Takashima's I Ching cases

Takashima Kaemon (1832–1914) cast the I Ching for merchants, officials and friends in Meiji Japan and left hundreds of records. Here is one for each hexagram: the question, the cast, his original words, a plain translation and how he read the lines. 中文版

These are historical records kept by the diviner himself. The outcomes are his own account; this site uses them to study how the lines were read, not as evidence that divination predicts events.

• Qian to Lü: Matsukata Masayoshi asks about the harvest

  After a spring of deep snow, long rains and unusual cold, the finance minister Matsukata Masayoshi feared a poor harvest and asked Takashima to divine it. The third line of Qian, "active all day long", was read as a year of drought in which the crops would still ripen.

• Kun to Yu: Godai Tomoatsu asks about the year's business

  Godai Tomoatsu asked Takashima about the year's trade and received the fourth line of Kun, "a tied-up sack". Takashima read it as keeping the purse closed; Godai, knowing the risk, still made one deal.

• Zhun to Sui: one of Ōkura's men asks about his prospects

  An employee of Ōkura Kihachirō asked Takashima about his fortunes and received the fourth line of Zhun, "the horses pull apart; seek a match". Takashima read it as: the one above will not take your plans, so turn to the first line below for help.

• Meng to Sun: Tanaka Heihachi entrusts his brother to Takashima

  Tanaka Heihachi wanted to place his wayward younger brother in Takashima's household to be straightened out, and the cast gave the first line of Meng, "to lift ignorance, use discipline". Takashima read it as setting firm rules and keeping the young man at home, and foresaw that the mother would find it too strict.

• Xu to Ji Ji: whether to go to Hokkaido to collect a debt

  Nagai Taijirō had lent money to a merchant in Hokkaido who was overdue and did not answer letters, and he meant to go there himself. The second line of Xu, "waiting on the sand; some talk, good in the end", led Takashima to advise him to stay and expect the money in four months.

• Song to Huan: a head clerk thinks of confronting his employer

  A head clerk who had worked for the shop since its founding saw his employer hire university graduates at higher pay, and thought of complaining, or else asking for a payout to set up on his own. The fourth line of Song, "unable to win the dispute", led Takashima to advise patience.

• Shi to Lin: founding a joint-stock company

  Someone organising an industrial company, with shares subscribed and articles drawn up, asked whether it would succeed. The first line of Shi, "the army goes out in good order", led Takashima to say the articles alone could not decide it; everything depended on who became president.

• Bi to Jian: choosing a business partner

  A friend planned a large venture with a partner and received the third line of Bi, "joining with the wrong people". Takashima did not know the partner, and on the line alone said that going into business with him would be as bad as it gets.

• Xiao Chu to Da Chu: Okada Heizō starts a business

  Okada Heizō was about to start a business and received the fifth line of Xiao Chu, "trust that binds; rich together with the neighbour". Takashima said it would profit, but only with an honest partner to run it, who must share in the gains.

• Lü to Song: business is slow; move to Tokyo?

  A Yokohama merchant whose trade had slumped thought of moving to Tokyo to start afresh. The first line of Lü, "plain steps forward", led Takashima to advise him to keep to his old business: prices rise and fall, and that is normal.

• Tai to Ming Yi: reclaiming marshland in Hitachi

  A Tokyo friend wanted to reclaim marshland in Hitachi and received the second line of Tai, "embracing the wild; fording the river". Takashima read it as buying waste land and working hard on drainage, and went on to argue that the rich do better to put their money into land others can farm than to leave heirs living idle.

• Pi to Cui: talking business with an estranged friend in Tokyo

  A Yokohama merchant had a major matter to put to a friend in Tokyo. The top line of Pi, "the blockage is overturned; first obstruction, then joy", led Takashima to say the two had drifted apart, but this time old grudges would clear and the talks would succeed.

• Tong Ren to Ge: a boardroom fight, and whether he will lose his post

  A company's president and its major shareholders had fallen out, and the shareholders wanted a general meeting to replace the officers. An officer afraid for his post received the top line of Tong Ren, "fellowship in the outskirts; no regret". Takashima advised him to take no side and stay out of it.

• Da You to Ding: a samurai-turned-merchant asks about his future

  Fukae, from a samurai family of Saga, had come to Yokohama to trade in paper and lime and been ruined by a swindler. The first line of Da You, "no harmful dealings; no fault; mindful of hardship, no fault", led Takashima to say he would enter government service and rise, but must not forget today's hardship when fortune turned.

