The primary hexagram: the situation as it stands
The primary hexagram is formed directly from the six lines of the casting and is the starting point of the reading. The images and movements of its upper and lower trigrams, together with the Judgment and Image, describe the structure of the present situation: which forces are meeting, what tension deserves attention, and what proportionate action may require.
Basic reads the primary hexagram as a complete formal entry point. Before searching for a favourable or unfavourable label, ask: Which part of my situation resembles this structure? What constraint, responsibility, or possibility becomes easier to see?
Changing lines: locating what is in transition
In the full three-coin method, changing lines identify positions in the situation that are in transition. A line text is not merely a forecast. It addresses position, role, timing, and conduct. The six positions rising from bottom to top can also be read as different stages from emergence through development to an extreme.
Read a changing line first in its position within the primary hexagram, then consider the conditions and cautions expressed by its text. Change is not automatically bad, and an auspicious word is not an unconditional guarantee. The useful questions are what is losing stability, what needs adjustment, and what responsibility belongs to your position.
The resulting hexagram: a direction, not a fixed destination
Reversing the yin or yang state of every changing line forms the resulting hexagram. It shows another structure toward which the present changes point. It can clarify how the situation may be reorganised, but it is not a guaranteed destination and does not automatically cancel the conditions described by the primary hexagram.
A grounded reading treats the primary hexagram as where your feet stand, the changing lines as joints of transition, and the resulting hexagram as conditions that may form as change unfolds. They make one ordered path, not a set from which to choose the answer you prefer.
Which layer leads? Fixed rules decide
This site follows a fixed changing-line rule set. With no changing lines, read the primary Judgment. With one, read that line. With two, read both and give priority to the upper line. With three, read both hexagrams while treating the primary hexagram as the governing reference.
With four changing lines, read the two unchanged lines in the resulting hexagram and give priority to the lower one. With five, read the single unchanged line in the resulting hexagram. When all six change, Qian and Kun use their special Use-Nine and Use-Six texts; all other cases give priority to the resulting hexagram. This hierarchy is fixed before modern interpretation begins and may not be rewritten by AI.