page_title: I Ching divination
section_title: Yarrow stalks
hierarchical_section_title: I Ching divination / Methods / Yarrow stalks
caption_attribution_description: English: Yarrow stalks prepared by LPKaster meant for many years of professional use.
context_page_description: Among the many forms of divination is a cleromancy that is applied to the I Ching or Book of Changes. The text of the I Ching consists of sixty-four hexagrams—six-line figures—and commentaries upon them. By using one or another of several methods, one randomly generates the six lines; one then studies the commentaries in the I Ching associated with the generated hexagram. The meanings derived from such study can be interpreted as an oracle.
  Oracular uses of the I Ching—changing lines and resulting changed hexagrams—are documented before and around the Warring State period. The practice is earlier than many schools of Chinese philosophy, including that of Confucius. The I Ching was also used by later schools, such as the School of Yin-Yang. As the I Ching was one of only a few books that were not burnt, and it enjoyed for more than two millennia the status of one of the five key books that had to be studied as preparation for the examinations of government officials, the traditions of its rules and interpretation have continued to the present.
  Throughout China's region of cultural influence, scholars have added comments and interpretations to the I Ching.
context_section_description: Hexagrams may be generated by the manipulation of yarrow stalks. These are usually genuine Achillea millefolium stalks that have been cut and prepared for such purposes, or any form of wooden rod or sticks (the quality ranging from cheap hardwood to very expensive red sandalwood, etc.) which are plain, lacquered, or varnished. When genuine Achillea is used, varieties local to the diviner are considered the best, as they would contain qi closer to, and more in tune with, the diviner, or they may come from a particularly spiritual or relevant place, such as on the grounds of a Confucian temple. When not in use, they are kept in a cloth or silk bag/pouch or a wooden case/box.
  Fifty yarrow stalks are used, though one stalk is set aside at the beginning and takes no further part in the process of consultation. The remaining forty-nine stalks are roughly sorted into two piles, and then for each pile one stalk is initially "remaindered"; then the pile is "cast off" in lots of four (i.e., groups of four stalks are removed). The remainders from each half are combined (traditionally placed between the fingers of one hand during the counting process) and set aside, with the process then repeated twice (i.e., for a total of three times). The total number of stalks in the remainder pile will necessarily (if the procedure has been followed correctly) be 9 or 5, in the first count, and 8 or 4, in the second. 9 or 8 is assigned a value of 2; 5 or 4, a value of 3. The total of the three passes will be one of just four values: 6 (2+2+2), 7 (2+2+3), 8 (2+3+3), or 9 (3+3+3)—that value is the number of the first line.
  The forty-nine stalks are then gathered and the entire procedure repeated to generate each of the remaining five lines of the hexagram.
  The yarrow-stalk method produces unequal probabilities for obtaining each of the four totals, as shown in the table. Compared to the three-coin method discussed next, the probabilities of the lines produced by the yarrow-stalk method are significantly different.
  Note that the Yarrow algorithm is a particular algorithm for generating random numbers; while it is named after the yarrow-stalk method of consulting the I Ching, its details are unrelated to it.
caption: Yarrow Stalks prepared for regular usage
exif: {"Image ImageWidth": "2048", "Image ImageLength": "1152", "Image Make": "samsung", "Image Model": "SM-G900T", "Image Orientation": "Horizontal (normal)", "Image XResolution": "72", "Image YResolution": "72", "Image ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Image Software": "Adobe Photoshop 7.0", "Image DateTime": "2015:11:02 17:51:24", "Image YCbCrPositioning": "Centered", "Image ExifOffset": "244", "GPS GPSVersionID": "[2, 2, 0, 0]", "Image GPSInfo": "3008", "Thumbnail Compression": "JPEG (old-style)", "Thumbnail XResolution": "72", "Thumbnail YResolution": "72", "Thumbnail ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormat": "3122", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormatLength": "3283", "EXIF ExposureTime": "1/15", "EXIF FNumber": "11/5", "EXIF ExposureProgram": "Program Normal", "EXIF ISOSpeedRatings": "1000", "EXIF ExifVersion": "0220", "EXIF DateTimeOriginal": "2015:07:22 15:31:40", "EXIF DateTimeDigitized": "2015:07:22 15:31:40", "EXIF ComponentsConfiguration": "YCbCr", "EXIF ShutterSpeedValue": "39/10", "EXIF ApertureValue": "227/100", "EXIF BrightnessValue": "-11/5", "EXIF ExposureBiasValue": "0", "EXIF MaxApertureValue": "57/25", "EXIF MeteringMode": "Pattern", "EXIF LightSource": "Unknown", "EXIF Flash": "Flash did not fire", "EXIF FocalLength": "24/5", "EXIF SubSecTime": "80", "EXIF SubSecTimeOriginal": "80", "EXIF SubSecTimeDigitized": "80", "EXIF FlashPixVersion": "0100", "EXIF ColorSpace": "sRGB", "EXIF ExifImageWidth": "360", "EXIF ExifImageLength": "203", "EXIF SensingMethod": "One-chip color area", "EXIF SceneType": "Directly Photographed", "EXIF ExposureMode": "Auto Exposure", "EXIF WhiteBalance": "Auto", "EXIF FocalLengthIn35mmFilm": "31", "EXIF SceneCaptureType": "Standard", "EXIF ImageUniqueID": "F16QLHF01S"}