What Pieces Make Up a Liu Yao Hexagram?
A fully set up Liu Yao hexagram must carry four layers of information: the hexagram's name and its palace, its generation rank within that palace, the palace's element, and the stems and branches assigned to the six lines. These four layers are independent of one another; missing any one of them leaves later work on generating and controlling cycles, strength and decline, and the six relations without a foundation.
The generation rank and the positions of the Self and Other lines were covered separately in the article on Self and Other lines. This article does not repeat that position table, only recalls the names and what the classification means.
How Do the 64 Hexagrams Divide Into Eight Palaces?
The eight palaces are eight groups of eight hexagrams each, adding up to exactly the 64 hexagrams of the I Ching. Each palace opens with a pure hexagram (the root hexagram, where the two single trigrams are identical), and the remaining seven hexagrams are generated by flipping yin and yang at the lines in a fixed order.
In the presentation common in the Zeng Shan Bu Shi, the transformation order within a palace runs from the pure hexagram, flip line one to become first generation, flip line two to become second generation, flip line three to become third generation, flip line four to become fourth generation, flip line five to become fifth generation, then Wandering Soul, and finally Returning Soul. The Returning Soul hexagram has the feature that its three lower lines return to exactly the yin and yang state of the original pure hexagram, while the Wandering Soul hexagram has a quite different line structure and does not return in that way.
One point needs saying clearly: the naming of the seven transformed hexagrams within a palace is not absolutely consistent across books. Some books place Wandering Soul and Returning Soul at different spots in the table, some name the transformed hexagrams in their own way. Students should pick one standard edition and cross-check against it, rather than mixing several editions into one table.
Table of the Eight Palaces and Their Elements
| Palace | Pure Hexagram Opening the Palace | Palace Element |
|---|---|---|
| Can Palace | Can vi Thien | Metal |
| Doai Palace | Doai vi Trach | Metal |
| Ly Palace | Ly vi Hoa | Fire |
| Chan Palace | Chan vi Loi | Wood |
| Ton Palace | Ton vi Phong | Wood |
| Kham Palace | Kham vi Thuy | Water |
| Can Palace (Mountain) | Can vi Son | Earth |
| Khon Palace | Khon vi Dia | Earth |
The palace element is the element of the pure hexagram that opens the palace, and is also the element assigned to the Self line of the pure hexagram under the common convention. When the hexagram transforms into other hexagrams within the same palace, the Self line still keeps the element of the original palace, a point many beginners overlook.
How Do the Pure Hexagram, First Through Fifth Generation, Wandering Soul, and Returning Soul Differ?
The differences lie in the yin and yang structure of the six lines compared with the palace's pure hexagram, and in the position of the Self line. The pure hexagram has its Self line at line six (the top line), and its Other line at line three. The first generation hexagram has its Self line at line one, and its Other line at line four. The second generation hexagram has its Self line at line two, and its Other line at line five. The third generation hexagram has its Self line at line three, and its Other line at line six. The fourth generation hexagram has its Self line at line four, and its Other line at line one. The fifth generation hexagram has its Self line at line five, and its Other line at line two. The Wandering Soul hexagram has its Self line at line four, and its Other line at line one. The Returning Soul hexagram has its Self line at line three, and its Other line at line six.
A notable point is that Wandering Soul and fourth generation share the same Self and Other positions, and Returning Soul and third generation share the same Self and Other positions. So looking only at Self and Other positions cannot distinguish Wandering Soul from fourth generation, nor Returning Soul from third generation. Distinguishing them requires examining the hexagram's line structure against the palace's pure hexagram.
The interpretive meaning of Wandering Soul and Returning Soul also differs. The Zeng Shan Bu Shi places Wandering Soul and Returning Soul in a group of hexagrams requiring special attention when reading, not merged with ordinary generation-ranked hexagrams. Some materials interpret Wandering Soul as leaning toward uncertainty, dispersion, unsettled mood, and Returning Soul as leaning toward return, coming back, redirection. This interpretation is not mandatory doctrine; schools may emphasize different aspects, so students should read the specific hexagram carefully rather than applying one fixed meaning to the whole group.
What Is Na Jia and Why Must Stems and Branches Be Assigned to Lines?
Na Jia is the method of assigning Heavenly Stems and Earthly Branches to each line of a hexagram, turning six abstract yin and yang lines into six units with elements and stems and branches, from which generating and controlling cycles and strength and decline by month and day can then be calculated. Without Na Jia, Liu Yao is just a drawing of six lines and nothing can be read from it.
The origin of Na Jia is usually attributed to Jing Fang of the Han dynasty. According to records on Wikipedia, Jing Fang (78 to 37 BCE), courtesy name Jun Ming, a native of what is now Puyang, Henan, was a music theorist, mathematician, and astronomer of the Han era. The historian Ban Gu recorded that he was skilled at divining hexagrams according to the I Ching, and a book on I Ching divination attributed to him describes the Na Jia method, that is, the way of linking a hexagram's lines to the stems and branches of the Chinese calendar. This is an important reference point, but it should be said clearly: attributing the entire Na Jia system to one individual is a traditional tracing, and scholars may still debate the actual degree of each author's contribution across the generations.
