Notes from the practice
Liu Yao & I Ching essays
Essays on the classical Chinese hexagram method, how to ask the I Ching a useful question, and what each hexagram tends to reveal in practice. Written by Master Shen.
Hexagram Reading·September 10, 2026·12 min read
Hexagram 58 (兑 Duì / The Joyous): A Liu Yao Reading
What Hexagram 58 (兑 Duì, The Joyous) means in a Liu Yao reading — the doubled Lake trigram, the energy of genuine versus performed delight, and why which line is moving tells you whether the joy is real.
Hexagram Reading·September 7, 2026·14 min read
Hexagram 57 (巽 Xùn / The Gentle): A Liu Yao Reading
What Hexagram 57 (巽 Xùn, The Gentle) means in a Liu Yao reading — and why the penetrating, cumulative nature of Wind means the changing line determines whether subtlety is working for you or quietly undermining you.
Hexagram Reading·September 4, 2026·14 min read
Hexagram 52 (艮 Gèn / Keeping Still): A Liu Yao Reading
What Hexagram 52 (艮 Gèn, Keeping Still) means in a Liu Yao reading — and why stillness here is not passivity but a precise, deliberate act of holding the back.
Hexagram Reading·September 1, 2026·13 min read
Hexagram 51 (震 Zhèn / The Arousing): A Liu Yao Reading
What Hexagram 51 (震 Zhèn, The Arousing) means in a Liu Yao reading — and why the changing line tells you whether the thunder is a warning, a clarifying shock, or the beginning of renewed movement.
Hexagram Reading·August 29, 2026·13 min read
Hexagram 62 (小過 Xiǎo Guò / Small Excess): A Liu Yao Reading
What Hexagram 62 (小過 Xiǎo Guò, Small Excess) means in a Liu Yao reading — the hexagram of calibrated smallness, where the moment calls for less than your full capacity, and the changing line tells you exactly how much less.
Hexagram Reading·August 26, 2026·16 min read
Hexagram 61 (中孚 Zhōng Fú / Inner Truth): A Liu Yao Reading
What Hexagram 61 (中孚 Zhōng Fú, Inner Truth) means in a Liu Yao reading — and why the changing line determines whether sincerity moves others or dissipates into empty gesturing.
Hexagram Reading·August 23, 2026·13 min read
Hexagram 23 (剝 Bō / Splitting Apart): A Liu Yao Reading
What Hexagram 23 (剝 Bō, Splitting Apart) means in a Liu Yao reading — how the single remaining yáng line at the top tells you exactly where you stand when what was built begins to peel away.
Hexagram Reading·August 20, 2026·13 min read
Hexagram 24 (復 Fù / Return): A Liu Yao Reading
What Hexagram 24 (復 Fù, Return) means in a Liu Yao reading — the single yáng line returning beneath five yīn lines, and why the quality of that return determines everything about what comes next.
Hexagram Reading·August 17, 2026·13 min read
Hexagram 48 (井 Jǐng / The Well): A Liu Yao Reading
What Hexagram 48 (井 Jǐng, The Well) means in a Liu Yao reading — the hexagram of inexhaustible resource, structural access, and why the changing line tells you whether the rope reaches the water.
Hexagram Reading·August 14, 2026·14 min read
Hexagram 47 (困 Kùn / Oppression): A Liu Yao Reading
What Hexagram 47 (困 Kùn, Oppression) means in a Liu Yao reading — and why the changing line tells you whether you are being tested, trapped, or already partway out.
Hexagram Reading·August 11, 2026·12 min read
Hexagram 30 (離 Lí / The Clinging): A Liu Yao Reading
What Hexagram 30 (離 Lí, The Clinging) means in a Liu Yao reading — fire doubled, clarity that depends on what it clings to, and why the changing line tells you whether the flame illuminates or consumes.
Hexagram Reading·August 8, 2026·13 min read
Hexagram 29 (坎 Kǎn / The Abysmal): A Liu Yao Reading
What Hexagram 29 (坎 Kǎn, The Abysmal) means in a Liu Yao reading — doubled water, repeated danger, and why the changing line tells you whether this pit demands passage or avoidance.
Hexagram Reading·August 5, 2026·14 min read
Hexagram 12 (否 Pǐ / Standstill): A Liu Yao Reading
What Hexagram 12 (否 Pǐ, Standstill) means in a Liu Yao reading — when Heaven and Earth are moving apart, why blockage is structural not personal, and how the changing line tells you where the opening is.
Hexagram Reading·August 2, 2026·14 min read
Hexagram 11 (泰 Tài / Peace): A Liu Yao Reading
What Hexagram 11 (泰 Tài, Peace) means in a Liu Yao reading — Heaven below and Earth above, the one arrangement where heaven and earth are in productive exchange, and why peace in the I Ching is an active condition, not a resting one.
Hexagram Reading·July 30, 2026·12 min read
Hexagram 63 (既濟 Jì Jì / After Completion): A Liu Yao Reading
What Hexagram 63 (既濟 Jì Jì, After Completion) means in a Liu Yao reading — the hexagram of perfect arrangement, and why the moment of completion is the most dangerous moment of all.
Hexagram Reading·July 27, 2026·13 min read
Hexagram 32 (恆 Héng / Duration): A Liu Yao Reading
What Hexagram 32 (恆 Héng, Duration) means in a Liu Yao reading — the hexagram of endurance and sustained form, and why the changing line tells you whether you are holding well or merely holding on.
