The I Ching (Yijing) is one of the world's oldest guidance systems, and its most approachable input method is the classic three-coin toss. You flip three coins six times, read six lines from the bottom up, and get a hexagram — a situation in pictoral form. This guide explains exactly how, with a free interactive tool to do it for you.
Like all esoteric traditions, treat it as a mirror for reflection — not a promise about the future.
Toss Three Coins FreeInteractive · 30 secondsEach of your six tosses uses three coins. Assign one side to be the "yang" side (often heads) and the other yin (tails). The three coins together give one of four results:
| Result | Type | Means |
|---|---|---|
| 3 heads | Young Yang (少阳) | A stable active line |
| 3 tails | Young Yin (少阴) | A stable receptive line |
| 2 heads + 1 tail | Old Yang (老阳) — changing | Yang that will turn to yin |
| 1 head + 2 tails | Old Yin (老阴) — changing | Yin that will turn to yang |
💡 In practice, the distinction is simple: two results are stable, and two are "changing" lines — those two are the heart of a reading.
Each hexagram is made of two trigrams: the lower (bottom three lines) and the upper (top three lines). Its name comes from that combination — for example, lower ☰ Heaven with upper ☲ Fire forms Huo Tian Da You (Great Possession).
Wherever a line is old (changing), flip it: old yang becomes yin, old yin becomes yang. Building the flipped stack gives your transformed hexagram (变卦) — the direction the situation is tending toward. The changing line's position (1–6) traditionally points to the key point of friction.
🧭 Beginner's rule: no changing lines → read the primary hexagram's overall text. One or more changing lines → read those lines plus the transformed hexagram for direction.
Try the Number Method TooThree numbers → hexagram · FreeAll interpretations are offered for cultural self-reflection; they are not a prediction of outcomes or professional advice.