I Ching changing lines: what they mean and how to read them

Written by Orbitarot · Sources: listed at the end of this guide · Updated October 7, 2026

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Key finding: With both coins and yarrow each line changes with probability 1/4, so the chance of k changing lines is C(6,k) x 3^(6-k) / 4096: 17.80%, 35.60%, 29.66%, 13.18%, 3.30%, 0.44% and 0.02% for 0 to 6.

What are changing lines in the I Ching?

Changing lines are lines cast as a 6 or a 9. A 9 is old yang, a solid line so full of yang that it turns into yin; a 6 is old yin, a broken line that turns into yang. They carry their own line texts, and flipping them produces a second hexagram, often called the relating hexagram.

Lines cast as 7 (young yang) or 8 (young yin) are stable and stay as they are. In James Legge's 1882 translation, which our hexagram pages quote, every line text opens with its number and type, such as "In the first (or lowest) NINE, undivided" for a solid line or "The fifth SIX, divided" for a broken one. In his translation every solid line is labelled NINE and every broken line SIX, whether or not it changes; the line text is what you read when that line changes. If you have not cast a reading yet, our guide on how to consult the I Ching covers the coin and yarrow methods step by step.

How do changing lines create a second hexagram?

Take your first hexagram, flip every changing line into its opposite and leave every other line alone. Solid 9s become broken, broken 6s become solid. The result is the relating hexagram. Read the first hexagram as the situation now and the second as the direction in which it is moving.

The simplest case is one changing line. Suppose you cast 9, 7, 7, 7, 7, 7 from the bottom up. All six lines are solid, so the first hexagram is hexagram 1, the Creative. Only the bottom line changes. Flip it and the lower trigram becomes Wind under Heaven, which is hexagram 44, Coming to Meet. The text for that changing line in Legge reads:

"In the first (or lowest) NINE, undivided, (we see its subject as) the dragon lying hid (in the deep). It is not the time for active doing." (Legge, 1882, hexagram 1, line 1)

Because the hexagram is built from two trigrams, a change in lines 1 to 3 alters the lower trigram and a change in lines 4 to 6 alters the upper one. Our guide to the eight trigrams shows how each pair maps to a number.

How likely are you to get 0, 1, 2 or more changing lines?

With three coins or with yarrow stalks, each line changes with probability 1/4, so the count of changing lines follows a binomial pattern. One changing line is the most common result at 35.6%, then two at 29.7%, none at 17.8%, three at 13.2%. Four or more together happen in under 4% of readings.

First, why 1/4 for both methods. With coins, a 6 needs three tails (1/8) and a 9 needs three heads (1/8), so a change has probability 1/8 + 1/8 = 2/8 = 1/4. With yarrow stalks the traditional figures are 1/16 for a 6 and 3/16 for a 9, so a change has probability 1/16 + 3/16 = 4/16 = 1/4. Same total, different mix.

Each of the six lines is cast independently, so the chance of exactly k changing lines is C(6, k) x (1/4)^k x (3/4)^(6 - k). Over a common denominator of 4^6 = 4096, that is C(6, k) x 3^(6 - k) / 4096:

The seven rows add up to 4096/4096. The average is 6 x 1/4 = 1.5 changing lines per reading, for both methods. What differs is the type. With coins, half of all changing lines are 9s and half are 6s. With yarrow, 3/16 divided by 4/16 means three changing lines in four are 9s, turning solid lines broken.

Our own I Ching tool simulates the yarrow division stalk by stalk, and in 400,000 simulated lines 26.19% came out changing rather than exactly 25%. On that rate the spread shifts only slightly: 16.2% of readings with no changing line instead of 17.8%, and 34.4% with one instead of 35.6%.

Which text do you read for each number of changing lines?

A widely used answer comes from rules commonly attributed to Zhu Xi, the 12th-century Song dynasty scholar, in his Yixue qimeng. They tell you which single text to weigh most, depending on how many lines change. In short: few changes, read lines of the first hexagram; many changes, read the relating hexagram.

Here is the scheme as it is usually summarized. Versions differ in small details, and we give only the parts that are consistently reported:

Combining the rows with the binomial odds gives a useful picture of everyday practice. In 65.3% of readings (1458 + 1215 = 2673 out of 4096) the main advice sits in one or two line texts of your first hexagram. Only 3.7% of readings (135 + 18 = 153 out of 4096) send you to the unchanging lines of the relating hexagram. So a reader who knows the line texts well is equipped for about two readings in three.

You do not have to follow these rules strictly. Many readers read every changing line plus both judgments, and our tool shows all of them so you can choose. The rules are useful mainly when several line texts seem to pull in different directions and you want a principled way to pick one.

What do hexagrams 1 and 2 say when all six lines change?

Hexagrams 1 and 2 are the only two with a seventh text, used when all six lines change. In Legge's translation, hexagram 1's text speaks of a host of dragons without heads bringing good fortune; hexagram 2's promises advantage to those who stay correct and firm. These cases are extremely rare.

