I Ching (Book of Changes)

Origin. Ancient divination text; attributed to King Wen and the Duke of Zhou (11th century BCE); commentaries by Confucius and later scholars. The oldest of the Chinese classics.

Mechanism. Sixty-four hexagrams represent archetypal situations, each composed of six yin or yang lines. Each hexagram has a name, judgment, and line interpretations. The system encodes a model of change: situations transform according to patterns, and the hexagrams map this transformation space. Consultation involves generating a hexagram (traditionally by yarrow stalks, now often by coins) and interpreting its relevance to the question.

Procedure. Formulate the question clearly. Generate the hexagram through a chance process that allows for changing lines. Read the hexagram's judgment and the interpretations of any changing lines. If there are changing lines, derive the transformed hexagram and read its judgment. Interpret the reading as a characterization of the situation's dynamics and tendencies, not as a prediction of specific events.

Applies to. Decision-making under uncertainty, reframing a situation, accessing intuition through structured randomness, understanding situational archetypes.

Limitations. The I Ching does not predict; it characterizes. Interpretations are open enough to fit any situation, which means confirmation bias dominates. The value is in the structured reflection the consultation prompts, not in any information provided by the hexagrams themselves. Treating it as prophecy is the primary failure mode.