divination has many schools and a long history, and their formulas and versions do not fully agree; the text relies on publicly verifiable sources, and for dates and calendars please refer to the latest official publication.

Disclaimer: This article covers traditional culture and folk custom. It is for entertainment and self-reflection only, and does not constitute medical, psychological, investment, legal or marital decision advice. Please do not submit sensitive personal information such as ID numbers or detailed addresses. If you experience persistent insomnia, anxiety or physical discomfort, please consult a doctor or a qualified professional.

Sources

• "Yao" (《爻》) — Wikipedia (section on Liu Yao): https://zh.wikipedia.org/zh-cn/爻 (accessed 19 September 2026)
• "I Ching" (《易经》) — Wikipedia (the entry "Zhou Yi" redirects here): https://zh.wikipedia.org/zh-cn/易经 (accessed 19 September 2026)
• Method page on this site: Liu Yao (Six Lines): https://zhanbumizhi.top/en/methods/liuyao (accessed 19 September 2026)