Plum Blossom I Ching with Two Numbers: Formula and Example

Is there just one traditional number method?

Plum Blossom Numerology is traditionally associated with Shao Yong, though the stories attached to him should be distinguished from established history. The book describes taking numbers from objects, sounds, and writing. In its account of knocking at a door, two groups of sounds supply the two trigrams, with the hour added to find the moving line. This provides a precedent for using two numbers.

Writing down two numbers you think of is a present-day application of those numerical principles. This is not the only numerical procedure described in traditional practice. This article follows one fixed convention: it adds the hour branch number when calculating the moving line. Stating that choice lets you check the result and compare it with other procedures.

Choose your inputs before seeing the figure

First write down the situation, one issue, and a time frame. Record the first number that comes to mind as the first number, then the next as the second. This article uses whole numbers from 1 to 9999. Zero, negative numbers, and fractions are outside that range. Two identical numbers are valid; you do not need to replace them to avoid matching trigrams.

There is no need to search for auspicious-looking numbers or revise a pair because it feels unsuitable. People have numerical habits and preferences, so choosing numbers this way is not random sampling. Recording them promptly keeps the inputs fixed before you see the figure. Spontaneity is part of the practice, not evidence for the interpretation.

Keep both numbers and the question through a complete reading. Repeated casting followed by keeping only a welcome result can become a search for agreement. If new facts change the issue, note what changed before asking a new question.

• Write one issue with brief context and a time frame.
• Record the first number, then the second, in the order they come to mind.
• Check that both are whole numbers from 1 to 9999.
• Keep their order and the question unchanged while reading.

The two-number formula used in this article

The Pre-Heaven trigram numbers are Qian 1, Dui 2, Li 3, Zhen 4, Xun 5, Kan 6, Gen 7, Kun 8. Divide each input by 8 and keep the remainder; 0 counts as 8, or Kun. For the moving line, divide the relevant total by 6 and count remainder 0 as line 6. Line positions run from 1 at the bottom to 6 at the top.

The hour branch number uses Vietnam time, UTC+7: Zi 1, Chou 2, Yin 3, Mao 4, Chen 5, Si 6, Wu 7, Wei 8, Shen 9, You 10, Xu 11, Hai 12. Zi covers 23:00 to 00:59, Chou 01:00 to 02:59, and the remaining periods follow in two-hour blocks. This formula does not add the year, month, day, or minutes.

Find the moving line from the two original numbers plus the hour branch number. Do not substitute their trigram remainders, which can change the selected line. Do not split a number such as 275 into 2, 7, and 5; treat each number as a whole. Keep the two primary trigrams as calculated, then reverse only the moving line to form the changed hexagram.

• Divide the first number by 8 for the upper trigram, counting remainder 0 as 8.
• Divide the second number by 8 for the lower trigram, counting remainder 0 as 8.
• Add the first number, second number, and hour branch number.
• Divide that total by 6 for the moving line, counting remainder 0 as 6.
• Combine the two trigrams, then reverse the selected line for the changed hexagram.

Worked example: 27 and 64 during the Shen hour

Take 27 as the first number and 64 as the second during the Shen period, 15:00 to 16:59 in Vietnam time. Shen contributes 9. This example shows how to handle a number divisible by 8 and how to include the hour; it supplies no ready-made conclusion about a personal situation.

Li (Fire) above Kun (Earth) forms Jin (Advance), hexagram 35, with line 4 moving. That line is yang. Changing it to yin turns the upper trigram into Gen (Mountain), giving Bo (Stripping Away), hexagram 23. The nuclear hexagram uses primary lines 2, 3, 4 below and 3, 4, 5 above: Gen below Kan, or Jian (Obstruction), hexagram 39.

• 27 = 3 × 8 + 3, so the upper trigram is Li, number 3.
• 64 = 8 × 8; remainder 0 counts as 8, so the lower trigram is Kun.
• Moving-line total: 27 + 64 + 9 = 100.
• 100 = 16 × 6 + 4, so line 4 moves.
• Line values from bottom to top: 8, 8, 8, 9, 8, 7.
• Reversing line 4 gives 8, 8, 8, 8, 8, 7, forming Bo.

How does this differ from time, coins, and other number methods?

The time method uses the year branch, lunar month, lunar day, and hour branch. Within one effective lunar day and two-hour period, it repeats the same result. The number method takes its trigrams from your two inputs and uses the hour to help select the moving line. The same pair and hour period repeat the same result. Different pairs can also coincide because the calculation keeps remainders.

Three-coin casting generates six lines through random tosses and may produce no moving lines or several. The two-number Plum Blossom method selects exactly one moving line by division. These are differences in how a figure is formed and a reading organized, not evidence for ranking interpretations by reliability.

Traditional practice also includes one-number and three-number variants, character counting, and stroke counting. Their formulas differ. This article covers only the two-number procedure with the hour added. If another guide omits the hour, check its convention before applying its worked example here.

Read Body (Ti) and Function (Yong), then choose something to check

For a Plum Blossom hexagram with one moving line, the trigram containing it is Function (Yong); the other is Body (Ti). In the Jin example, line 4 belongs to Li, so Fire is Function (Yong) and Kun's Earth is Body (Ti). Fire generates Earth, described as Function (Yong) generating Body (Ti). This can prompt questions about available support and what you need to receive it. The symbolic relationship does not establish that help will arrive or a task will go smoothly.

In traditional Plum Blossom practice, number-based casts are usually read through Body (Ti) and Function (Yong). The introductory article on Plum Blossom relationships discusses nuclear and changed hexagrams further. Finish by recording a concrete action, such as asking what support is available before starting a task.

Kinh Dich Online currently casts with three coins; the Plum Blossom Body (Ti) / Function (Yong) method appears only as a supplementary cross-check in the reading.