• Qian (Modesty) to Xiao Guo: how an institution should raise up talent

  A dignitary asked about the fortunes of a certain council and received the fourth line of Qian (Modesty), "nothing unfavourable; spreading modesty". Takashima said the body, though full of able men, had gone slack, and should seek out and promote the capable person serving below.

• Yu to Jin: starting a side venture in a busy season

  A friend, busy with his trade, saw another opening and wanted to take it on as well. The top line of Yu, "blind in enjoyment; if one changes after it is done, no fault", led Takashima to call it a fantasy of easy profit blind to its dangers, and to urge him to change his mind at once.

• Sui to Dui: whether to marry a daughter to a widowed gentleman

  A widowed gentleman sent a go-between to ask for the hand of Judge Bitō's eighteen-year-old daughter. The second line of Sui, "holding to the young man, losing the grown man", led Takashima to guess the suitor was old and the daughter might not want him; the judge declined the match.

• Gu to Ding: an heir who cannot hold the family fortune

  A friend asked about the affairs of a wealthy household and received the fourth line of Gu, "indulging the father's corruption; going on brings shame". Takashima described a weak head of house who lets things rot; the friend said the adopted heir had indeed lost the fortune.

• Lin to Tai: arrogance after a windfall

  A friend asked about a merchant's fortunes and received the third line of Lin, "sweet approach; nothing is gained". Takashima described a crafty man who grows full of himself on success; the friend said the man had just made over ten thousand yen on a piece of marshland and become insufferably arrogant.

• Guan to Yi: bidding in a government coal tender

  A government office was to test the heating power of competing coals before taking bids, and a coal company employee asked whether they would win. The first line of Guan, "a child's view; no fault for the petty, shame for the noble", led Takashima to say the inspectors lacked judgment, so the honest would lose and the crooked win.

• Shi He to Yi: how a business dispute will end

  An acquaintance caught up in a major business dispute received the fourth line of Shi He, "biting dried meat on the bone; finding a bronze arrow; persevering in hardship is good". Takashima said the other side was tough and difficult, a firm and upright person would be needed to settle it, and though slow it would end.

• Bi (Grace) to Jia Ren: leaving trade for a garden in old age

  A friend who had done well from long years in trade asked about his fortunes and received the fifth line of Bi (Grace), "adorning the hill garden; a modest roll of silk; shame, but good in the end". Takashima advised him to stop competing with the flashy new ways of business and retire to a garden in the hills.

• Bo to Gen: a silver dealer who went against the crowd

  A Yokohama dealer in foreign silver asked about his fortunes and received the third line of Bo, "stripping away; no fault". Takashima said that though in the same trade as the rest, he could go his own way, and that prices now high as a mountain would fall flat as the ground; the dealer sold at the top and made a fortune.

• Fu to Kun: buying a carriage horse

  Takashima wanted a carriage horse, and Kodama Shōsuke happened to have a Nanbu horse to sell. Casting on it, he got the first line of Fu, "returning from not far". He read it as a horse for short trips rather than long journeys, and from the changed hexagram Kun, "the steadfastness of a mare", inferred a gentle mare.

• Wu Wang to Tong Ren: a partner suddenly cancels

  A friend's prospective partner cancelled that day's meeting by letter, citing trouble at home. The third line of Wu Wang, "someone tethers an ox; the traveller's gain is the townsman's loss", led Takashima, reading Li as both ox and woman, to guess that a young woman had been left in the partner's care and brought trouble with her.

• Da Chu to Da You: should his cement works sell this year?

  Takashima owned a cement works at Atsuta in Aichi, and its manager asked about the year's sales. The fourth line of Da Chu, "a board on the young bull's horns; supreme good fortune", led him to read that the product would not move this year and should be stored until 1892.

• Yi to Sun: a doctor asks about his son's future in trade

  The physician Itō's son was in business in Yokohama, and Itō asked about the son's lifelong prospects. The second line of Yi, "nourishment turned upside down", led Takashima to say the son would drain his father's money rather than support him, and to urge that the shop be closed; the son refused and lost everything.

• Da Guo to Jing: two rival companies in one market

  Two rival companies in the same line of business competed for one city's market, and there was not room for both. The president of one asked and received the fourth line of Da Guo, "the ridgepole bows upward; good fortune". Takashima read the third and fourth lines, both "ridgepoles", as the two companies, and from their corresponding lines concluded that his side had support and would win.

• Kan to Bi: a head clerk asks about his employer's shop

  The head clerk of a wealthy Tokyo merchant asked about the shop's fortunes and received the second line of Kan, "danger in the pit; seek small gains". Takashima read the fifth line as the main shop and the second as the branch: both would hit hard times not of their making, but with honest effort there would be small gains if not large ones.

