Description
For study resources, courses, case studies, interactive divination tools, and the English-language Chinese Perpetual Calendar, please visit ichingstream.com.
About This Book
Encompassing I Ching Divination (Yi Mao, 《易冒》) is a major Qing-dynasty classic of Six Lines Divination, Wen Wang Gua, and the Na Jia Method, valued especially for explaining many foundational principles that earlier texts often leave implicit.
Completed around 1664 CE by Cheng Liangyu, a blind I Ching divination master of the early Qing dynasty, Yi Mao presents more than 370 detailed questions and over 110 divination cases. It explains not only the rules of I Ching divination, but also the reasoning behind them.
Yi Mao circulated in multiple Qing-dynasty engraved editions and was preserved in the Wenyuan Pavilion copy of The Complete Library of the Four Treasuries (Siku Quanshu, 《四库全书》), under the Masters Section, Arts and Mathematics category. Its inclusion in this monumental imperial collection reflects its recognized place within the Chinese textual tradition.
Why Yi Mao Matters
Unlike manuals that simply transmit formulas, Yi Mao asks why a rule works, when it should be used, and when it should not be applied mechanically. It covers line selection, hexagram structure, transformations, timing, true and false conditions, flying and hidden lines, void, break, extinction, scattering, Six Gods, and the comparison of inherited methods in actual divination practice.
The book also engages with Golden Strategy (Huangjin Ce, 《黄金策》), one of the most influential foundational works in later I Ching divination. For serious students, Yi Mao helps bridge the gap between memorizing rules and understanding the deeper structure of judgment.
Who This Book Helps
This volume is especially useful for readers who want to understand the deeper rules behind Six Lines Divination, Wen Wang Gua, and the Na Jia Method. It will also benefit students and practitioners who need a stronger foundation in line selection, transformations, void, break, timing, and subtle technical distinctions.
Readers of tarot, astrology, traditional Chinese medicine, Chinese metaphysics, or other symbolic and divinatory systems may also find Yi Mao valuable as a classical Chinese model for connecting principle, image, number, and practical judgment.
What Readers Will Gain
Readers will gain a clearer understanding of the logic behind core I Ching divination rules, a stronger grasp of timing and event development, and a practical bridge between philosophical Yi learning and technical divination.
Read together with I Ching Divination: Complete and Restored, The Orthodox Method of I Ching Divination, Fire Pearl Forest, and other classical works, Yi Mao gives students a more complete view of how the traditional Six Lines system operates.
English Edition
This English edition was translated and annotated by Xuan Wanyan, founder of I Ching Stream. Xuan Wanyan is a Columbia University graduate and licensed CPA from a family tradition of I Ching study. Her work focuses on systematically translating, organizing, and presenting the core classical texts of Chinese I Ching divination for English-language readers.
The translation uses consistent technical terminology and explanatory notes for readers unfamiliar with Chinese divination, classical terminology, and historical context. This edition aims to make one of the most important classical works of I Ching divination accessible outside the Chinese-language tradition while preserving its depth, technical precision, and traditional structure.
About the Author
Cheng Liangyu, courtesy name Yuanru, was a 17th-century I Ching diviner from Xin’an. After losing his sight in childhood, he devoted himself to I Ching divination and became known for his systematic explanation of practical divination methods.
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