A RECORDED FIGURE. A CLEAR METHOD.

I Ching Interpretation

Start with the hexagram you actually recorded. Read its overall judgment, identify any changing lines by their positions from the bottom, then consider those passages in the situation you asked about. Keep the text, the changed drawing and your own conclusions separate. If several lines move, state the reading convention you are following rather than inventing a single universal rule.

Read the judgment before narrowing the question

The judgment belongs to the whole hexagram. Read it as the starting frame, then examine the image and line passages in the edition you are using. Translations may use different English names, so check the number and drawing as well. In Legge’s Hexagram XIV, the overall judgment and the six numbered passages are visibly separate parts of the text.

Write down the question that existed before the reading. Distinguish a factual question, such as what resources are available, from a hope that a particular outcome will happen. A favorable phrase does not establish a date, a quantity or another person’s intentions. This is a reading workflow, not a validated prediction method.

Use changing lines from the original record

Positions run from one at the bottom to six at the top. Use the changing positions that your casting method recorded, not every broken line you can see. A static solid-or-broken drawing does not by itself preserve the distinction between a stable line and a moving one. The traditional trigram discussion and its notes distinguish divided and undivided forms and the changing and unchanging line values.

For a single moving position, find that numbered passage in your edition. Keep the original figure and the related drawing in separate columns. Changing a drawing is a reproducible operation; deciding how its passage applies to your situation is a separate reading step. When several positions move, consult your chosen method’s rules and record them. This guide does not declare one multi-line convention correct for every school.

Worked example: Hexagram 14, changing line five

Our I Ching Hexagram 14 guide records the original pattern as 111101 from bottom to top, where 1 is solid and 0 broken. Its only broken position is five. Selecting a change at position five produces 111111 in the local checker; the six-position ledger lets you verify exactly what changed.

This example assumes that the original cast marked line five as moving. The fact that it is broken does not supply that assumption. If your record has no moving line, keep the original drawing rather than manufacturing this change. The Hexagram 14 structural ledger documents the worked inputs and outputs, not a personal prediction.

Relate the passage to a modern situation

Use three short notes: what the text says, what is actually known about the situation, and what action could be checked. Label analogies as your own. For example, a resources theme can prompt a capacity check, but the check needs real commitments and available time; a phrase about abundance cannot create an extra hour or obtain someone’s agreement.

The Hexagram 14 resource exercises use constructed capacity examples, not client histories. They show how changing one factual input changes the practical constraint. You can write an equally explicit record for your own question without treating the symbolic text as evidence that an event must occur.

What if the text seems to fit several answers?

Keep the alternatives visible. Ask what observation would distinguish them, and avoid editing the original question until a preferred answer appears. An explanation that can accommodate every possible outcome has not identified which outcome will happen.

What should a complete reading note contain?

The original question and the facts already known.
The recorded hexagram number, drawing and moving positions.
The edition and any rule used for more than one moving line.
The judgment and relevant passages, kept distinct from your paraphrase.
A practical question or action whose result can be checked independently.

Sources and scope

Legge’s Hexagram XIV is the text example; Remarks on the Trigrams is the symbol and line-value reference. The workflow and modern questions here are editorial guidance, not a claim that the I Ching scientifically predicts decisions or events. The example is restricted to one stated moving position.