Does Liu Yao Divination Work with Purely Machine-Generated Hexagrams?

A young reader messaged me a few days ago saying he had downloaded a Liu Yao chart app on his phone. Every day before heading out, he taps the "shake" button, letting the app automatically generate a hexagram to check his fortune for the day. After using it for a while, he asked me, somewhat confused: Master, is this machine-generated hexagram the same as one produced by shaking coins by hand?

This is an excellent question. It touches not only on the technical level but also on the very foundation of the entire divination system. Let's talk openly about this today.

What Is the Real Engine Behind Liu Yao Hexagram Casting?

To judge whether a machine-generated hexagram can be used, we first need to understand: what exactly is at work during the process of casting a Liu Yao hexagram?

Traditional Liu Yao uses three coins, held in the hand, with the questioner focusing on the matter at hand before tossing them. On the surface, this process appears "random" — the combination of heads and tails when the coins land is entirely a matter of chance. But those who have studied Liu Yao know that there is an invisible thread running through the theoretical system — "substituting coins for yarrow stalks, with the heart as the root".

What does this mean? The ancients used an extremely complex calculation process with yarrow stalks to generate hexagrams, which was later simplified to three coins. What was simplified was the tool; what remained unchanged was the "projection of intent." At the moment you cast the coins, your concern, doubts, and expectations regarding a matter are projected into the hexagram through the motion of your hand and the flipping of the coins.

This process is called "sensing and thereby connecting" (gan er sui tong).

It is neither pure physical randomness nor some mysterious force at work. It is more like this — your mind is a mirror, and the hexagram is the reflection in that mirror. Whether the mirror is clean and properly positioned directly determines how clear the reflection is.

Machine Randomness and Human Randomness Are Not the Same Thing

Now let's compare manual and machine hexagram casting to see where the essential difference lies.

The "randomness" of manual casting: When you hold the coins in your hand, the micro-tremors of your muscles, the rhythm of your breathing, even your heartbeat at that moment, subtly influence the angle and rotation with which the coins land. Within this seemingly "random" process, information about your entire state as a person is actually embedded. The ancients said "sincerity brings efficacy" (xin cheng ze ling) — translated into modern language, this means: the higher your level of focus, the stronger your "information field," and the more accurately the hexagram reflects your state.

The "randomness" of machine-generated hexagrams: A computer program's "randomness" is pseudo-randomness based on algorithms and seed numbers. It has absolutely nothing to do with what you ate for breakfast or whether you stepped in a puddle on your way out. The hexagram generated by an app is essentially the result of mathematical computation, fundamentally different from the "manual randomness" recorded from six physical coin tosses.

To use an analogy: manual hexagram casting is like a person rowing a boat on a lake, where the ripples stirred by the oars carry that person's warmth, strength, and direction. Machine hexagram casting, on the other hand, is like a computer-simulated wave animation — it looks like water, but not a single drop is real.

Can Machine-Generated Hexagrams Be Read? Three Scenarios

So does this mean app-generated hexagrams are completely useless? Not necessarily — it depends on the situation. Let's look at three scenarios.

First: A purely recreational mindset. If you're simply curious about how your luck will be today, or whether it will rain tomorrow, and you casually shake a hexagram on an app just for fun, treating it as a psychological game, that's perfectly fine. In this case, whether the hexagram is accurate doesn't matter much; what matters is that it offers you a perspective to think from — much like flipping open a random page of the I Ching, seeing a line, and perhaps finding it coincidentally inspiring.

Second: A serious divination mindset. If you're genuinely facing a major decision — such as whether to quit your job, whether a relationship can continue, or whether to make a large investment — I'd recommend not relying on a purely machine-generated hexagram. This isn't to say the app is necessarily inaccurate, but rather that this kind of overly "clean" randomness lacks the injection of "information" from you as a person. You're merely looking at the result of a numerical computation, not a reflection of your projected intent.

Third: A middle-ground approach. Some apps or websites don't directly generate a fixed hexagram for you but instead simulate the "manual casting" process — having you personally click and record the results yourself. This method falls somewhere between fully manual and fully automatic. Although it still lacks the physical "tactile sensation" of real coins, it at least preserves the element of "personal participation." This is better than a fully automated approach.

Why the Ancients Didn't Pursue "Automation"

At this point, some might ask: if the tool doesn't matter, why didn't the ancients use a simpler method? Wouldn't drawing a fortune stick suffice? Why bother with such a complicated process involving yarrow stalks, coins, and six rounds of casting?

This question gets to the heart of the matter. The ancients didn't pursue "convenience" because they knew that the process of casting the hexagram is itself part of the divination.

When you sit down, wash your hands, burn incense, pick up the coins, silently recite your question in your mind, and then toss them six times in succession — this process takes at least several minutes. During these few minutes, you're compelled to quiet down, forced to concentrate, forced to gather your scattered thoughts onto a single matter. This process of "settling the mind" is actually more important than the hexagram itself.

What about machine casting? Tap "start," and the result appears in a fraction of a second. It's too fast — so fast that the hexagram appears before you've even had time to "quiet your mind." It's like trying to take an ID photo where the shutter is pressed before the camera has focused or the lighting has been properly set — how good could that photo possibly turn out?

A Real-Life Example

I know a friend who works in investment, and he has a habit: before making any major decision, he always casts a hexagram himself using coins. Once I asked him why he didn't just use an app — it would be much more convenient. He said something quite interesting:

"The few minutes I spend casting the hexagram myself are the clearest minutes of my day. As the coins clatter in my hand, I mentally review the causes, consequences, and pros and cons of the matter. Sometimes, even before the hexagram is complete, I already have an answer in my heart. The hexagram feels more like a confirmation for myself."

What he described actually reveals the essence of divination: a hexagram is sometimes an answer, but more often it's a mirror that lets you see your own true inner mind.

The Right Way to Use Machine-Generated Hexagrams

Finally, let me share my conclusion.

Purely random, machine-generated hexagrams can be viewed, but shouldn't be taken too seriously. They're more like entertainment, or a starting point. If you insist on asking whether they're "effective," I'd tell you this: they're far more likely to spark a moment of "sudden insight" for you than to "accurately predict the future."

If you genuinely want to use Liu Yao to aid your decision-making, my advice is:

• For important matters, use coins, or at least a manual method to cast the hexagram.
• For everyday trivial matters driven by curiosity, using an app to generate a random hexagram is perfectly fine.
• Most importantly: never treat an app-generated hexagram as a "divine decree" to be blindly followed — that would deviate from the true spirit of Yi studies, which emphasizes careful and prudent judgment.

Tools will always change, but the underlying method of the heart does not. What's truly at work here has never been the coins, nor the algorithm, but rather your and my willingness to pause and think seriously.