I Ching

Ancient Chinese book of divination based on 64 hexagrams, or patterns of six lines. The lines may be ‘broken’ or ‘whole’ (yin or yang) and are generated by tossing yarrow stalks or coins. The enquirer formulates a question before throwing, and the book gives interpretations of the meaning of the hexagrams.

The I Ching is thought to have originated in the 2nd millennium BC, with commentaries added later by Confucius and other philosophers. It is proto-Taoist in that it is not used for determining the future but for making the enquirer aware of inherent possibilities and unconscious tendencies.

Both Taoism and Confucianism drew inspiration from it, and it became one of the five Confucianist classics.