Jian Yao: When an Intermediary Is Relevant
Last updated 10/7/2026
Jian Yao (间爻) are the two line positions between World and Response.
Their positions are observable. A claim that one represents a messenger, broker, rival, or blocker is interpretive and must be tied to the question and an attributed source. The chart position alone does not identify a real person.
Find the positions
World and Response are three lines apart. The two positions strictly between them are the interval lines.
| World | Response | Interval lines |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 4 | 2 and 3 |
| 2 | 5 | 3 and 4 |
| 3 | 6 | 4 and 5 |
| 4 | 1 | 2 and 3 |
| 5 | 2 | 3 and 4 |
| 6 | 3 | 4 and 5 |
Count every position from the bottom. This structural table can be reproduced without assigning a social meaning.
Relevance gate
Inspect an interval line only when all three conditions hold:
- the question explicitly includes a channel, relay, mediator, or other between-sides function;
- the line is active or materially relates to World, Response, or the selected target under a declared rule;
- the proposed role is stated as an attributed interpretation, not an observed identity.
If these conditions do not hold, record Jian Yao: not relevant.
Neutral exercise
Example type: learner exercise; no real parties or outcome.
A rehearsal chart has World at line 1 and Response at line 4. Lines 2 and 3 are therefore the interval positions. The invented task asks how a named relay carries a message between the two sides.
- line 2 moves and generates World;
- line 3 is static and has no declared relation to World, Response, or target.
Record:
- line 2: structurally interval; possible relay candidate under the question; medium confidence;
- line 3: structurally interval; not relevant;
- no claim that either line identifies a real person or assures delivery.
Remove the named relay from the question and both social-role labels disappear. The positions remain interval lines, but not relevant becomes the proper reading output.
Source boundary
The short “Jian Yao” verse in Bushi Zhengzong identifies the two lines between World and Response and gives conditional support/obstruction language. It does not supply the broad modern catalogue of broker, witness, servant, rival, and messenger roles.
The position rule identifies the two lines between World and Response. That structural result does not prove that a living person occupies any social role.
Traps and stopping conditions
- Do not inspect every interval line merely because it exists.
- Do not infer a marriage, legal, travel, or money scenario from an interval position.
- Do not assign an identity to an unnamed person.
- Do not let an interval line displace the selected target.
- Stop when the question does not establish an intermediary function or the proposed role depends on a broad unsourced catalogue.
Claim source: Bushi Zhengzong, chapter 10, “Ding Jian Yao Ge” (定间爻歌), which names the two lines between World and Response and gives a conditional support/obstruction verse. Broader social-role catalogues are excluded unless a later source-specific case supplies them.
Act 6 is complete when every active line is paired, classified, and marked relevant, background, or unresolved. Continue to Act 7: Judgment.