Liu Yao Divination for Borrowing Money: Which Is Better — Wealth Yao Holding the Self Position or the Response Yao Nourishing the Self?

How Liu Yao Reads a Request to Borrow Money

When many people cast a hexagram to ask about borrowing money, the first thing they look for is the Wealth Yao (Cai Yao) — where it sits and how strong it is. That instinct is not wrong, but looking at the Wealth Yao alone is not enough. Borrowing money involves two parties: you (the Self Yao, Shi Yao) and the person handing over the money (the Response Yao, Ying Yao). Whether the money actually reaches your hands depends on the relationship between these two parties, not on any single line in isolation.

In Liu Yao, the Self Yao represents the querent, the Response Yao represents the other party — in the context of borrowing money, that is the person or institution you want to borrow from — and the Wealth Yao represents the money itself. The core of any judgment lies in the generating, controlling, combining, and clashing relationships among these three.

"The Wealth Yao holding the Self position" and "the Response Yao nourishing the Self" are two auspicious signs of different natures that are frequently compared, yet they do not describe the same thing at all.

Wealth Yao Holding the Self Position: The Money Is Close, But Not Yet in Hand

Wealth Yao holding the Self position means the Wealth Yao falls on the Self Yao's line — in other words, the Self Yao itself is the Wealth Yao.

Traditional readings regard this as "the wealth star arriving at the body; seeking wealth is hopeful." But look more carefully and there is a subtlety here: the money is near you, yet that nearness is potential, not outcome. This pattern more often indicates that you have initiative in seeking wealth and a decent affinity with money — it does not directly equal "the other party will lend to you."

If the Wealth Yao holds the Self position while also being prosperous and strong (sheng xiang, supported by the monthly branch or daily stem), this is indeed a powerful signal: the timing for seeking wealth is good and your grip on this sum of money is strong.

But if the Wealth Yao holds the Self position while weak and confined (xiu qiu), or is controlled by the day or month, be careful. The wealth line is on your body, yet the energy of the money is weak, and the probability of receiving it drops sharply. Worse still is when the Wealth Yao holds the Self position but is month-broken (yue po) or falls in an empty void (kong wang) — the pattern looks auspicious on the surface, yet this sum of money is very likely to come to nothing.

There is also a point commonly overlooked: when the Wealth Yao holds the Self position, what is the state of the Response Yao? If the Response Yao controls the Self Yao, the other party has no intention of lending or is deliberately making things difficult, and even a fine Wealth Yao will struggle to make the matter succeed.

Response Yao Nourishing the Self: The Other Party Is Willing to Help — a More Direct Signal

Response Yao nourishing the Self means the Response Yao generates and supports the Self Yao — the other party is proactively favorable to you, goodwill-filled.

For borrowing money, I personally think Response Yao nourishing the Self speaks more directly to the outcome of "being able to borrow" than Wealth Yao holding the Self position does. The reason is simple: whether borrowing money succeeds ultimately depends on whether the other party agrees. Response Yao nourishing the Self directly reflects the other party's attitude — they are willing to help and bear goodwill toward you.

There is a saying in folk divination whose gist is: "When the Response comes to meet me, the matter will surely succeed." The Response Yao proactively nourishing the Self is exactly this — the other party comes toward you without you having to ask again and again.

Of course, Response Yao nourishing the Self is not a hundred-percent guarantee either. You still need to check whether the Response Yao itself is prosperous and strong. A Response Yao that is weak and confined yet tries to generate the Self Yao means the other party has the heart but not the means — like a friend who wants to help but does not have much in their pocket. In this case the possibility of borrowing something exists, but the amount may fall short of your expectation.

Also watch whether the Response Yao is in an empty void or moves and transforms to extinction (hua jue). An empty-void Response Yao means the other party's promise may be words without substance; hua jue means the matter will fizzle out midway — perhaps the other party suddenly backs out or a funding problem arises.

When Both Are Present, or When Neither Is

Sometimes a single hexagram shows both Wealth Yao holding the Self position and Response Yao nourishing the Self at once. That is naturally the most ideal pattern — you have the fate for wealth and the other party is glad to pitch in; borrowing the money is nine times out of ten certain.

But what if neither is present?

There is no need to declare the situation hopeless right away. Liu Yao is a system, and you must look at the moving lines. For example, a moving line transforms to produce a Wealth Yao that then generates the Self Yao, or the Yong Shen (useful deity — here the Wealth Yao) does not hold the Self position but is generated and supported by the day and month — either of these can compensate for the pattern's shortcomings to a meaningful degree.

One situation is genuinely harder to resolve: the Self Yao controls the Response Yao, or the Response Yao controls the Self Yao. Self controlling Response means you are putting pressure on the other party; they may agree, but reluctantly or under duress — the money may be borrowed, yet the relationship will be strained. Response controlling Self means the other party has clear wariness or hostility toward you; the borrowing will in all likelihood fall through.

One practical piece of advice for Liu Yao readings on borrowing money: beyond the Self-Response relationship, pay attention to the Yuan Shen (source deity) of the Wealth Yao — that is, the line that generates the Wealth Yao (the Zi Sun Yao generates the Wealth Yao). When the Yuan Shen is prosperous, the Wealth Yao has a root and the matter of borrowing is more solid; when the Yuan Shen is weak or in an empty void, the Wealth Yao may look strong but is water without a source.

To sum up: Wealth Yao holding the Self position speaks to your affinity with this sum of money; Response Yao nourishing the Self speaks to the other party's attitude toward you. For borrowing money, the latter often carries more weight in determining whether the matter succeeds — after all, the money is in the other person's hands. Having both conditions met at once is ideal, but when only one is present, judge further by the prosperity or weakness of the Response Yao and the movement of the whole hexagram. Never make a final call based on one line alone.