I Ching Online Reading

I Ching is the ancient Chinese manual for divination, where 64 hexagrams are used to answer whatever question you might have regarding your present and your future (well, your past, too, if there's something in it still gnawing you). Here you can try the I Ching online and do your own reading. Just follow the simple steps below.

1     Read the I Ching Online Instructions

Before getting your I Ching online hexagrams, make sure to read all the instructions below. The Online Hexagram Generator will take you away from this webpage, so you need to know the below before getting going.

2     Have a question

Think of a question you want the I Ching Online to answer. Not just yes or no, but something that needs a description to be replied. Something important to you. Whatever the question, make sure you formulate it clearly for yourself. I do recommend that you write it down.

3     Get your I Ching Online hexagrams

Next, you click the button below (you find it after the instructions), which opens a small window where you get your I Ching online hexagrams by pushing another button, the one called "Generate hexagrams." They are randomly calculated. You get two online hexagrams — the first is the I Ching's direct answer to you question (well, its text is) and the second is the I Ching hexagram where the marked lines are inverted. That hexagram gives you an impression of the final outcome regarding your online question. Still, the first hexagram is absolutely the most important and significant one.

4     Click to read about the first I Ching hexagram online

In the small window, you have buttons that are links to the texts for the two I Ching online hexagrams. Click on the left button for the first hexagram, the most important one. Your original big window will change to the text for that hexagram, which is the I Ching answer to your question. Contemplate it thoroughly before moving on.

       Don't forget to read the I Ching Online texts about the marked lines on your hexagram (the red ones). They are counted from bottom to top. If you have no marked lines, both I Ching hexagrams will be the same — and should be interpreted accordingly. If you need to scroll down the text webpage, the little window might disappear — but it's not closed, just hiding behind the big window.

5     Click to read about the second I Ching hexagram online

When you've finished thinking about the first I Ching Online hexagram, click the button in the little window for your second hexagram, to the right. The I Ching text for that hexagram will appear in the big window. This hexagram gives an impression of what the final outcome will be to whatever it was you asked about. It's usually difficult to relate to, because "final" can mean something really far into the future — or not. I'd recommend you to consider the first I Ching Online hexagram much more at depth than the second one, which you might instead return to when things have happened regarding your question. Then you have a better chance of understanding what the second I Ching hexagram refers to.

       There are no marked lines for the second hexagram, so ignore the texts about the lines. They only apply for the first I Ching hexagram generated.

6     Write it all down

I recommend you to write it all down: the question, the I Ching Online hexagrams it received, and whatever else you find worthy of noting. I always do so, in a notebook I have solely for that purpose. That way, I can get back to the answers, even several years later, and thereby learn more about the strange dynamics of life and how the I Ching comments it.

       You can continue to shift between the two I Ching Online hexagram text pages. The little window will not disappear before you close it, and the buttons for the two hexagrams keep doing their job any number of times. Just don't press the "Generate hexagrams" button, because that will make it shift to a new pair of I Ching hexagrams.

7     Try a new question for the I Ching Online

If there's something more you want to ask the I Ching Online, repeat the whole process. But respect this old source to insight about matters beyond the capacity of mere mortals. Don't descend to nonsense questions just because you have fun trying the I Ching out online. Your questions should be important to you. Otherwise both you and the I Ching get bored. And don't ask about the same thing in several slightly different ways. That's a bit like cheating, and the I Ching Online will expose you.

The button

So, finally, here's the button to generate the I Ching Online hexagrams. I hope you had the patience of at least glancing through the above. Now, welcome to the wonderful world of revelations that is the I Ching. Just press the button to enter it.

About the I Ching Online Generator

This I Ching Online hexagram generator works by getting random numbers, which are then calculated into the solid or broken lines of the I Ching online hexagram, as well as deciding what lines should be marked (the ones in red). The second hexagram is simply the one where the marked lines are reversed — solid become broken and vice versa.

       I have great trust in it, since the I Ching is a divination system using chance, the randomness of how coins or sticks fall. Chance is the key, but don't expect me to explain that in detail. Many other divination techniques — actually almost all of them — also use one or other kind of randomness.

       The Java Script generating the I Ching Online hexagrams and creating links to the right text pages is not my own invention. I found it on the Internet, when searching for a suitable solution.

       It's created by Dan Enright. His online application of it is here: Javascript I Ching Reading. He's very generous about offering anyone else to use his script freely, so if you're thinking about making your own I Ching Online hexagram generator, please visit his website and get the ZIP he offers.

       As for the I Ching Online calculations, there's no mystery to the simple randomness involved in getting six solid or broken lines. As for what lines should be marked, though, there are different solutions leading to different frequency. Here's what Dan Enright says about it: "There are many javascript I Ching scripts on the internet, but they're all based (as far as my research can determine) on the coin tossing method of hexagram generation. This version, on the other hand, is based on the yarrow stalk method. The result is the immediacy of the coin tossing method with the reliability of the yarrow stalk method."

       I take his word for it, without hesitation.

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About Me
I'm a Swedish author and aikido instructor. In addition to fiction, I've written books about Taoism as well as other East Asian traditions. I'm also a historian of ideas, researching ancient thought and mythology. Click the image to get to my personal website.