You have cast your hexagram. Six lines are recorded on the page -- some stable, some changing. A primary hexagram stands before you, and perhaps a transformed hexagram as well. Now what? This is where many beginners feel lost. The Yi Jing offers multiple layers of text for every hexagram: the Judgment (彖辞 tuàn cí), the Image (象辞 xiàng cí), individual line statements (爻辞 yáo cí), and various commentarial layers. Which do you read? In what order? How do you handle different numbers of changing lines? This lesson provides a systematic framework for interpretation that respects the classical tradition while remaining practical and clear.
Without a clear interpretive framework, you will either read too much (every line statement, every commentary, resulting in information overload) or too little (only the Judgment, missing the specific guidance the changing lines provide). The rules in this lesson are not arbitrary -- they emerge from centuries of divinatory practice and reflect the internal logic of the Yi Jing's structure. Master these rules and your readings will be focused, specific, and actionable.