Na Jia for the Three Inner and Three Outer Lines of the Eight Single Trigrams
The table below presents the stems and branches assigned to the six lines of the eight single trigrams (ba chuan), under the convention common in Liu Yao. The "Inner" column is the three lower lines, the "Outer" column is the three upper lines, read from line one up to line six.
| Single Trigram | Line 1 | Line 2 | Line 3 | Line 4 | Line 5 | Line 6 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Can | Giap Ty | Giap Dan | Giap Thin | Nham Ngo | Nham Than | Nham Tuat |
| Khon | At Mui | At Ty | At Mao | Quy Suu | Quy Hoi | Quy Dau |
| Chan | Canh Ty | Canh Dan | Canh Thin | Canh Ngo | Canh Than | Canh Tuat |
| Ton | Tan Suu | Tan Hoi | Tan Dau | Tan Mui | Tan Ty | Tan Mao |
| Kham | Mau Dan | Mau Thin | Mau Ngo | Mau Than | Mau Tuat | Mau Ty |
| Ly | Ky Mao | Ky Suu | Ky Hoi | Ky Dau | Ky Mui | Ky Ty |
| Can (Mountain) | Binh Thin | Binh Ngo | Binh Than | Binh Tuat | Binh Ty | Binh Dan |
| Doai | Dinh Ty | Dinh Mao | Dinh Suu | Dinh Hoi | Dinh Dau | Dinh Mui |
This is a lookup table, not a reading table. When setting up any hexagram, that hexagram consists of two single trigrams; the inner lines follow the lower single trigram, the outer lines follow the upper single trigram. For example, the hexagram Thuy Hoa Ky Te has inner trigram Ly and outer trigram Kham, so the three lower lines take Ky Mao, Ky Suu, Ky Hoi, and the three upper lines take Mau Than, Mau Tuat, Mau Ty.
What Is Special About Na Jia for the Can and Khon Hexagrams?
Can and Khon are the two hexagrams whose Na Jia differs from the other six single trigrams, and are also the two most easily confused when consulting the table. Can assigns Giap to the three inner lines and Nham to the three outer lines, that is, inner and outer use two different Heavenly Stems. Khon assigns At to the three inner lines and Quy to the three outer lines, also using two different Heavenly Stems. The other six single trigrams use only one Heavenly Stem for all six lines: Chan uses Canh, Ton uses Tan, Kham uses Mau, Ly uses Ky, Can (Mountain) uses Binh, Doai uses Dinh.
The split of Giap and Nham in Can, and At and Quy in Khon, is usually explained by yin and yang principle and inner and outer position, but this is a traditional convention, not the result of deduction from a simple geometric formula. Students should memorize the convention correctly, not try to reason it out from scratch each time they set up a hexagram.
Another point to note: the direction of Na Jia for Khon, Ton, Ly, and Doai runs opposite to Can, Chan, Kham, and Can (Mountain). Can, Chan, Kham, and Can (Mountain) assign in the order Ty, Dan, Thin, Ngo, Than, Tuat, that is, branches increasing through the Yang palaces. Khon, Ton, Ly, and Doai assign in the order Mui, Ty, Mao, Suu, Hoi, Dau or Ty, Hoi, Dau, Mui, Ty, Mao depending on the hexagram, that is, branches decreasing through the Yin palaces. This is exactly where many people set up a hexagram wrongly if they only remember one direction mechanically.
Where Do Schools Differ?
Three differences are most commonly encountered between books and schools:
- Origin of Na Jia: most materials attribute it to Jing Fang, but the degree of this attribution is a traditional tracing, not a definitive conclusion of historical sources.
- Na Jia for Can and Khon: some books present Can using Giap for all six lines, or Khon using At for all six lines, differing from the convention that splits inner and outer. Students need to know which convention their edition follows before consulting the table.
- Position of Wandering Soul and Returning Soul in the eight-palace table: some books arrange them differently, some name the transformed hexagrams differently. When comparing two editions, compare the line structure too, not just the hexagram names.
The practical approach is to pick one standard edition as the base, state clearly the convention in use, and when encountering another book's table, compare line by line rather than mixing the two tables together.
A Complete Example of Setting Up a Hexagram
Suppose the cast hexagram is Thuy Hoa Ky Te, that is, inner trigram Ly, outer trigram Kham. The setup steps are as follows.
- Step one, look up the palace: Ky Te belongs to the Kham palace, and is a third generation hexagram in the Kham palace. The palace element is Water, so the Self line carries the Water element.
- Step two, determine Self and Other by convention: a third generation hexagram has its Self line at line three, and its Other line at line six.
- Step three, assign stems and branches to the six lines: line one Ky Mao, line two Ky Suu, line three Ky Hoi, line four Mau Than, line five Mau Tuat, line six Mau Ty.
- Step four, assign the six relations by comparing the palace element with each line's element, then move on to reading by month and day.
This example only illustrates the setup operation, not a judgment of fortune or misfortune. The reading depends on the question, on the useful god, on the month and day, and on many other factors, which are outside the scope of this article.
Why Must Setting Up and Reading Be Kept Separate?
Setting up is a mechanical step with clear right and wrong answers: whether the palace lookup is right or wrong, whether the stem and branch assignment is right or wrong, whether the generation rank is right or wrong. Reading is an interpretive step, depending on the question, on the useful god, and on the reader's experience, so disagreement between schools is normal.
Mixing the two steps together is a common cause of beginners both consulting tables wrongly and reading wrongly without knowing where the error lies. The clean approach is to finish setting up the hexagram, check each layer again, and only then move to interpretation. Once the setup is correct, any remaining differences between schools lie only in the interpretive part, and that is where one should state clearly which school one follows.
