Learn and practise · 6 lessons · 12 questions
Learn Na Jia Liu Yao
These six lessons continue the I Ching casting course with one fixed set of six values. Answers follow this site's Na Jia and target-selection rules. Textual changing-line selection is taught in the introductory course.
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Primary, Relating and Palace
Record 7, 8, 6, 7, 8, 9 from bottom to top. Lines 3 and 6 change, giving hexagram 21, Biting Through, relating to 55, Abundance. Hexagram 21 belongs to Xun Wood in the eight-palace sequence; its upper trigram does not determine its palace.
| Line | Primary stem/branch | Element | Six Kin | Self/Other | Moving | Six Spirits |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 6 | 己巳 | Fire | Offspring (子孫) | Neither | Yes | Dark Warrior |
| 5 | 己未 | Earth | Wealth (妻財) | Self | No | White Tiger |
| 4 | 己酉 | Metal | Officer/Ghost (官鬼) | Neither | No | Flying Serpent |
| 3 | 庚辰 | Earth | Wealth (妻財) | Neither | Yes | Gou Chen |
| 2 | 庚寅 | Wood | Peers (兄弟) | Other | No | Vermilion Bird |
| 1 | 庚子 | Water | Parents (父母) | Neither | No | Green Dragon |
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Lesson notes and examples
1. Primary, Relating and Palace
Record 7, 8, 6, 7, 8, 9 from bottom to top. Lines 3 and 6 change, giving hexagram 21, Biting Through, relating to 55, Abundance. Hexagram 21 belongs to Xun Wood in the eight-palace sequence; its upper trigram does not determine its palace.
| Line | Primary stem/branch | Element | Six Kin | Self/Other | Moving | Six Spirits |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 6 | 己巳 | Fire | Offspring (子孫) | Neither | Yes | Dark Warrior |
| 5 | 己未 | Earth | Wealth (妻財) | Self | No | White Tiger |
| 4 | 己酉 | Metal | Officer/Ghost (官鬼) | Neither | No | Flying Serpent |
| 3 | 庚辰 | Earth | Wealth (妻財) | Neither | Yes | Gou Chen |
| 2 | 庚寅 | Wood | Peers (兄弟) | Other | No | Vermilion Bird |
| 1 | 庚子 | Water | Parents (父母) | Neither | No | Green Dragon |
2. Assign the Na Jia Branches
The site's table assigns Geng-Zi, Geng-Yin and Geng-Chen to the lower Zhen trigram, then Ji-You, Ji-Wei and Ji-Si to the upper Li trigram. Check lower and upper trigrams before reading each branch and element.
| Line | Primary stem/branch | Element | Six Kin | Self/Other | Moving | Six Spirits |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 6 | 己巳 | Fire | Offspring (子孫) | Neither | Yes | Dark Warrior |
| 5 | 己未 | Earth | Wealth (妻財) | Self | No | White Tiger |
| 4 | 己酉 | Metal | Officer/Ghost (官鬼) | Neither | No | Flying Serpent |
| 3 | 庚辰 | Earth | Wealth (妻財) | Neither | Yes | Gou Chen |
| 2 | 庚寅 | Wood | Peers (兄弟) | Other | No | Vermilion Bird |
| 1 | 庚子 | Water | Parents (父母) | Neither | No | Green Dragon |
3. Locate Self and Other
Hexagram 21 is at the fifth-change position in Xun, placing Self at line 5 and Other at line 2, three positions apart. Palace order determines these markers; the question then determines which target to use.
| Line | Primary stem/branch | Element | Six Kin | Self/Other | Moving | Six Spirits |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 6 | 己巳 | Fire | Offspring (子孫) | Neither | Yes | Dark Warrior |
| 5 | 己未 | Earth | Wealth (妻財) | Self | No | White Tiger |
| 4 | 己酉 | Metal | Officer/Ghost (官鬼) | Neither | No | Flying Serpent |
| 3 | 庚辰 | Earth | Wealth (妻財) | Neither | Yes | Gou Chen |
| 2 | 庚寅 | Wood | Peers (兄弟) | Other | No | Vermilion Bird |
| 1 | 庚子 | Water | Parents (父母) | Neither | No | Green Dragon |
4. Six Kin from Palace Relationships
Use the palace element as the reference. For Xun Wood, Water is Parents, Wood Peers, Fire Offspring, Earth Wealth and Metal Officer/Ghost. These labels classify roles in a question and need not describe literal relatives.
| Relation to Wood | Line element | Six Kin |
|---|---|---|
| Generates Wood | Water | Parents |
| Same element | Wood | Peers |
| Generated by Wood | Fire | Offspring |
| Controlled by Wood | Earth | Wealth |
| Controls Wood | Metal | Officer/Ghost |
5. Assign the Six Spirits
Six Spirits begin at line 1 according to the day stem. Yi starts with Green Dragon, then Vermilion Bird, Gou Chen, Flying Serpent, White Tiger and Dark Warrior. An individual spirit marker alone does not establish a real event.
| Line | Primary stem/branch | Element | Six Kin | Self/Other | Moving | Six Spirits |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 6 | 己巳 | Fire | Offspring (子孫) | Neither | Yes | Dark Warrior |
| 5 | 己未 | Earth | Wealth (妻財) | Self | No | White Tiger |
| 4 | 己酉 | Metal | Officer/Ghost (官鬼) | Neither | No | Flying Serpent |
| 3 | 庚辰 | Earth | Wealth (妻財) | Neither | Yes | Gou Chen |
| 2 | 庚寅 | Wood | Peers (兄弟) | Other | No | Vermilion Bird |
| 1 | 庚子 | Water | Parents (父母) | Neither | No | Green Dragon |
6. Question Target and Time Context
Focus on one question. The site uses Wealth for a money question, Officer/Ghost for a job question and Wealth for income. Month You and day Mao supply generating, controlling, clash and combination context; Zi and Chou are void. Months change at jie solar terms and days at local midnight.
| Line | Primary stem/branch | Element | Six Kin | Self/Other | Moving | Six Spirits |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 6 | 己巳 | Fire | Offspring (子孫) | Neither | Yes | Dark Warrior |
| 5 | 己未 | Earth | Wealth (妻財) | Self | No | White Tiger |
| 4 | 己酉 | Metal | Officer/Ghost (官鬼) | Neither | No | Flying Serpent |
| 3 | 庚辰 | Earth | Wealth (妻財) | Neither | Yes | Gou Chen |
| 2 | 庚寅 | Wood | Peers (兄弟) | Other | No | Vermilion Bird |
| 1 | 庚子 | Water | Parents (父母) | Neither | No | Green Dragon |
Continue learning
Sources and conventions
- Chinese introduction to Liu Yao and Na Jia
- Zeng Shan Bu Yi original text
- Changing lines in textual I Ching readings
Updated October 8, 2026
Practice questions
Is Na Jia Liu Yao the same as selecting changing-line texts?
They can use the same cast values. Na Jia assigns stems, branches, Six Kin, Self/Other and Six Spirits, with month and day context. Textual readings select Zhouyi passages from the changing lines.
Does answering twelve questions establish an outcome?
The questions check chart construction and basic classification. A full reading also requires a focused question, target selection, strength and changing-line relationships.
How do mistakes and reviews work?
Missed questions return at the end and become due in ten minutes. Correct answers move to review intervals of one, three, seven days and longer. First-answer accuracy keeps the original result. You can return to due questions after completing the course.
Can I continue in the other language?
Both languages share progress, first-answer results and review dates in this browser. A different device or cleared site data starts a new record. Practice is free and needs no account.