• Li to Shi He: a marriage the reading advised against

  A friend about to marry received the third line of Li, "the light of the setting sun". Takashima read Li as parting and said the match was better not made; the friend did not believe it, married, and before long separated over family discord.

• Xian to Da Guo: money lent to an inventor

  A peer had lent money to a friend whose new invention had just been patented, and asked whether it would catch on and whether the loan would pay off. The second line of Xian, "feeling in the calf; misfortune; staying put is good", led Takashima to say the money would move with the goods; a new product would sell slowly at first, so hold stock and wait, bad at first and good in the end.

• Heng to Sheng: should a long-serving dignitary step down?

  A gentleman asked about the fortunes of a certain dignitary, and the cast gave the fourth line of Heng, "no game in the field". Prefacing his answer with "I will speak plainly; please do not take offence", Takashima judged that the man had held high office too long, his luck and powers had waned, and he should retire before people said he was merely occupying the seat.

• Dun to Pi: cutting losses when a business fails

  A friend asked how his business would fare and received the third line of Dun, "retreat held back; illness and danger; keeping servants is good". Takashima called it a sign of failure: sell off the stock quickly while losses are small; hesitate out of reluctance and prices will keep falling. Use what is left to support the household, and do not try to revive the business.

• Da Zhuang to Feng: leading a company flush with capital

  A company president asked about his fortunes and received the second line of Da Zhuang, "steadfastness brings good fortune". Takashima said the company had capital enough to do great things, but its president should temper strength with gentleness and action with calm, work unhurriedly and not chase quick results; in two years, at the fourth line, there would be large profits.

• Jin to Lü: buying from a large company after two false starts

  A Kyushu merchant asked whether a purchase from a large company would go through, and received the third line of Jin, "all agree; regret vanishes". Takashima laid out a story from the first line to the fourth: first blocked by others, then held back by his own doubts, and now everyone agreed; a greedy middleman might want a cut, but could not stop it. The deal would go through.

• Ming Yi to Bi (Grace): reading the making of cement in a line

  In 1888 Takashima co-founded a cement works at Atsuta with Sakata and Hattori. Casting on the company two years later, he got the top line of Ming Yi, "not bright but dark; first it rose to heaven, then it went into the earth", and matched it step by step to making cement: clay dug from the ground, fired as if rising to heaven, then laid into walls and floors, back into the earth.

• Jia Ren to Tong Ren: starting a business with a friend

  Takashima was planning a venture with a friend and cast on it himself, drawing the fourth line of Jia Ren, "enriching the household; great good fortune". He read the inner trigram Li as himself and the outer Xun as his friend: two like minds each running one side of it, and Xun meaning threefold profit. He went ahead.

• Kui to Wei Ji: a proud man who keeps to himself

  A friend asked about his fortunes and received the first line of Kui, "regret vanishes; if you lose your horse, do not chase it, it will return; see the bad man, no fault". Takashima said he had always been proud and kept to himself, but should not keep score; even someone he disliked should not be turned away if they came asking. Next year would bring a chance of promotion.

• Jian to Jing: a son's business debts

  Takashima called on a Tokyo gentleman who was running about trying to deal with his son's large business debts. The gentleman cast himself and drew the second line of Jian, "the king's servant struggles on and on, not for his own sake". Takashima read the neighbouring lines as a plan for the debts: gather the creditors, negotiate reductions, bring in an outside elder to mediate, and for now step back and wait.

• Xie to Wei Ji: a cast before visiting a Zen master

  Before visiting the Zen master Imakita Kōsen at Engaku-ji, Takashima wondered whether Zen and the Changes could meet, and cast. He drew the top line of Xie, "the duke shoots a hawk on the high wall", read the hawk as outer demons and the foxes of the second line as inner ones, and wrote a poem to take along. They talked over tea in the meditation hall, he showed the poem, and they parted laughing.

• Sun to Lin: return a loss-making shipyard, or keep it?

  Two Nagasaki merchants had taken over the Yokohama ironworks from the postal and transport bureau to repair ships, and were losing money; they wondered whether to hand it back or sell it on. The top line of Sun, "not decreasing but increasing", led Takashima to say the losses had bottomed out and gains would follow; they kept it, and ship repairs boomed the next year.

• Yi (Increase) to Yi (Nourishment): adopting an heir

  A friend meant to adopt a boy from another family as his heir and received the fifth line of Yi (Increase), "sincere and kind at heart; no need to ask, it is supremely good; sincerely they will repay my kindness". Takashima said a father who gives with a sincere heart will find the son glad to be his son, carrying on his work and repaying him; it was plainly good without asking.

