How three coins are counted
This site assigns 3 to heads and 2 to tails. The three-coin total is 6 for old yin, 7 for young yang, 8 for young yin and 9 for old yang. Only old yin and old yang change. Fix the face convention before starting and keep it throughout the six rounds.
Record six rounds from bottom to top
For 9,7,7,7,7,7, the first round is the bottom line and the sixth the top. Six yang lines form Qian. Only the initial line is old yang; changing it to yin gives Gou. These are example values that can be checked in the manual six-line tool.
Reading this example
Qian’s initial line restrains the hidden dragon, and the Small Image explains its lower position. A modern example is taking over a project: understand the task and available resources before choosing an approach. Gou supplies an encounter theme for comparison; the example does not identify a future person.
Eight coin combinations have unequal totals
Three independent fair coins give eight equally likely face combinations. Totals 6,7,8,9 occur in 1,3,3,1 combinations, so a line changes with probability one quarter. These probabilities belong to the later coin model, not to the Zhouyi line text.
Sources and further reading
Explanations are written by this site; original excerpts are labeled separately. See the source catalogue for editions and scope.
Reviewed: 2026-10-09