I Ching Yarrow Stalk Method: Count One Line at a Time

Begin With One Question and Fifty Stalks

Lay out fifty stalks and give one question your attention. Set one stalk aside, then work with the other 49. Divide and count them through three reductions to make one line. Restore the working bundle to 49 before each new line, and build your six-line figure from the bottom upward.

The reward is an unhurried way to make a reading you can reconstruct on paper. This walkthrough covers the physical counting; our I Ching guide introduces the wider practice.

Quick links: Counting steps · Worked example · Paper record · Count recovery

Prepare Your Space and Record

You need fifty similar stalks or sticks, a clear surface, paper and a pen. Keep the pieces large enough to handle comfortably. Count the full set before starting; an unnoticed missing stick makes later checks confusing.

Write the date and one question about a situation you can reflect on. For example: “What should I consider before agreeing to this extra responsibility?” Leave room for six line values and notes from your chosen I Ching translation.

Make four separate places on the table: one for the single reserved stalk, and three for the reductions within a line. The reserved stalk stays out of play for the whole hexagram. The three reduction piles return to the working bundle when you start the next line. Keeping those roles separate prevents the common mistake of gradually shrinking the bundle across six lines.

This guide follows the counting sequence in Jane English's instructions, received from Gia-fu Feng, cross-checked with the Wilhelm/Baynes instructions for consulting the oracle. Finger positions can help keep remainders apart; separate marked spaces work for following the arithmetic here. Follow one counting convention consistently rather than combining different shortcuts.

Three Reductions Make One Line

First reduction: begin with 49

1. Divide the 49 working stalks into two heaps, left and right. Keep stalks in both heaps, with at least two in the right heap so that one can be removed while leaving stalks to count.
2. Take one stalk from the right heap and hold it separately. It belongs to this reduction, not to the permanently reserved stalk.
3. Count the left heap in groups of four. Stop when one, two, three or four remain. An exactly divisible heap leaves four, not zero. Put that remainder beside the single stalk you just removed.
4. Count the right heap in the same way. Add its final one-to-four stalks to this reduction's remainder pile.
5. Check the total set aside: the single stalk plus both remainders must make 5 or 9. Leave that entire reduction pile aside. Combine only the stalks counted off in groups of four.

You now have 44 or 40 working stalks. Do not restore 49 yet: the next reduction starts with this smaller bundle.

Second reduction: continue with what remains

Divide the current bundle again. Remove one from the right heap, count both heaps by fours, and collect the one plus the two remainders exactly as before. Keep both heaps countable after removing the single stalk.

This time the reduction pile totals 4 or 8. Put it in the second marked space, separate from the first pile. The remaining working count will be 32, 36 or 40, depending on the preceding reductions.

Third reduction: finish the line

Repeat once more with the current working bundle. Set aside another 4 or 8 stalks. There should now be three reduction piles and a working bundle of 24, 28, 32 or 36 stalks.

Divide that remaining bundle by four to obtain your line value:

Mark a changing line clearly so its movement is not lost when you draw the figure. Record this first line at the bottom of your sheet.

A Worked Line With Count Checks

Here is an invented counting example, not a prescribed way to split your own bundle.

Reduction 1: split 49 into left 25 and right 24. Remove one from the right, leaving 23 there. The left heap leaves a remainder of 1; the right leaves 3. Set aside 1 + 1 + 3 = 5. The working bundle is now 44.

Reduction 2: split 44 into left 20 and right 24. Remove one from the right, leaving 23. The left remainder is 4, because you stop at the final group of four; the right remainder is 3. Set aside 1 + 4 + 3 = 8. You have 36 working stalks.

Reduction 3: split 36 into left 17 and right 19. After removing one from the right, count 17 and 18: their remainders are 1 and 2. Set aside 1 + 1 + 2 = 4. You finish with 32.

The check is 49 − 5 − 8 − 4 = 32; 32 ÷ 4 = 8, a stable broken line. This is one line, not three. For the next line, reunite the 32 working stalks with all three reduction piles: 32 + 5 + 8 + 4 = 49. Leave the original reserved stalk untouched.

Your Six-Line Paper Record

Repeat the three-reduction process six times, starting every line with 49 working stalks. Write the values in casting order, bottom first. This record keeps the arithmetic separate from later interpretation:

For each line, note the three amounts set aside, then the final line value:

Line 1 (bottom)
Set aside: __/__ /__
Remaining: ___
Value: ___
Line 2
Set aside: __/__ /__
Remaining: ___
Value: ___
Line 3
Set aside: __/__ /__
Remaining: ___
Value: ___
Line 4
Set aside: __/__ /__
Remaining: ___
Value: ___
Line 5
Set aside: __/__ /__
Remaining: ___
Value: ___
Line 6 (top)
Set aside: __/__ /__
Remaining: ___
Value: ___

On paper, add your question, date, translation, primary hexagram, changing line positions, relating hexagram when applicable, first reflection and a next action you can reconsider later. Keep the original values when adding follow-up observations.

Draw all six original lines to identify the primary figure using our 64-hexagram chart. Change only values 6 and 9 to construct the relating figure. Then use the changing-lines guide to choose passages under a named reading approach. If every value is 7 or 8, there are no changing lines; no second figure is created by changing them.

When a Count Does Not Fit

If the first reduction is neither 5 nor 9, or a later reduction is neither 4 nor 8, stop before interpreting the number. Check for a dropped stalk, an omitted single stalk, a remainder counted as zero, or an earlier reduction accidentally returned too soon.

If you can reconstruct that reduction with confidence, recount it. If you have lost track, restore the 49 working stalks and restart only the unfinished line. Keep already recorded lines. Repeating an uncertain count is a bookkeeping repair, not a reason to discard a clear result because you dislike it.

Before the next line, check 49 again. Before drawing the final figure, check that line 1 is at the bottom and that the original broken/solid shapes have not already been replaced by their changed forms.

Choose the Pace That Suits You

Yarrow counting and three-coin casting both yield values 6, 7, 8 and 9, but the methods do not have the same line probabilities. Choose stalks when you enjoy the counting ritual, or coins when you want a shorter physical procedure. Let your preferred pace guide the choice.

For a separate screen-based pause, try our digital I Ching reflection. It offers its own hexagram reflection; it does not accept the six values from this worksheet or perform these physical reductions.

Use your reading for entertainment and personal reflection, alongside your own judgment.