Quick reference
Short definitions for the terms you meet across the site and the simulator.
- Hexagram
- A six-line figure. Each line is either yin or yang, and the figure holds a short reflection.
- Trigram
- A stack of three lines. Eight trigrams combine into the sixty-four hexagrams.
- Yin and yang
- Two complementary forces. Yang is active and bright; yin is receptive and still.
- Line
- One row in a hexagram. It is read from the bottom up, line one to line six.
- Changing line
- A line marked to shift. It opens a second hexagram for comparison.
- Casting
- One round of the three-coin method. Six casts build a full hexagram.
- Context
- The situation you name before casting. It frames the reflection that follows.
- King Wen
- The ruler who fixed the classic order of the sixty-four hexagrams we use today.
- Oracle
- The traditional name for the ancient text paired with each hexagram.