Six Lines Terms
The vocabulary used when dressing a Six Lines hexagram: the six gods, the six relations, the self and other lines, moving lines and the twenty-eight lunar mansions.
The six gods
- 青龙
- The Azure Dragon is the first auspicious among the six spirits. It governs righteousness, loyalty, joy, and wealth. When it aligns with the favorable deity (Yong Shen), it brings f…
- 朱雀
- The Vermilion Bird governs disputes, documents, fire, and flying news. Auspiciously, it indicates imperial decrees and good news; inauspiciously, it indicates arguments and legal t…
- 勾陈
- Gou Chen governs land entanglements, delays, and obstructions, and also governs honesty. It often indicates disputes over fields and houses, and matters that drag on without resolu…
- 螣蛇
- Teng She governs sudden fright, strange events, dreams, and secret matters. The field name "螣蛇" may also appear as "腾蛇" in ancient texts.
- 白虎
- The White Tiger governs bloodshed, injury, illness, death, mourning clothes, and baleful qi. When divining about illness and blood accidents, avoid the White Tiger.
- 玄武
- Xuan Wu governs thieves, darkness, adultery, and fraud. When divining about lost items, thieves, or secret matters, Xuan Wu often appears.
The six relations
- Parents
- Parents (Fu Mu) are those that generate me. They represent documents, houses, elders, and protection spirits. In divination concerning parents, elders, heaven and earth, cities, ho…
- Siblings
- Siblings (Xiong Di) are those that harmonize with me, being of the same kind. They represent defeat, harm, and hindrance. In money matters, they rob wealth; in planning, they block…
- Children
- Children (Zi Sun) are those that I generate. They are the spirit of blessing, the spirit that restrains ghosts, and the spirit that relieves worries—the most auspicious among the s…
- Wealth
- Wealth (Qi Cai) are those that I control. They represent wives, concubines, money, and sustenance, and are mostly auspicious in matters. In seeking wealth, they are the use god, fa…
- Official Ghost
- Official Ghost (官鬼) is the element that overcomes me. It represents government, thunder, spirits, illness, and thieves — more misfortune than fortune. In career divination, this li…
Self and responding lines
- The World line
- The World line (世爻) represents the 'self' in the hexagram, indicating the person asking the question. For divination about one's own illness, lifespan, travel fortune, or any matte…
- The Response line
- The Response line (应爻) represents the 'other person' in the hexagram, opposite the World line, indicating the other party or that place. For divination concerning people without sp…
Moving and changing lines
- Chong
- Chong (heavy) is old yang. When casting the hexagram, three coins all showing backs (tails) is chong, recorded as "○", with the number 9. A heavy line is a yang line in motion; mov…
- Jiao
- Jiao (the old yin line): When tossing coins, if all three are heads, it is jiao, marked as '×', and its number is six. The jiao line represents a yin line in motion; movement bring…
Chart elements
- 乾造
- Qian represents Heaven and Yang. A male who divines is called a 'Qian Configuration' (乾造). It indicates the querent is male: in judgment, the World line is taken as self; when sele…
- 坤造
- Kun represents Earth and Yin. A female who divines is called a 'Kun Configuration' (坤造). It indicates the querent is female: in judgment, the World line is taken as self; for examp…
- The Hexagram Body
- The Hexagram Body (卦身), also called the Monthly Hexagram Body (月卦身), governs the body of the matter being divined. The method of assigning it: if the World line is Yang, count from…
- 世身
- The body of the self line is determined by the Earthly Branch of the self line: if the self line is 子 or 午, the body is in the first line; 丑 or 未 in the second; 寅 or 申 in the third…
- 日辰
- The day branch is the Earthly Branch of the date of divination. Together with the month branch, they are the two major authorities for measuring the prosperity, decline, life, and …
- 月建
- The month branch is the Earthly Branch of the month of divination. It controls the authority of the month and governs the three ten-day periods, holding the power of life and death…
- Day emptiness is the same as ten-day cycle void
- Day emptiness is the same as ten-day cycle void (emptiness of a ten-day cycle). According to the ten-day cycle (ten-day cycle) containing the divination day, the two Earthly Branch…
The twenty-eight mansions
- The Horn mansion
- The Horn mansion (Jiao) is the first of the seven mansions of the Azure Dragon. It governs glory, prosperity, happiness, farmland, wealth, marriage, and scholarly success. When a l…
- The Neck mansion
- The Neck mansion (Kang) is the dragon's neck, with a rigid and extreme nature. It governs disasters, losses, and loss of official position. When a line encounters this mansion, it …
- The Root mansion
