Shi and Ying

Definition

The shi line marks the seeker’s side; the ying line marks the other party, the setting, or the counterpart. Palace affiliation and hexagram order decide which of the six positions (first through top) hold shi and ying.

Reading points

• Watch generation–control, clash and combination, and motion between shi and ying.
• Shi moving, ying moving, or both moving mean different things; combine with the useful spirit.
• If the line that holds shi or ying moves, compare that hexagram’s matching line statement—for example shi on the first line of Qian → Qian · Chu Jiu.

Open vs. blocked imagery may be compared with Tai and Pi, but charting results still govern; do not replace shi/ying deduction with hexagram names alone.

Boundaries

• Shi/ying is a Liu Yao convention, not a native field of Zhou Yi scripture; the classic supplies the line text, the practice supplies the human coordinates.
• Exact rules for placing shi/ying by palace order vary slightly by school; this page only fixes the concept.