The first Act 5 rule is negative:

Do not score a line by adding points.

Wen Wang Gua strength is qualitative. A line can be prosperous, supported, weak, void, broken, bound, secretly active, or waiting for release. Those states do not behave like numbers in a spreadsheet.

Wrong model Add support points

Month support plus Day support plus movement equals a bigger score.

Course model Classify the state

Void, break, support, movement, and binding each change what the line can actually do.

Why numbers fail

A numeric model hides the most important differences.

Void Not weak. Absent.

A truly void line does not become useful just because more support points are added.

Month Breaker Damaged before scoring starts.

A broken line needs rescue, not a slightly better average.

Bound Strong but stuck.

A line can be powerful and still unable to act because combination holds it.

Blocked support Visible but ineffective.

A support chain may look favorable but fail because one link cannot pass generation onward.

The issue is not that numbers are imprecise. The issue is that the states are different kinds of facts. Void is availability. Month Breaker is seasonal damage. Binding is action suspended. A single score would flatten differences that the reading needs to keep separate.

The strength tiers

The course uses tiers as working labels. They are not arithmetic values.

Very strong Dominant

Seasonally empowered, on the Month or Day, or strongly reinforced.

Strong Usable support

Supported enough to act unless a special state blocks it.

Moderate Mixed

Neither clearly dominant nor clearly failing. Context matters.

Weak Limited force

Present, but under pressure or seasonally poorly placed.

Very weak Near failure

Badly placed or damaged, but not necessarily absent.

Null Cannot act now

Truly void or otherwise offline until a resolving condition appears.

Mixed does not mean “average.” It means the line has conflicting conditions and must be read by priority: special states first, then seasonal baseline, then Day modifier, then internal interactions.

The practical rule

When reading a line, ask:

  1. Is it present?
  2. Is it broken?
  3. What is its seasonal baseline?
  4. What does the Day do to it?
  5. Is it moving, bound, supported, controlled, or part of a frame?

Only after those questions should you summarize its condition.

Trap Counting support without checking state.

A line with three visible supports can still fail if it is void, broken, bound, or blocked.

What this module establishes

Strength is a state judgment, not a score.

Act 5 will keep returning to this rule: first classify the line’s condition, then ask what can actually reach it.

-> 5.2 Void: Null Until Filled