We now have the static labels for Case 1: palace, palace element, stem-branch labels, and the five line roles. One question is still open:

Where does the querent appear in the chart?

Wen Wang Gua answers that with two position markers:

World The querent's seat

The line that represents the person asking, or the person the question centers on.

Response The answering side

The line three positions away from World: the other party, object, situation, or mirror of the question.

World and Response are not chosen by intuition. They come from the hexagram’s position inside its palace. Once you know whether a hexagram is the palace head, first generation, second generation, and so on, the World and Response lines are fixed.

The rule

The source tradition gives the rule as a short mnemonic. For learning, the usable version is simpler:

1 Find the palace position.

Palace head, first through fifth generation, Soul-Wandering, or Soul-Returning.

2 Place World from the table.

For first through fifth generation, the generation number is the World line.

3 Place Response three lines away.

If World is on lines 1-3, add three. If World is on lines 4-6, subtract three.

Source basis: Bushi Zhengzong, Volume 7, “Mnemonic for Establishing World and Response”; cross-checked against Zengshan Buyi, “World and Response” chapter. Technical source labels are kept in the terminology reference, not repeated here.

The table

Eight palace positions, eight World positions. Response is always three lines away.

Palace positionWorld lineResponse lineWhat to remember
Palace head63The pure palace hexagram starts at top.
First generation14Generation number equals World line.
Second generation25Generation number equals World line.
Third generation36Generation number equals World line.
Fourth generation41Generation number equals World line.
Fifth generation52Generation number equals World line.
Soul-Wandering41World retreats to line 4.
Soul-Returning36World retreats again to line 3.

The only special case is the palace head. It puts World on line 6. After that, the first five generations are easy: first generation gives World line 1, second generation gives line 2, and so on through line 5.

Soul-Wandering and Soul-Returning look like exceptions, but they follow the story of the palace cascade. After the fifth generation, World retreats: first to line 4, then to line 3.

Case 1

Case 1 uses Qian over Heaven. From the palace module, we know it is the Qian palace head. That means:

Palace position Palace head
→
World Line 6
→
Response Line 3
Case 1 · Father's Recent Illness World and Response in the cast Qian palace head: World line 6, Response line 3.
Line Role Branch Element Motion Position marker
6 Parent Xu Earth static World
5 Sibling Shen Metal static
4 Officer Wu Fire moves to Parent, Wei Earth
3 Parent Chen Earth static Response
2 Wealth Yin Wood static
1 Child Zi Water static

Source: Yehe Laoren, Zengshan Buyi, Case 1: Father's Recent Illness.

The important part is not that the source marks line 6 and line 3. The important part is why it marks them:

  • Qian over Heaven is the palace head.
  • Palace head puts World on line 6.
  • Response sits three lines away, on line 3.

The moving line is line 4. That is separate. In this cast, line 4 moves, line 6 is World, and line 3 is Response.

The main traps

Trap 1 World is not automatically the moving line.

Motion comes from the cast. World comes from palace position. They can land on the same line, but they do not have to.

Trap 2 Response is not a freeform “opposite.”

Response is three lines away from World. Do not import another pairing system from philosophical I Ching commentary.

That distinction matters later. Some readings use World as the target line. Some readings use Response. Some readings use neither. The job here is only to locate the two positions so later modules can use them.

Why it matters later

World and Response become reference points for the rest of the method:

  • Target selection. Some question types select World as the target line. Others select Response or a role line.
  • Interval lines. The lines between World and Response can describe intermediaries, carriers, brokers, or the people through whom the situation moves.
  • Strength and interaction. Later judgments ask whether World is strong, weak, empty, controlled, generated, clashed, or moved.

We now have the static skeleton almost complete: palace, palace element, branch labels, line roles, and World/Response. One static layer remains: motion, change, and the transformed hexagram.

Next: 2.6 Moving, Changing, Transformed.