How to Cast This Hexagram
Some people, anxious before an exam, idly flip through a book and stop on a random page, hoping to use Plum Blossom Numerology (Meihua Yishu) to ask whether they will pass. This casting method is called "book divination" (Shu Ce Zhan) — taking the odd or even page numbers, or the specific digits, to form a hexagram. It is a variation of the time-based casting method. Plum Blossom Numerology (Meihua Yishu) offers many casting approaches: time-based, number-based, sound-based, and direction-based. But all of them share one core principle — the information present at the moment of casting is the information for the matter at hand.
The most common method for exam divination is the time method. Using the three numbers of month, day, and hour: month plus day gives the upper trigram, day plus hour gives the lower trigram, and the sum of month, day, and hour divided by six gives the remainder, which identifies the moving line. For example, casting on the fifteenth day of the fourth lunar month during Wu Shi (the 7th two-hour period): the upper trigram number is 4 + 15 = 19; divided by 8, the remainder is 3, corresponding to Kan; the lower trigram number is 15 + 7 = 22; divided by 8, the remainder is 6, also corresponding to Kan — two Kans stacked, which is a separate discussion. The key point is that the steps must be correct; a wrong number produces a wrong hexagram from the start.
There is also a spontaneous casting method suited for when a thought suddenly surfaces in your mind while asking — you convert the current hour, minute, and second into numbers on the spot. Shao Yong's original text, "Plum Blossom Numerology" (Meihua Yishu), discusses "Gan Er Sui Tong" (resonant response) — emphasizing precisely this sense of timing. Fabricating a number just to force a hexagram will, as one might expect, yield unreliable results.
The Ti (Body) Trigram and Yong (Use) Trigram: The Core of Interpretation
Once the hexagram is cast, many people start scanning through individual line meanings and end up more confused than enlightened — everything seems to fit and nothing does. The core of Plum Blossom Numerology (Meihua Yishu) interpretation does not lie in memorizing trigram images; it lies in identifying the Ti (body) trigram and the Yong (use) trigram, then examining the Five Elements (Wu Xing) interactions between them.
The rule is: the trigram containing the moving line — whether upper or lower — is the Yong trigram, representing the matter being asked about. The trigram without a moving line is the Ti trigram, representing the person asking. In exam divination, Ti is you; Yong is the exam itself.
Next, examine the Five Elements (Wu Xing):
- Yong produces Ti, or Yong and Ti share the same element — the hexagram is favorable to you; the exam acts as a supporting force; the probability of passing is high.
- Ti produces Yong — you are expending effort for this matter; the outcome may not be bad, but it will cost you mentally and the results are mixed.
- Yong overcomes Ti — the exam presses down on you; it is a difficult hurdle.
- Ti overcomes Yong — you have a grip on the situation, strong initiative; the likelihood of passing is relatively high.
- Ti and Yong are in harmony (Bi He) — no clash, no conflict; the situation is stable but also unremarkable; results tend to follow external factors.
The elemental correspondences are: Qian and Dui belong to Metal; Kan belongs to Water; Zhen and Xun belong to Wood; Li belongs to Fire; Kun and Gen belong to Earth. Before you have them memorized, looking them up is perfectly fine.
The transformed hexagram produced by the moving line must also be examined. This new hexagram represents the direction in which things are heading, and its Five Element (Wu Xing) relationship with the Ti trigram often speaks more clearly to the outcome than the original hexagram does. If in the original hexagram Yong produces Ti, but the transformed hexagram has Yong overcoming Ti, the reading calls for caution — you cannot conclude from the original hexagram alone.
Common Pitfalls in Exam Divination
The first mistake is reading only the trigram name while ignoring Ti and Yong. Seeing "Qian" and assuming a decisive victory, or seeing "Kan" and assuming danger and failure — this is the shallowest level of reading. Whether Qian is Ti or Yong makes all the difference. If Qian Metal is Yong and Kan Water is Ti, Water is produced by Metal: Yong produces Ti, which is actually a favorable sign.
The second problem is overlooking the influence of the monthly and daily pillars. Plum Blossom Numerology (Meihua Yishu) may be simpler than Liu Yao, but traditional interpretation still takes seasonal Five Element (Wu Xing) strength into account. If the casting falls during the flourishing season of a particular element and the Ti trigram happens to be overcome by it, the force of that overcoming is heavier; if Ti is in season, the same hexagram may point to an entirely different conclusion. This is addressed in the original text but not always emphasized in introductory editions, so beginners tend to miss it.
The third pitfall is re-casting the same question. You cast once, dislike the result, then pick a different time and cast again. Traditional practice discourages this. The reasoning is that a sincere inquiry warrants one cast; repeated casting disrupts the natural moment of resonance. Personally, I think the logic holds — casting again simply uses a different moment's information to ask the same question, so of course the results differ, but you have no way of knowing which cast is the valid one. The confusion compounds itself.
Fourth, be careful about mixing systems. Some practitioners graft Liu Yao concepts onto Plum Blossom Numerology (Meihua Yishu) — applying Shi Yao (self line) and Ying Yao (response line) judgments into a Plum Blossom (Meihua) reading. The two systems have different structural logic; mixing them invites errors. In Plum Blossom Numerology (Meihua Yishu), stick to Ti/Yong and Five Element (Wu Xing) dynamics. Do not import Liu Yao judgment methods.
Reading an Actual Hexagram
Here is an example to illustrate the process. Suppose the original hexagram is Feng Huo Jia Ren (Wind over Fire, "Family"), with a moving line at the first position, transforming into Feng Lei Yi (Wind over Thunder, "Increase").
In the original hexagram, the upper trigram is Xun (Wood) and the lower is Li (Fire). The moving line is in the lower trigram, so Yong is Li and Ti is Xun. Wood produces Fire: Ti produces Yong — you are investing effort into this matter. Next, look at the transformed hexagram: the first line moves, so Li transforms into Zhen; Zhen belongs to Wood, and the Ti trigram Xun also belongs to Wood — Wood and Wood in harmony (Bi He). The transformed hexagram shows Ti and Yong in balance, meaning that after the effort is put in, the situation trends toward stability with no new obstacles entering. Taken together, the reading is: effort is required, but the direction is sound and the outcome is steady.
This is only an example. An actual reading must also account for the context of the question — the nature of the exam, how much preparation time remains, and the current strength or weakness of the Ti trigram. What a hexagram provides is direction and tendency, not a precise score.
The interpretive logic of Plum Blossom Numerology (Meihua Yishu) is not complicated, but it requires you to genuinely understand the Ti/Yong Five Element (Wu Xing) relationship — not to stay at the level of "Qian is Heaven, Kun is Earth" and work from trigram names alone. Reading one hexagram clearly is worth far more than flipping through ten books of hexagram interpretations.
Articles in this column are for cultural and educational purposes only and do not constitute life advice.