Plum Blossom Divination, Mei Hua Yi Shu Explained

Plum blossom divination, also called Plum Blossom Numerology or Mei Hua Yi Shu, is an I Ching practice that forms hexagrams from numbers, time or observations. This guide uses the method offered on kaucim.ai, two numbers plus the current Hong Kong double-hour, followed by a reading of the Ti-Yong five-element relation.

We checked the example below against our casting code and compared the method with the received Mei Hua text. The calculation is reproducible. The interpretation is an editorial example for reflection, with no claim that it predicts an outcome.

The name and the received text

The tradition attributes Mei Hua Yi Shu to Shao Yong, the Song dynasty scholar. Its plum-blossom story describes him seeing two sparrows fall while fighting over a branch, then casting a hexagram. In the received account, he calculates from the year, lunar month, day and double-hour. The birds prompt the cast; the calendar values supply its numbers.

The tradition includes several ways to gather the inputs. A calendar-time cast and the two-number method on this site should each be followed according to their own rules. Their moving lines can differ.

How the two-number method works

First, divide your first number by eight. Use the remainder to select the upper trigram. Divide the second number by eight for the lower trigram. In both divisions, a zero remainder counts as eight.

Next, add both numbers and the double-hour ordinal. Divide by six. The remainder identifies the moving line, counted from the bottom, with zero counting as line six.

The free caster uses Hong Kong time, UTC+8. Zi is the first double-hour, Chou the second, and so on through Hai, the twelfth. The same pair of numbers and the same double-hour produce the same calculated cast. The question text is used for interpretation and does not change this arithmetic.

A worked cast using 7 and 2

Fix the time at 6 am in Hong Kong on 5 September 2026. This is Mao, the double-hour from 5 am to before 7 am, with ordinal 4. These inputs were chosen for an editorial demonstration, not taken from a customer reading.

Seven divided by eight leaves seven, giving Gen as the upper trigram. Two leaves two, giving Dui below it. Mountain over Lake is Sun, Decrease, hexagram 41, 山澤損.

The sum 7 + 2 + 4 is 13. Dividing by six leaves one, so the bottom line moves.

Flipping line one changes the lower trigram from Dui to Kan. Gen remains above it. The changed hexagram is Meng, Youthful Folly, hexagram 4, 山水蒙.

For the nuclear hexagram, take primary lines two, three and four as the lower trigram, then three, four and five as the upper. This gives Zhen below Kun, Fu, Return, hexagram 24, 地雷復.

The live caster uses the current hour. Entering 7 and 2 at a different hour may change the moving line. To reproduce this fixed example, follow the arithmetic above with Mao's ordinal of four.

Ti and Yong in this example

The trigram containing the moving line is Yong, representing the matter or its circumstances. The still trigram is Ti, representing the person asking. Here line one is in Dui, so Dui Metal is Yong and Gen Earth is Ti. Earth generates Metal, making the relation Ti generates Yong.

In the traditional reading, this draws attention to effort supplied by the person asking. For an editorial question about accepting a job offer, it could prompt a check of the time and expense involved. The offer's actual duties, pay and trial period still need to be checked with the employer.

On this site, the primary hexagram is read in relation to the present situation, the nuclear hexagram suggests an intermediate process, and the changed hexagram supplies a view of possible development. Decrease, Return and Youthful Folly can be read together as a prompt to examine what the change costs, what would need to begin again and what remains unclear. That is one interpretation of a constructed example. The hexagrams cannot establish what will happen at the job.

Terms you will see in other guides

English labels vary between guides. Check which lines a guide uses to build its nuclear hexagram and how it assigns Ti and Yong before comparing the interpretation.

Two numbers, three numbers and coin casting

A three-number method can use separate inputs for the two trigrams and the moving line. Our tool uses two numbers and adds the current double-hour for the moving line. Entering the same first two numbers in those different systems does not guarantee the same changed hexagram. This page's tool currently offers only the two-number-plus-hour method.

Coin and yarrow casting build the hexagram line by line and can produce several moving lines. The number method here produces one. How to cast the I Ching compares their procedures and probabilities.

Our reading focuses on trigram imagery and Ti-Yong relations. Mei Hua practice also has approaches that consult the classical texts, so this guide does not treat line-text reading as excluded from the whole tradition.

The guide to Chinese divination methods compares question-based practices with birth-chart systems. Iron Plate Divination, for example, begins with birth data and a calibration process. This Plum Blossom cast needs neither.

Before you cast

Write down one matter and the decision or conversation you can actually take part in. A question about what to clarify before answering an offer gives you something specific to check after reading.

Choose two numbers, then read the resulting cast before considering another. If new information changes the situation, record that change in the next question. Repeating an unchanged question can leave you choosing the answer you prefer.

Cast a hexagram to see all three hexagrams, Ti and Yong, and the calculation steps for free. An optional paid AI reading relates the calculated cast to the question you supplied; the page states its current availability and price. AI cannot verify your circumstances or another person's intentions.

Sources and method notes

The received Mei Hua text is available in the Chinese Text Project, volume one and volume two. The calendar values in the plum-blossom story can also be checked in YiMatrix's reproduction of the passage. The numerical example here was checked against kaucim.ai's casting code on 5 September 2026. This verifies agreement with the implemented method, not predictive accuracy.