- The Root mansion (Di) is the dragon's chest. It governs calamities, destruction, and exhaustion of fields. When a line encounters this mansion, it often indicates damage to foundat…
- The Room mansion
- The Room mansion (Fang) is the dragon's belly, also called the Heavenly Quadriga. It governs gains in fields, wealth from cattle and horses, glory, and riches. When a line encounte…
- The Heart Mansion
- The Heart Mansion (Xinxiu) corresponds to the position of the Great Fire and the rightful seat of the Celestial King, yet when activated it is greatly inauspicious, governing punis…
- 尾火虎
- The Tail Mansion is the dragon's tail, governing heavenly grace, blessings, wealth attraction, and harmonious marriage. When a line falls on the Tail Mansion, it often indicates lo…
- 箕水豹
- The Winnowing Mansion governs high strength, auspicious prosperity, bountiful harvests of fields and silkworms, and granaries full of grain. When a line falls on the Winnowing Mans…
- 斗木獬
- The Dipper Mansion is the first of the seven mansions of the Black Tortoise, governing wealth attraction, prominence, and excellence in both civil and martial arts. When a line fal…
- 牛金牛
- The Ox Mansion governs calamities, dangers, various misfortunes, unsettled households, and declining population. When a line falls on the Ox Mansion, it often indicates labor witho…
- The Nü
- The Nü (Female) Mansion governs gossip among women, discord among brothers, diseases and plagues. When the hexagram line falls on Nü Mansion, it often indicates household disputes,…
- The Xu
- The Xu (Void) Mansion's name signifies depletion and waste. When encountered, it brings calamities, loneliness, rumors, and internal strife. When hexagram line falls on 戌 Mansion, …
- The Wei
- The Wei (Danger) Mansion's name signifies peril. When encountered, it brings bloodshed, injuries, drowning, and drifting. When hexagram line falls on 未 Mansion, it often indicates …
- The Shi
- The Shi (Room) Mansion, also called the Camp Mansion, governs acquisition of fields, increase in descendants, wealth, nobility, longevity. When hexagram line falls on Shi Mansion, …
- The Bi
- The Bi (Wall) Mansion governs literature, archives, and treasuries. When encountered, it brings acquisition of estates, birth of talented individuals, and noble sons. When hexagram…
- 奎木狼
- The Legs mansion is the first of the seven White Tiger mansions, governing civil affairs, military, and punishments. When it takes charge, omens are mixed but tend toward unlucky. …
- 娄金狗
- The Bond mansion governs gathering people and animal husbandry. When it takes charge, it indicates prosperous wealth, harmonious family, and widespread reputation. When a line enco…
- 胃土雉
- The Stomach mansion is the heavenly kitchen storehouse, governing granaries and treasure vaults. When it takes charge, it indicates wealth, honor, and promotion. When a line encoun…
- 昴日鸡
- The Hairy Head mansion governs punishments, imprisonment, and bereavement. When it takes charge, it indicates endless official calamities, death, and separation. When a line encoun…
- 毕月乌
- The Net mansion is called the heavenly ears and eyes, governing border troops and hunting. When it takes charge, it is auspicious, indicating fields, grain, money, harvest, and pea…
- 觜火猴
- Zui Mansion symbolizes the tiger's mouth, indicating punishment, loneliness, scheming, and poisoning. When this mansion appears in divination, it often signifies verbal disputes, h…
- 参水猿
- Shen Mansion is called the Heavenly General, governing execution and military might. When encountered in building or construction, it indicates the literary star shines brightly an…
- 井木犴
- Jing Mansion is the first of the seven mansions of the Vermilion Bird, governing water affairs and literary fortune. When encountered, it indicates silkworm and field prosperity, a…
- 鬼金羊
- Gui Mansion is called the Ghost Carriage, governing sacrificial rites to ghosts and spirits. When encountered, it is mostly ominous, indicating loss of people, harm to marriage. Wh…
- 柳土獐
- Liu Mansion is the beak of the Vermilion Bird, governing vegetation and kitchen meals. When encountered, it indicates encountering lawsuits, loss of property, illness and lonelines…
- The Star Mansion
- The Star Mansion (Xiu) corresponds to the neck of the Vermilion Bird, governing clothing and embroidery. Undertaking construction or career advancement may be favorable, but most o…
- 张月鹿
- The Zhang Mansion corresponds to the crop of the Vermilion Bird, governing treasures and ancestral temples. When this mansion is in command, it favors acquisition of estates, promo…
- 翼火蛇
- The Yi Mansion corresponds to the wings of the Vermilion Bird, governing music bureaus and distant travel. When this mansion is in command, most matters are inauspicious, indicatin…
- 轸水蚓
- The Zhen Mansion corresponds to the tail of the Vermilion Bird, governing vehicles and distant transport. When this mansion is in command, generations will hold official positions …