I Ching six-line basics: six lines, one chart

Six-line is a traditional Chinese method that builds a six-line chart from six coin throws. This guide explains the chart's basic structure and terms without treating a reading as a certain prediction.

Build the chart from the bottom upward

For each throw, three coins are read together. A line is recorded for the total, then placed below the lines already cast. After six throws, the bottom line is the first line and the top line is the sixth. This order matters: the completed pattern is not read as six unrelated coin results.

Each line is yin (broken) or yang (solid). Some results are also marked as changing. When a changing yin or yang line transforms, the chart can show a primary hexagram and a relating hexagram. The primary pattern describes the cast's starting picture; the relating pattern is one traditional way to discuss movement or development.

What the line relationships describe

The stem-branch assignment tradition gives each line a branch, an element, and a relationship category called a relative. Other chart positions are called the self line and the other line. These labels are part of the interpretive system; they are not facts about another person's private thoughts or a guarantee of events.

• Changing lines: lines that transform and provide part of the chart's movement.
• Self and other: positions used to discuss the questioner's side and the situation being asked about.
• Six relatives: traditional categories—parent, sibling, descendant, wealth, and authority—selected in relation to the question.
• Void and month-break: traditional timing and strength markers that must be interpreted in the context of the whole chart.

How to use a reading responsibly

Start with a clear, bounded question. Review the chart's stated facts and distinguish those facts from an interpretation. Then translate the result into a small action: gather missing information, prepare a conversation, or set a time to reassess. Do not use divination as a substitute for medical care, legal counsel, financial research, or immediate safety support.

Agua's charting rules run before optional AI interpretation. AI is intended to explain the computed chart in everyday language, not to recast it. You can also read how the coin method works, browse the 64 hexagrams, or return to the six-line reading overview.