The Self Line and the Response Line in Liu Yao: Who Stands for You, Who Stands for the Other Side
A reader asked me a question: he had fallen out with a colleague, cast a hexagram about it, and the result came out as "the Self line controls the Response line". Did that mean he was certain to win?
I asked him: do you want to win, or do you want this thing to be over?
He thought about it for a long time, and said he wanted it to be over.
What the Self Line and the Response Line Are
In Liu Yao, the six line positions are not all the same. The Wen Wang Ke method reads 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); among them, the Self line and the Response line are the most basic pair of coordinates.
The Self line stands for the person asking — the position of "my side".
The Response line stands for the side opposite — it may be that other person, or it may be the external conditions of the matter.
Once that pair of coordinates is set, everything else has something to be read against: who generates whom, who controls whom, which line is empty and which is solid.
How to Read a Relationship
Step one: fix the Self and Response lines. This is a fixed procedure, visible as soon as the chart is laid out.
Step two: look at the Six Relatives. Parents, siblings, descendants, Wife/Wealth (qicai) and Officer/Ghost (guangui) are the six categories Liu Yao uses to mark what role a given line is playing.
Step three: look at generation and control. The relation between the Self line and the Response line is often used to describe the posture between me and the other side: I am strong and they are weak, they are strong and I am weak, the two generate each other, or the two wear each other down.
Step four: only then come back to the question itself. The same Self-and-Response relation reads differently when the question is "can this deal be closed" and when it is "should this relationship continue".
Why "the Self Line Controls the Response Line, So I Win" Does Not Hold
Because winning is not what a hexagram is for. A hexagram describes the state of a relationship, not the result of a contest.
The example I keep coming back to is this: the Self line controlling the Response line may mean you are pushing the other side along, and it may equally mean you are the one wearing out faster over this matter. Which way that same relation reads depends on what you asked, and on what you actually want.
Another point that is easily overlooked: Liu Yao reads the relationship here and now, and it is strongly time-bound. Cast it and then leave it aside, and a month later the same hexagram fitted onto a new situation will only read back your own mood at the time.
How I Use It Myself
Before casting, write down one sentence and make clear what you want to know. After casting, do not rush to look for good or bad luck; first pass through the three layers of Self and Response, Six Relatives and generation-and-control, and only then ask yourself: what does this reminder amount to for the thing I have to do tomorrow?
That reader later told me he did not go for the win. He went to his colleague and redrew the boundaries of the handover, and the matter passed. He said the hexagram had not actually told him what to do; it had simply made him work out, during the few minutes of casting, what he really wanted for the first time.
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 (the section on "Liu Yao"): https://zh.wikipedia.org/zh-cn/爻 (accessed 19 September 2026)
- "Gan Zhi" (《干支》) — Wikipedia (the entry "Heavenly Stems and Earthly Branches" redirects here): https://zh.wikipedia.org/zh-cn/干支 (accessed 19 September 2026)
- Method page on this site: Liu Yao: https://zhanbumizhi.top/en/methods/liuyao (accessed 19 September 2026)