Here are both texts exactly as they appear in Legge:

"(The lines of this hexagram are all strong and undivided, as appears from) the use of the number NINE. If the host of dragons (thus) appearing were to divest themselves of their heads, there would be good fortune." (Legge, 1882, hexagram 1)

"(The lines of this hexagram are all weak and divided, as appears from) the use of the number six. If those (who are thus represented) be perpetually correct and firm, advantage will arise." (Legge, 1882, hexagram 2)

How rare is rare? For hexagram 1 with all lines changing you need six 9s in a row. With coins that is (1/8)^6 = 1 in 262,144. With yarrow it is (3/16)^6 = 729/16,777,216, about 1 in 23,014. For hexagram 2 with all lines changing you need six 6s: 1 in 262,144 with coins, but (1/16)^6 = 1 in 16,777,216 with yarrow. Yarrow therefore makes the all-changing Creative more than 700 times as likely as the all-changing Receptive (729 to 1), while coins treat them equally.

If you get all six lines changing on any other hexagram, the rules above point you to the judgment of the relating hexagram.

A worked example: hexagram 41 changing to 42

Say your six casts, bottom to top, are 7, 9, 8, 8, 6, 7. That gives hexagram 41, Decrease, with two changing lines: line 2 (a nine) and line 5 (a six). Flip them and you get hexagram 42, Increase. Under the two-line rule you read both lines, with line 5 as the main one.

The lower trigram of 41 is Lake and the upper is Mountain. Line 2 changes Lake into Thunder; line 5 changes Mountain into Wind. Wind over Thunder is 42. You start with the judgment of hexagram 41, which in Legge opens: "if there be sincerity (in him who employs it), there will be great good fortune". Then the two line texts. Line 2, the lower one, says in part:

"The second NINE, undivided, shows that it will be advantageous for its subject to maintain a firm correctness, and that action on his part will be evil." (Legge, 1882, hexagram 41, line 2)

Line 5, the upper one and therefore the main line under this rule, reads:

"The fifth SIX, divided, shows parties adding to (the stores of) its subject ten pairs of tortoise shells, and accepting no refusal. There will be great good fortune." (Legge, 1882, hexagram 41, line 5)

Finally you look at hexagram 42, Increase, as the direction of travel. Put in plain words: a time of cutting back, handled with sincerity and restraint (line 2), where help arrives from outside without being chased (line 5), moving toward a time of growth. How that maps onto a question about work, a relationship or a plan is for you to decide; the text describes a pattern, not a fixed outcome.

How do you read changing lines without getting lost?

Start with the first hexagram's judgment for context, then read the changing lines as the specific advice, then the relating hexagram as the direction. When several lines disagree, use the Zhu Xi rules to pick a main text. Write one sentence in your own words before you decide anything.

A few habits help:

• Read line texts in their position. Lines 1 and 6 often describe beginnings and endings, which is why hexagram 1 runs from a hidden dragon at the bottom to a dragon exceeding its limits at the top.
• Do not recast to get fewer lines. Three or more changing lines happen in 16.9% of readings (540 + 135 + 18 + 1 = 694 out of 4096). That is normal, not a sign the cast went wrong.
• Keep a record. Saving readings to your reading journal lets you see which lines came up and how things actually unfolded.
• Use the full list. The list of all 64 hexagrams takes you to every judgment and line text, each with a plain-language reading.

The I Ching is a book for reflection. Changing lines make a reading more specific, but they describe tendencies and attitudes, not guaranteed events, and they are no substitute for medical, legal or financial advice. If you use tarot as well, the same principle runs through our guide on whether tarot is accurate.

Questions

What do changing lines mean in the I Ching?

They are lines cast as 6 (old yin) or 9 (old yang) that are about to turn into their opposite. Their line texts give the most specific advice, and flipping them gives the hexagram the situation is moving toward.

What if I have no changing lines?

Read the judgment of your one hexagram as a whole. This happens in 17.8% of readings with coins or yarrow (729 out of 4096).

What does it mean when all six lines are changing?

It happens once in 4,096 readings. The rules commonly attributed to Zhu Xi say to read the judgment of the relating hexagram, except for hexagrams 1 and 2, which have their own seventh text.

Which changing line is most important?

With two changing lines the usual rule is to treat the upper one as the main line. With one, it is simply that line; with three or more, the rules shift to the hexagram judgments or the unchanging lines.

Is there a difference between changing lines with coins and yarrow?

The number is the same on average, 1.5 per reading. With yarrow three changing lines in four are old yang, while with coins old yang and old yin are equally likely.

Sources

• James Legge, The Yi King (The I Ching), 1882: James Legge, trans., The Sacred Books of China: The Texts of Confucianism, Part II, The Yi King (Sacred Books of the East, vol. 16), Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1882 (public domain)
• Zhu Xi, Yixue qimeng (12th century): Zhu Xi, Yixue qimeng (Introduction to the Study of the Classic of Change); English translation by Joseph A. Adler, Global Scholarly Publications, 2002
• Binomial probabilities: Computed by us: C(6,k) x (1/4)^k x (3/4)^(6-k), with p = 1/8 + 1/8 (coins) = 1/16 + 3/16 (yarrow) = 1/4
• Yarrow simulation: Our own simulation, October 2026: 400,000 lines of the 49-stalk division as implemented in this site's I Ching tool

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