Ten Cases, Every Step of Casting Broken Down
Ten People Asked 'Will This Work?' — Here's How the Hexagram Answered
What scares people most about learning Meihua? They learn the casting method, then freeze when it's their own matter. What's missing is 'watching someone else read a full hexagram.' Here are ten cases, all everyday scenes: job hunting, lost items, renting, love, health, travel, partnerships, exams, moving, finding a pet. Each case runs the full five steps — pick numbers, set the upper and lower trigrams, take the moving line, judge Ti-Yong generating and overcoming, set the timing. After reading, you'll see: reading a hexagram is a process, and every step has a basis.
Each case follows five fixed steps: one, pick numbers (time / numbers / objects); two, set upper and lower trigrams; three, take the moving line to get the changed hexagram; four, judge Ti-Yong generating and overcoming (Ti = you, Yong = the matter you ask about); five, set timing (fast when strong and flourishing, slow when weak and imprisoned). Ti overcomes Yong = the matter works but needs effort; Yong generates Ti = smooth; Ti generates Yong = draining; Yong overcomes Ti = hard. Remember this frame and the ten cases will click in one pass.
What a Complete Case Must Include
- A case needs a real question. A vague 'I want to ask about something' is not a case. Every case must land on a concrete question — 'should I take this offer,' 'can I find the dog.' The more specific the question, the clearer the hexagram's answer.
- Write out the number-picking. A case must state where the numbers come from — year-month-day-hour, a number blurted out, or an object you saw. Without the source, no one can follow your steps and recalculate.
- Separate Ti and Yong clearly. Ti is you / the person the matter concerns; Yong is the other party / the outside environment. Flip them and fortune flips too. Every case must label 'Ti = what, Yong = what.'
- Give a timing. A reading must land on 'when' — even a range (within three months, this week, autumn). A case without timing is half-done and can't be verified.
- Be honest about the result. If it came true, write that. If it didn't, write that. A case's value is in being real, not in being all correct.
Common Breakers
- Copying only the auspicious cases and hiding the failures. Ten cases, all happy endings, not one miss — that's a performance, not teaching. The missed cases are the treasure: which step went wrong, how to fix it next time. A real case set always has a few 'read wrong.'
- Working backward from the result. You already know the outcome when reading, so you bend the hexagram toward it. Every step of a case must happen in the state of 'not knowing the result yet.' When writing a case, hide the ending first, finish the process, then reveal.
- Memorizing Ti-Yong rules without grounding them. You've memorized 'Ti overcomes Yong = auspicious, Yong overcomes Ti = ominous,' but hit a real case and can't tell who's Ti and who's Yong. For every case, first point it out yourself: here, what does 'Ti' map to in reality, and what does 'Yong' map to. If it doesn't land in reality, the rule is empty words.
- Always leaving yourself an out on timing. Writing 'soon,' 'sooner or later,' 'eventually' — that timing can't be verified, so it's as good as none. Dare to be specific: three days, one month, around the start of autumn. Wrong is fine. Only by daring to say will you train it.
Cases in Four Dimensions: Career, Love, Personality, Health
Career & Wealth
The core of a job case is the Ti-Yong relation. Ti = you, Yong = that company. Ti generates Yong (e.g. Ti Xun wood generating Yong Li fire) — you chase it, one-way output, the offer is hard. Yong generates Ti (Yong Kun earth generating Ti Qian metal) — the company seeks you out, smooth. The waiying on interview day matters too: the elevator runs smoothly as you enter the building, the reception is warm (auspicious waiying), and the hexagram is Yong generating Ti — this one is solid. The key to career and wealth divination isn't the two words 'good or bad' — it's whether your direction of effort is right.
Love & Relationship
Love cases flip most often, because the person casting is emotional. Asking 'does he like me,' the answer is already preset in the heart. The first step of a love case is always 'calmly pick numbers' — don't pick while the emotion is hottest. Ti-Yong for love: Ti = you, Yong = the other person. Yong generates Ti (they take initiative) is good; Ti generates Yong (you give one-sidedly) is draining. For love, timing follows the moving line's position: first line = just sprouting, second = hot romance, third = a turn, fourth = stability, fifth = talking marriage, top = the ending.
Personality
People reading cases split into two kinds: one stares at 'is this hexagram accurate,' the other at 'why did they read it this way.' Only the second kind learns. The right way to read a case is 'read it yourself first, then check the answer' — see the question, don't scroll down, cast and read one hexagram yourself, then compare with the case's reading. Where you differ, where you went wrong — instantly clear. Practicing twenty cases beats reading a hundred.
Health
For health cases, one red line: Meihua can read 'trend,' it cannot replace 'a checkup.' In a case asking about health, what you read is 'will this worsen, in what direction, roughly when it might turn' — a reminder, not a diagnosis. If the body is uncomfortable, go to the hospital first; the hexagram is reference. If a health case's Ti is Kan (water / kidney) or Li (fire / heart) and it's being overcome, pay extra attention — a sign to get those two systems checked first.
The Classical Method Behind the Cases
Practical Points You Can Copy Straight Away
- Recast every case yourself first: See the question in a case — stop. Pick a number, cast a hexagram, judge fortune, set a timing, write it down. Then read how the case did it. When checking the answer, find 'where you differ' — different numbers, flipped Ti-Yong, or a different timing. This beats any lecture, because where you went wrong is exactly where you most need to fill in.
- Build your own case comparison table: For every hexagram you read, log one line: date, question, hexagram, Ti-Yong relation, your judgment, timing, actual result. Once you have thirty entries, group them by Ti-Yong relation — how many times Ti-overcomes-Yong worked, how many times Yong-overcomes-Ti flipped, how many times the timing hit. You'll see your accuracy spread and learn which hexagrams you read best.
- Use the ten cases as templates for your own matters: Ten cases match ten scenes. When something similar happens to you, slot it in — for work, follow the job-case process; for love, the love-case process. The process is universal: pick numbers → cast → moving line → Ti-Yong → timing. The scene changes, the steps don't. Once the template is familiar, you can slot new scenes you've never written about into it on your own.
Common Questions About Case Breakdowns
Q:Why do some cases use time casting and others number casting?
A:
The casting method depends on what's at hand. Time casting needs no number from you — always available. Number casting needs a number — you can blurt one, grab a handful of rice and count, or use the number that rises in your mind. The case uses whichever was most natural at the moment. For important matters, cast once with each method and cross-check; only when both agree is it 'overlapping information.'
Q:Can I just memorize the Ti-Yong fortune table?
A:
You can, but don't stop there. Five lines: Ti overcomes Yong = works, needs effort; Yong generates Ti = smooth; Ti generates Yong = draining; Yong overcomes Ti = hard; Ti-Yong equal = steady. Memorizing is step one; the key is pointing out 'who in reality is Ti and who is Yong' in every case. If you can't point them out, the memorization is wasted.
Q:I keep missing the timing. What do I do?
A:
Timing is the hardest part of Meihua. Train in two steps. Step one, give a range — the season that generates Yong (wood = spring, fire = summer, metal = autumn, water = winter, earth = end of seasons); a flourishing hexagram resolves fast, a weak one slow. Step two, give a point — combine with the waiying (violent waiying = near, gentle = far). Train the range first, then the point. Log your timings continuously and accuracy rises noticeably in three months.
Q:How do I use the waiying in a case?
A:
Waiying is the accent, not the main text. Formal hexagram says good, waiying good too — add points, dare to say 'fast.' Formal hexagram says bad, waiying bad too — dare to say 'hard.' One good, one bad — follow the formal hexagram; the waiying only flags bumps along the way. Waiying never decides the result on its own.