Before coins, the I Ching was consulted with dried yarrow stalks, the stems of a small-flowered plant that grows in many parts of the world. This is the classical method, the yarrow-stalk method. It's slower than coins: a full consultation can take half an hour. Many people prefer it for exactly that reason, since the slow pace helps you settle into the question.
Where it comes from
The method rests on a short passage in the Great Commentary, one of the Ten Wings: 大衍之數五十，其用四十有九. It means: "The number of the great unfolding is fifty; forty-nine are used."
The passage is brief and leaves questions open. The procedure people follow today is, to a large extent, a reconstruction made by Zhu Xi in the twelfth century. That's why you'll find small variations from one book to another. What doesn't vary is the outcome: four possible values per line, with the same odds.
What you need
- 50 yarrow stalks, or thin sticks of wood or bamboo of equal length.
- A clear table and a quiet place.
- Paper and a pencil.
Step by step, for one line
Each line takes three rounds of division, which tradition calls "changes."
Before you begin, set one stalk aside. It stays out for the whole consultation; tradition says it stands for the Taiji, the source of everything. You work with the remaining 49.
First round
- Split the 49 stalks into two piles in one quick motion, without counting. Put one pile on your left and one on your right.
- Take one stalk from the right-hand pile and place it between the little finger and ring finger of your left hand.
- Count off the left-hand pile in fours until 1 to 4 stalks are left. Place those between your ring and middle fingers.
- Do the same with the right-hand pile, and place what's left between your middle and index fingers.
- Count the stalks in your hand. There will always be 5 or 9. Set them aside.
Second round. Gather the stalks still on the table (40 or 44) and repeat steps 1 to 4. This time you'll hold 4 or 8 stalks. Set them aside.
Third round. Repeat once more with what's left. Again you'll hold 4 or 8.
The result. Count the stalks remaining on the table: there will be 36, 32, 28 or 24. Divide by four to get the value of the line:
- 36 ÷ 4 = 9, changing yang.
- 32 ÷ 4 = 8, stable yin.
- 28 ÷ 4 = 7, stable yang.
- 24 ÷ 4 = 6, changing yin.
There's another way to score that gives the same answer: in each round, a small handful (4 or 5 stalks) counts as 3 and a large one (8 or 9) counts as 2. Add the three values and you get 6, 7, 8 or 9, just as with coins.
Six lines, eighteen rounds
Write the line down and start again with all 49 stalks. Do it six times. As with coins, the first line is the bottom one and the hexagram builds upward. That makes eighteen rounds of division in all.
Why the odds are different
If we assume each split is random, the small handful (5) comes up three times in four in the first round, and the large one (9) once in four. In the second and third rounds, 4 and 8 are equally likely. Put the three rounds together and the odds for each line work out like this:
| Value | Yarrow | Coins |
|---|---|---|
| 6, changing yin | 1/16 | 2/16 |
| 7, stable yang | 5/16 | 6/16 |
| 8, stable yin | 7/16 | 6/16 |
| 9, changing yang | 3/16 | 2/16 |
Yin and yang still come up equally, half the time each. The difference lies in which lines change. With yarrow, a yang line changes three times as often as a yin line. With coins, they change equally.
Many readers find meaning in that imbalance: yang, being active, tends to move, while yin, being receptive, tends to stay put. If you want those proportions without the stalks, there's a method with 16 tokens (one for 6, five for 7, seven for 8 and three for 9): you draw one at random for each line.
Coins or yarrow
Either one works for a consultation. Coins are handy and quick; yarrow is slower and gives different odds for changing lines. To learn what to do with those lines, go on to Moving Lines. If you'd rather start simple, go back to How to Toss the Coins.