Hexagram Reading·July 24, 2026·14 min read
Hexagram 6 (訟 Sòng / Conflict): A Liu Yao Reading
What Hexagram 6 (訟 Sòng, Conflict) means in a Liu Yao reading — the hexagram of opposed forces, unresolved tension, and why the changing line tells you whether to contend, withdraw, or seek settlement.
Hexagram Reading·July 21, 2026·14 min read
Hexagram 4 (蒙 Méng / Youthful Folly): A Liu Yao Reading
What Hexagram 4 (蒙 Méng, Youthful Folly) means in a Liu Yao reading — the hexagram of inexperience meeting obstruction, and why the changing line tells you whether the learning is working or whether the folly is still in charge.
Hexagram Reading·July 18, 2026·12 min read
Hexagram 3 (屯 Zhūn / Difficulty at the Beginning): A Liu Yao Reading
What Hexagram 3 (屯 Zhūn, Difficulty at the Beginning) means in a Liu Yao reading — the hexagram of first emergence, where potential is real but the ground is not yet clear.
Liu Yao Method·July 15, 2026·9 min read
The 64 Hexagrams: A Liu Yao Practitioner's Reading Map
All 64 hexagrams of the I Ching in one practitioner's map — what each one points toward in a Liu Yao reading, and where to go deeper.
Hexagram Reading·June 9, 2026·13 min read
Hexagram 64 (未濟 Wèi Jì / Before Completion): A Liu Yao Reading
What Hexagram 64 (未濟 Wèi Jì, Before Completion) means in a Liu Yao reading — the I Ching's last hexagram, the one that ends the book unfinished, and why the unfinished state is its teaching.
Practice & Questions·June 9, 2026·10 min read
When NOT to Consult the I Ching
Not every question belongs in front of the hexagram. Here are the situations where a Liu Yao reader will gently decline to cast — and why declining is part of the practice.
Liu Yao Method·June 8, 2026·9 min read
Why Three Coins Instead of Yarrow Stalks: The Method Behind Liu Yao Casting
Most contemporary I Ching readings use three coins, not yarrow stalks. Here is why the method changed, what the probabilities actually are, and whether one is more 'authentic' than the other.
Liu Yao Method·June 8, 2026·12 min read
Reading the Changing Line: What Most Translations Miss
The changing line is where a Liu Yao reading lives — but most Western I Ching translations treat it as a footnote. Here is what it actually does, and why isolating it changes the reading entirely.
Hexagram Reading·June 7, 2026·13 min read
Hexagram 50 (鼎 Dǐng / The Cauldron): A Liu Yao Reading
What Hexagram 50 (鼎 Dǐng, The Cauldron) means in a Liu Yao reading — the hexagram of transformation, nourishment, and the institutional vessel, and why the changing line tells you which stage of cooking you are in.
Liu Yao Method·June 7, 2026·11 min read
Liu Yao vs Wilhelm I Ching: A Side-by-Side
What changes when you read the I Ching through Liu Yao instead of Wilhelm/Baynes — a side-by-side on the same hexagram, the same question, and where the two methods agree and diverge.
Hexagram Reading·June 6, 2026·14 min read
Hexagram 2 (坤 Kūn / The Receptive): A Liu Yao Reading
What Hexagram 2 (坤 Kūn, The Receptive) means in a Liu Yao reading — pure yīn, the earth that carries everything, and why receptive power is not the same as passivity.
Practice & Questions·June 6, 2026·13 min read
I Ching for Relationships: What You Can Ask, What You Cannot
Most relationship I Ching readings go wrong because the question goes wrong. Here's what a Liu Yao practitioner can read in a relationship — and what no honest reader will pretend to.
Hexagram Reading·June 5, 2026·11 min read
Hexagram 5 (需 Xū / Waiting): A Liu Yao Reading
What Hexagram 5 (需 Xū, Waiting) means in a Liu Yao reading — the hexagram of strategic patience before danger, and why the changing line tells you what kind of waiting is being asked of you.
Practice & Questions·June 5, 2026·11 min read
I Ching for Career Decisions: How to Frame the Question
Career questions are where most I Ching readings go vague. Here's how a Liu Yao practitioner frames a job-related question so the hexagram can actually answer it.
Hexagram Reading·June 4, 2026·12 min read
Hexagram 31 (咸 Xián / Influence): A Liu Yao Reading
What Hexagram 31 (咸 Xián, Influence) means in a Liu Yao reading — the hexagram of mutual feeling, and why the changing line tells you what kind of influence you're inside.
Practice & Questions·June 4, 2026·11 min read
How to Ask the I Ching a Useful Question
Most vague I Ching readings come from vague questions. Here's how a Liu Yao practitioner frames a question so the hexagram can actually answer it.
Practice & Questions·June 3, 2026·10 min read
From I Ching to Liu Yao: Deepening Your Reading Practice
If you've read Wilhelm I Ching for years and feel the readings have grown vague, Liu Yao is the classical Chinese practice that sharpens them. Here's what changes.
Hexagram Reading·June 3, 2026·9 min read
Hexagram 1 (乾 Qián / The Creative): A Liu Yao Reading
What Hexagram 1 (乾 Qián, The Creative) means in a Liu Yao reading — and why the changing line, not the hexagram, tells you what to do.
Liu Yao Method·June 3, 2026·9 min read
What is Liu Yao? The Classical Chinese Hexagram Method
Liu Yao is the classical Chinese hexagram method behind I Ching readings. Here's what it is, how it differs from Wilhelm I Ching, and why the changing line matters most.