• Guai to Ge: exposing or hushing up an agent's fraud

  A head clerk returned from a business trip to find the friends he had left in charge had colluded to embezzle funds, inflate prices and falsify the books, and could not decide whether to expose or hush it up. The second line of Guai, "alarm and warning; attack at night; do not worry", led Takashima to advise vigilance without cornering them, handling it firmly but calmly; the clerk did so and it was settled peacefully.

• Gou to Ding: merchants and landowners fight over common property

  A Yokohama lawyer handling a major suit between merchants and landowners over rights to common property asked who would win. The fifth line of Gou, "wrapping the melon in willow; hidden beauty; something falls from heaven", led Takashima to say both sides had a claim: the willow is the merchants, the melon the landowners, and the merchants should accommodate them. The final outcome lay with heaven, and both parties should accept it.

• Cui to Kun: needing someone to open the door

  A friend asked about his fortunes and received the second line of Cui, "being drawn forward brings good fortune; with sincerity even a small offering serves". Takashima said his plans needed someone to draw him forward; that person was the fifth line, which answers the second, but the third and fourth lines stood in between, so he should make offerings and pray for help.

• Sheng to Heng: fortunes rising like the morning sun

  A merchant asked about his fortunes and received the fourth line of Sheng, "the king makes offerings on Mount Qi; good fortune, no fault". Takashima noted that all the lines of Sheng speak of rising except the second and fourth, which speak of offerings: to rise, one must first seek the protection of the spirits. The merchant's fortunes were rising like the morning sun.

• Kun (Oppression) to Kan: a loan held up by someone in between

  A friend asked about his fortunes but was really thinking about a loan. The fourth line of Kun, "coming slowly, held up by a bronze carriage", led Takashima to read the first line as the borrower and the fourth as the lender: the lender was willing but blocked by the second line, and the friend should get the fifth line to talk the second round. He did, and the loan went through.

• Jing to Xun: a year in the raw silk trade

  In 1897 Takashima cast on the year's foreign trade and got the top line of Jing, "the well is drawn from and left uncovered; supreme good fortune". Japan did not ship its own exports but waited for foreign buyers, as a well waits to be drawn from; counting the fourth to top lines as July–August to November–December, the year-end would be best. Raw silk was indeed slack in the first half and soared in the second.

• Ge to Ji Ji: bad luck going, good luck coming

  A friend asked about his fortunes and received the fourth line of Ge, "regret vanishes; with trust, changing the mandate brings good fortune". Takashima called it the hexagram of casting off the old: past troubles were over, and from now on he should change course, since carrying on as before would not pay. He explained "changing the mandate" with five-year cycles of fortune and the earth element.

• Ding to Gou: the cauldron's handles, and knowing how to lift it

  A merchant asked about his fortunes and received the fifth line of Ding, "the cauldron has yellow handles and a bronze carrying bar; steadfastness pays". Takashima said a cauldron with handles can only be lifted once a bar is passed through them, just as a profitable business yields only to someone who knows the method; yellow handles and a bronze bar are precious things, so the profits would be rich.

• Zhen to Sui: an heir long held down

  A friend asked about the fortunes of a family's heir and received the fifth line of Zhen, "shock comes and goes, danger; nothing is lost, there is work to do". From the figure Takashima inferred that the household had long been run by its mistress and the heir kept down; now his strength had grown and he could step up, and if he stayed careful and self-examining he would keep the family line. They followed the reading.

• Gen to Gu: whether to halt a mine

  Takashima's friend Ishizaka asked about his mine and received the second line of Gen, "keeping the calves still; unable to help the one he follows; his heart is not glad". From "the calf" Takashima placed the ore at the back of the mountain, low on the slope; he added that someone was pushing to halt work and the others could not stop it, so it was best to step back and wait about three years, until the fifth line, for help to revive it.

• Jian (Gradual) to Jia Ren: a new venture at its start

  A friend asked whether a venture would succeed and received the first line of Jian, "the wild goose gradually approaches the shore; the young one is in danger; there is talk, but no fault". Takashima said it must be a first venture, like autumn geese just arrived and still gathered on the riverbank; petty people would get in the way at the start, but holding to his original aim and agreements, there would be no fault, and in four years, at the top line, help would come and large profits with it.

• Gui Mei to Lin: holding stock until the time is right

  A merchant asked about the right time to buy and sell and received the fourth line of Gui Mei, "the maiden's marriage is delayed; a late marriage has its time". Takashima said a woman waits for the right time to marry as goods wait for the right price; a younger sister cannot marry before her elder, so the merchant must still have earlier stock unsold, and his newer goods should wait. Selling later would pay.

