The Question Determines the Target
Last updated 10/7/2026
Select the subject before reacting to the chart.
The governing rule is simple: the question determines the target role; the chart supplies the candidate line. Movement, strength, World/Response position, and transformation can help distinguish candidates later. They do not decide what the question was about.
Keep four steps separate
- Copy the question without broadening it.
- Underline its single subject.
- Choose the selection method and target role.
- Only then locate a candidate on the chart.
If step 2 produces two unrelated subjects, split or refuse the question before selection.
One chart, three learner tasks
The following comparison reuses one chart to practise routing. Only the first row is the historical question. The other rows are learner exercises; they make no claim about a real event or outcome.
| Task applied to the chart | Method | Target | Why |
|---|---|---|---|
| Source question: a same-day observation of clear or cloudy skies | Six Relative | Child, Yin Wood, line 2 | The source selects the Child line for this weather task; the visible line is moving |
| Identify the chart position assigned to the caster | World | World marker | The task asks for the chart’s self-side position, not a domain role |
| Identify the position assigned to an unfamiliar external side | Response | Response marker | The task asks for the chart’s other-side position |
The underlying chart is unchanged: Zengshan Buyi records Hexagram 3 changing to 19, with lines 2 and 5 moving, in Chen month on a Ji-Mao day. Its weather passage identifies the Child role, which the displayed bottom-up chart places at line 2.
The comparison is not permission to change a real question after casting. It is a classroom exercise showing that the line selected depends on the declared task.
What the chart may and may not do
The chart may show that:
- the requested role appears once, more than once, or not visibly at all;
- a candidate is moving, static, void, or transformed;
- World or Response is attached to a candidate.
The chart may not repair a vague intake. If the question is “Tell me everything about this situation,” no amount of movement supplies a single target. Narrow the task or stop.
Worked selection record
Example type: documented textual case, mechanics only.
| Field | Entry |
|---|---|
| Question | Same-day clear/cloudy observation |
| Subject | Sky condition during that day |
| Method | Six Relative |
| Target | Child, Yin Wood, line 2 |
| Chart location | Visible primary line, moving |
| Confidence | High for reproducing the source’s selection; no claim about predictive validity |
The text’s later interpretation and recorded observation are outside this lesson. Target selection ends once the line and rationale are recorded.
Trap and stopping condition
Do not select line 5 merely because it also moves. The source discusses line 5 later, but movement alone does not replace the selected target.
Stop when the subject cannot be stated in one line without “and.” Split the intake, and do not manufacture a second answer from the same cast.
Claim source: Zengshan Buyi, checked composite, volume 2, “Tianshi” (Weather), printed p. 90/PDF p. 91; CText work ctp:ws157683, displayed paragraphs 996–1003. Case label 00035 is the UAYA catalogue identifier for that record. The comparison rows are UAYA learner exercises, not historical cases.
Next, learn how a question’s role becomes a visible line: Yong Shen.