Plum Blossom Divination (Meihua Yishu) Course | I Ching Learning Center | UAYA Foundation

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Plum Blossom Divination (Meihua Yishu) Course

Selecting Signals for a Plum Blossom Reading Learn which numbers, times, counts, sounds, and observed events can serve as Plum Blossom inputs—and when to leave a possible cue alone. Fixed and Event Signals in Plum Blossom Use the prenatal/postnatal distinction carefully: separate fixed calendar or number inputs from events that arise during a Plum Blossom question. Plum Blossom Number Rules: Trigrams and Moving Lines Learn the Plum Blossom conversion keys: divide by 8 for trigrams, divide by 6 for the moving line, and map a zero remainder correctly. Plum Blossom Time Casting: Calendar Inputs Learn the year-branch, lunar-month, lunar-day, and hour-branch inputs for a Plum Blossom time cast, and keep them separate from raw clock numbers. How to Assign Ti and Yong in Plum Blossom Assign Ti and Yong from the moving line, then read trigram images and Five Phase relations without confusing construction with interpretation. How to Cast Plum Blossom from an Observed Event Record an observed sound, count, direction, object, or interruption, choose the rule first, and derive a reproducible Plum Blossom hexagram. Plum Blossom Number Casting: Two Three-Digit Entries Use two three-digit entries and their digit-sums to calculate the lower trigram, upper trigram, and moving line in a Plum Blossom cast. How to Cast Plum Blossom from the Asking Time Use year-branch, lunar-month, lunar-day, and hour-branch values to cast a Plum Blossom hexagram from the recorded asking moment. Rice Grain Casting Exercise for Plum Blossom Use one modern three-tally rice-grain protocol to practise Plum Blossom counting, remainder rules, and an independently checkable cast. Intuitive Prompts in Plum Blossom: Limits and Controls Treat an intuitive number or image as a private prompt—not evidence or authority—and stop when the prompt is unclear or high-stakes. Interpreting Plum Blossom Readings Interpret a Plum Blossom cast in a fixed order: observed structure, Ti/Yong, Five Phase relation, received text, bounded synthesis, confidence, and review. Did Shao Yong Write the Meihua Yishu? Separate Shao Yong's documented Yijing thought from the traditional attribution and uncertain authorship of the received Meihua Yishu text.

Casting Techniques

Plum Blossom Divination (Meihua Yishu) Course

Learn Plum Blossom divination step by step: choose a signal, cast from numbers, time, or events, assign Ti and Yong, and record a bounded I Ching reading.

Last updated 10/7/2026

References 5

Meihua Yishu, vol. 1, especially "Zhouyi Hexagram Numbers," "Divide the Trigram by Eight," "Divide the Line by Six," and the time, object-number, and sound examples; received text, traditionally attributed to Shao Yong.
Guan-Cheng Sun, Ph.D., "The Plum Flowering Mind Method of Divination", Qi Journal 16.1 (Spring 2006), for a concise modern presentation of Plum Blossom as event-and-number divination.
Benebell Wen, I Ching, The Oracle: A Practical Guide to the Book of Changes, for the "Plum Blossom Methods" as a practical casting family.
Peter K. Bol, "On Shao Yong's Method for Observing Things", Monumenta Serica 61 (2013): 287-299, for the academic context of Shao Yong's image-number thought.
Yaqi Fu, "Chinese Wind Divination in the Period of Song Dynasty", for the wider context of sensory, observed-cue, and Meihua Yishu-related divination.

Selecting Signals for a Plum Blossom Reading