What it is
Plum Blossom numerology (梅花易數, Méihuā Yìshù) builds the hexagram from numbers: the date and hour you consult, or something you see or hear at that moment. No coins or stalks needed.
Where it comes from
Tradition credits it to Shao Yong, an 11th-century thinker. The story is that he saw two sparrows squabbling in a plum tree in bloom, made a hexagram from the hour, and foresaw that a girl would fall while picking the blossoms. The book that bears his name, though, seems a good deal later, and it probably gathers several generations of practice.
How it works
In its most common form:
- Add the numbers of the year, month and day in the Chinese calendar. Divide by 8; the remainder gives the upper trigram.
- Add the number of the hour to that sum. Divide by 8; the remainder gives the lower trigram.
- The total divided by 6 gives a single moving line.
The trigram numbers follow the Earlier Heaven order: 1 Heaven, 2 Lake, 3 Fire, 4 Thunder, 5 Wind, 6 Water, 7 Mountain, 8 Earth.
What sets it apart
There's always exactly one moving line, and the reading leans heavily on how the two trigrams relate: which one stands for the matter and which one acts on it. More in Plum Blossom Numerology.