Yunshu on the I Ching

How Should Ordinary People Approach
I Ching Divination?

Yunshu

When Facing Uncertainty, People Seek Direction

When people face questions concerning education, work, relationships or health, uncertainty about the future can leave them feeling lost. Some therefore turn to I Ching divination for guidance. There is no need either to believe in it unquestioningly or to dismiss it entirely as superstition. A more balanced attitude is to regard it as a means of clarifying a problem, broadening one’s perspective and reflecting upon oneself.

Divination First Calms the Heart and Mind

Before casting a gua, one is normally expected to settle the heart and mind, put aside distracting thoughts and consider carefully what one truly wishes to ask. When people are anxious, fear, hope and preconceptions easily become entangled. At times, they may not even recognise what is truly troubling them. By gathering confused thoughts into a clear question, they have already begun to reconsider their situation.

Even if we set aside the question of whether a gua can accurately predict the future, the preparation itself may still have value. It offers a person an opportunity to pause before making an impulsive decision and to see the nature of the problem more clearly.

Related Gua Offer Different Perspectives

Different schools of I Ching interpretation do not necessarily employ the same methods. In the terminology used by Master Alfred Huang, the Accomplished Gua is the six-line gua obtained through divination and indicates the present situation. The Mutual Gua, derived from the inner yao, can disclose relationships and influences hidden within that situation. When a moving yao alternates from yin to yang or from yang to yin, it produces the Approached Gua, which suggests a future tendency or potential.

The Opposite Gua is formed by changing every solid line into a yielding line and every yielding line into a solid line. It therefore allows the matter to be examined from its opposite aspect. The Inverse Gua is formed by turning the gua upside down, offering a view of the same situation from another position.

These related gua need not be regarded as several competing answers. They can instead be understood as different perspectives on the same question. This enables a person to move beyond asking only whether the outcome indicates good fortune or misfortune and to consider the present situation, underlying influences, other people’s positions, possible dangers and future changes.

Professor Zeng Shiqiang: Divination Should Supplement Thought

In his lecture on the saying “Those who truly understand the Changes do not divine” (善易不卜), Professor Zeng Shiqiang describes divination as a process that can awaken a person’s potential and help them seek additional information. The saying does not reject divination altogether; rather, it warns against consulting the I Ching over every matter.

If a question can be resolved through common sense and available evidence, a person should first consider it independently. Only when careful thought still leaves genuine doubt because the available information is incomplete should a gua be consulted as an additional direction for reflection. Divination should support human judgement, not replace it.

Professor Fu Peirong: Divination Must Have Boundaries

Professor Fu Peirong proposes three principles: “Do not divine without sincerity; do not divine for what is unrighteous; and do not divine where there is no genuine doubt” (不誠不占、不義不占、不疑不占).

The first principle requires the person asking the question to be sincere and wholehearted. The second means that divination should not be used to invade another person’s privacy or to serve an improper purpose. The third means that there is no need to cast a gua when a matter can already be judged through common sense and established facts.

Professor Fu maintains that the Gua Image does not determine the future. It helps a person understand the present situation and the direction in which effort should be made. Ultimately, good fortune or misfortune still depends upon the individual’s wisdom, virtue and practical action.

Master Liu Junzu: From Divination to Self-Cultivation

Master Liu Junzu describes the relationship between divination and the I Ching with the phrase: “Through divination, study the Changes; through the Changes, cultivate oneself” (藉占學易，藉易修行).

A person may first approach the I Ching out of a desire to know whether a matter will bring good fortune or misfortune. Their study, however, should not remain limited to predicting gain and loss. They should learn from the process of change when to advance and when to retreat, how to recognise the proper time, and how to reflect upon their own conduct.

Master Liu also emphasises that prediction in the I Ching is intended to help people understand the situation and receive guidance, not to pronounce an unalterable fate. Whether the outcome can be improved still depends upon a person’s willingness to face reality, adjust their course and take practical action.

A Gua Cannot Replace Practical Judgement

The Decision and Yao Texts allow room for interpretation, and different readers may draw different conclusions from the same gua. People may also remember only those parts that appeared to be correct. If the result does not agree with their wishes, they may repeatedly cast a gua until they obtain the answer they wanted. At that point, divination ceases to be a means of self-examination and becomes a way of avoiding reality.

In serious medical, legal or investment matters, divination must not replace objective evidence or professional advice. The guidance offered by a gua may be considered, but the person asking the question must still make the final decision and accept responsibility for the consequences.

Conclusion: Regard the Gua as a Mirror

An ordinary person may regard a gua as a mirror rather than a written verdict. A mirror can reveal thoughts and circumstances that have previously gone unnoticed, but it cannot walk the road ahead on our behalf.

Before casting a gua, we should face our question sincerely and truthfully. When interpreting it, we should remain open-minded without surrendering our own judgement. Afterwards, we must return to reality and take responsibility for our choices through knowledge, moral awareness and practical action. This may be the soundest way for modern people to approach I Ching divination.