CHANGING LINES EXPLAINED
What do 6, 7, 8, and 9 mean?
Every three-coin total tells you two things: whether the line is yin or yang, and whether it remains stable or changes.
Yin at an active extreme. It changes into yang.
A stable unbroken yang line.
A stable broken yin line.
Yang at an active extreme. It changes into yin.
Stable lines and changing lines
A 7 or 8 establishes the form of the original hexagram and remains the same in the resulting hexagram. A 6 or 9 is considered moving: 6 changes from yin to yang, while 9 changes from yang to yin.
“Old” does not mean negative, and “young” does not mean immature. The terms distinguish a line at a point of transition from one that is presently stable.
How the resulting hexagram is formed
Begin with the original six lines. Replace every 6 with yang and every 9 with yin; leave every 7 and 8 unchanged. Those six resulting lines form the second hexagram.
The original hexagram describes the present configuration. Moving lines show where the pattern is active. The resulting hexagram shows the new configuration produced by those changes—not a guaranteed outcome that must occur.
What if there are several changing lines?
Multiple changing lines indicate that more than one position is in motion. Avoid reducing them to a simple tally of “good” and “bad.” In Liu Yao, each moving line is read by its role, element, strength, relationship to the Focus Spirit, and what it becomes after change.
When many lines move, the chart may describe a highly transitional situation. The useful question is which movement most directly affects the matter you asked about.
Line position matters too
The first line is at the beginning of the situation; the sixth is at its outer limit. The middle positions often describe development, responsibility, or influence. The same yin or yang value therefore carries a different emphasis depending on where it appears.