Liu Yao Online Calculator

Liu Yao (六爻, "six lines") is an I Ching divination method in which you cast a hexagram for one specific question and then read it with stems, branches and the five elements. Developed from the Na Jia system associated with the Han-dynasty scholar 京房, it is one of the most systematic forms of I Ching reading.

This tool records six coin tosses from the bottom line up — either virtual tosses or your own physical coins — and builds the primary hexagram and, if there are moving lines, the changed hexagram. It then assigns the Na Jia stems and branches, the palace and its element, the six relatives (六亲), the six spirits (六神), the shi and ying lines (世应) and the void branches (旬空) for the day of the cast.

Every field is generated by fixed rules and shown in full so you can check it against a textbook. The tool does not write an interpretation for you; it lays out the data that a Liu Yao reading uses.

1. Write down one clear question, ideally with a time frame.
2. Choose virtual coins or enter your own tosses.
3. Toss six times; the first toss is the bottom line.
4. Review the primary and changed hexagrams and the moving lines.
5. Read the Na Jia table: branch, relative, spirit, shi/ying for each line.
6. Note the month and day pillars of the cast and the void branches.

The use god (用神) is the line whose relative represents your question: Wealth for money, Officer for career or a husband, Parents for documents and housing, Offspring for children and relief, Siblings for peers and competition.

A use god supported by the month and day, or generated by a moving line, is strong; one that is void, clashed by the day or controlled by moving lines is weak.

Moving lines are the active parts of the situation. Read what each moving line changes into and whether the change helps or hurts the use god.

• Before any toss, the board is empty and shows the line order.
• With no moving lines, only the primary hexagram is shown — a "static" hexagram.
• Six moving lines produce a fully changed hexagram; the tool shows both.
• Printing hides navigation and interactive controls,, so the board and its explanation print cleanly without the menus.
• If JavaScript is disabled, this explanatory text still loads; the interactive board needs JavaScript.

• HexagramA hexagram is a figure of six lines, each solid (yang) or broken (yin), built from two trigrams.
• Changing LineA changing (moving) line is an old yang or old yin that flips to its opposite, producing the changed hexagram.
• Na JiaNa Jia assigns stems and branches to each line of a hexagram according to its trigrams.
• Void EmptinessEach ten-day "decade" (旬) of the sixty cycle leaves two branches without a stem; these are void (空亡) for pillars in that decade.

The Liu Yao Six-Line Divination uses one fixed rule set, named on this page, so the same input always gives the same result. Traditional methods often have several schools; mixing their rules inside one chart produces boards that no textbook would recognise, which is why only one complete preset is offered.

The engine is tested against worked examples from standard references, and every intermediate value is displayed. If your book shows something different, compare the intermediate values first — the difference is almost always a convention, such as the day boundary or how a leap month or solar-term transition is handled. Calendar data comes from an astronomical library that computes solar terms and lunar months to the minute, so differences of a day or more between sources usually point to a convention rather than an error in the underlying astronomy.

Whether you are new to the Liu Yao Six-Line Divination or checking work from a class, the same routine helps you learn faster and avoid common errors:

1. Record the input exactly: date, time, place and, for divination, the question in one sentence.
2. Generate the board and save or print it before interpreting anything.
3. Identify the one or two fields that matter most for the question, using the steps above.
4. Write a short provisional reading and the reason for it.
5. Revisit the notes later and compare with what actually happened, adjusting your understanding of the symbols — not the board.

Treat the Liu Yao Six-Line Divination as a structured way to think about a question, not as an instruction. Write down the question and the result, and return to them later; many practitioners keep a journal of casts to learn how the symbols behave over time. For decisions involving health, money or law, consult a qualified professional. The tool is free, needs no account, and does not store your question unless you choose to save it.

The fastest way to understand Liu Yao Six-Line Divination is to look at real charts rather than memorise rules. Enter a birth date, time and city in the BaZi Calculator, then locate where Liu Yao Six-Line Divination appears: in a visible stem, hidden inside a branch, in the current luck pillar or in this year's annual pillar. Note the position, because the year pillar is usually read as background and early life, the month pillar as environment and career setting, the day pillar as the self and close partner, and the hour pillar as later life and output.

• Compare two or three charts where Liu Yao Six-Line Divination is prominent and two where it is absent; write down what differs in the overall balance.
• Check the month branch first: seasonal strength changes how much any factor matters.
• Use the hidden-stems and Ten Gods tables in the calculator output instead of guessing.
• Treat single factors as clues, never as verdicts; classical texts always weigh the whole chart.

Different schools describe Liu Yao Six-Line Divination with slightly different emphasis. This site follows widely used conventions (solar-term months, true solar time optional, Zi hour setting configurable) and states them openly so you can compare results with a book or another calculator.

See the Liu Yao Six-Line Divination FAQ, the glossary and the comparisons for how this method relates to BaZi and other systems.

BaZi is a traditional cultural system. This page explains how the symbols are defined and read; it does not make scientific claims or predictions about your health, money or relationships.