• Feng to Ming Yi: held down for years, then a patron at last

  The manager of a wealthy household asked about his fortunes and received the fourth line of Feng, "thick screens; stars at noon; he meets his lord of like kind; good fortune". Takashima said he had long been held down by others, but had now found a backer and could get things done; the backer was dull by nature, hence "lord of like kind", but the manager's known honesty would win his trust.

• Lü (Wanderer) to Ding: five years in the life of a coal mine

  Touring Kyushu in 1884, Takashima visited a coal mine, and that evening its staff asked his opinion. Saying he knew nothing of mining, he cast and got the second line of Lü, "the traveller reaches an inn with his goods and loyal servants". The mine had money and people and could last; then, line by line, he forecast a fire next year, profits the year after to cover it, a peak of reputation, and, within five years, the danger of "the bird's nest burning".

• Xun to Gou: buying ginseng in Nikkō and Aizu

  A Yokohama merchant asked about a venture and received the fourth line of Xun, "regret vanishes; in the hunt, three kinds of game". Takashima said Xun is the hexagram of "threefold profit in the market", the fourth line rules it, and the text plainly promises gain without regret, so he should go all in. The merchant raised money, bought ginseng in Nikkō and Aizu, sold it to Chinese traders, and did very well.

• Dui to Kun (Oppression): working it out together

  A friend asked whether a plan would succeed and received the first line of Dui, "harmonious joy; good fortune". Takashima said the matter was just beginning; "harmony" meant being of one mind and pulling together; the first line answers the fourth, whose text speaks of "deliberating", which fits planning exactly. It would succeed, with more good things after.

• Huan to Song: was she on the ship that was wrecked?

  Ōura O-Kei, a woman merchant of Nagasaki, was due home on the ship Nagoya, when news came that the Nagoya had been wrecked off Suō. Her family wired Takashima. Not knowing whether she had boarded, he cast and got the fourth line of Huan, "scattering the crowd; on the hill; beyond ordinary thought", and judged that she was safe. The family were unsure, until a telegram from Ōura said she had escaped.

• Jie to Zhong Fu: holding shares for a higher price

  A business friend asked where share prices were heading and received the top line of Jie, "bitter restraint; persisting brings misfortune; regret vanishes". Takashima said shares, like a water source, should flow rather than be dammed; the top line was the limit, and holding on to corner the market for a higher price would end badly, so sell now. The friend sold that day, and the price fell soon after.

• Zhong Fu to Yi: arranging a match for a widowed dignitary

  A dignitary had been a widower for years and ignored his friends' urging to remarry. When they heard of a fine woman from a samurai family in Gifu, they wanted to make the match but feared he would refuse, so they cast first. The second line of Zhong Fu, "a crane calls in the shade; its young answer; I have a fine cup and will share it with you", Takashima read as two hearts in tune, supremely good.

• Xiao Guo to Qian (Modesty): ask small, not large

  A friend about to borrow money received the fourth line of Xiao Guo, "no fault; meeting him without passing by; going on is dangerous, be careful". Takashima said the lender was the fifth line right beside him, and he should not go past him to anyone else; the fifth line's "dense clouds, no rain" meant a large favour was unlikely, but "shooting and taking it in the cave" meant a small one would come. Going past the fifth would bring nothing and put him at risk.

• Ji Ji to Ming Yi: a timber bill that went unpaid

  In 1868, through an introduction from the Tachibana-ya in Yokohama, Takashima sold several thousand yen of timber to the neighbouring Iwai-ya, which looked prosperous but was not, and did not pay. He cast and got the fifth line of Ji Ji, "the eastern neighbour's ox sacrifice is not as good as the western neighbour's simple offering". Taking Iwai-ya as the eastern neighbour and the introducer Tachibana-ya as the western, he pressed Tachibana-ya, and, since Li means woman, sent women to ask; through Tachibana-ya's wife and daughter he was finally paid.

• Wei Ji to Kui: taking over a business that failed before

  A friend asked about a manufacturing business and received the first line of Wei Ji, "wetting its tail; shame". Takashima said it must be an old business he had taken over and revived without learning from its earlier failure, so the goods were not selling and he was stuck, like a little fox that wets its tail crossing the river; at the second line, "dragging the wheels back; steadfast, good", next year he should ship the goods by cart to other places and would profit.

Cast a hexagram · All of Takashima's cases · The 64 hexagrams