One Breath › Plum Blossom Numerology — Meihua Yi Shu
一炁堂 · ONE BREATH
Plum Blossom Numerology — Meihua Yi Shu
Use numbers, the current time or a spontaneous observation to form a hexagram, then read the relationship between the Body and Use trigrams in the tradition of Shao Yong.
Try it free →
All features currently free · daily usage limits apply
中文版
What is Meihua Yi Shu?
Meihua Yi Shu (梅花易数, Plum Blossom Numerology) is a method of I Ching divination attributed to Shao Yong (Shao Kangjie) of the Northern Song dynasty. Its core idea is that all things have number, and number contains image: any event that catches your attention can be turned into numbers, and numbers into trigrams.
Because almost anything can be used to cast a hexagram — numbers, the time, a sound, an object you notice — the method is fast and flexible. It is often preferred for everyday questions where you want an immediate reading in response to the moment.
How a Plum Blossom reading is formed
In the classic number method, three numbers are used. The first gives the upper trigram, the second gives the lower trigram, and a third (often the sum, or the hour) determines the single moving line. Together they produce the original hexagram, a changed hexagram, and a set of inner, “mutual” trigrams.
The reading then turns on Ti–Yong (体用), the Body and Use. The trigram without the moving line is the Body and represents you; the trigram with the moving line is the Use and represents the matter. Each trigram belongs to one of the Five Elements, so the reader asks whether Use supports Body, drains it, controls it, or is controlled by it. Use generating Body is generally favourable; Use controlling Body is generally unfavourable. The images of the trigrams add concrete detail to the judgment.
Classical texts behind this reading
One Breath’s Meihua readings draw on the original Meihua Yi Shu and commentaries in its Meihua collection, which the system searches before each interpretation.
Meihua Yi Shu
梅花易数
Shao Yong’s original work: casting by number and judging by Body and Use · 245 passages
64 Hexagram Meanings
梅花易数六十四卦象意
Hexagram-by-hexagram images and key points for judgment · 175 passages
Zhang Zhengxi Commentary
张正熙神策梅花
The most widely read modern practical version of Meihua · 26 passages
Passages from the Classics
易有太極，是生兩儀，兩儀生四象，四象生八卦。
— Zhou Yi, Xi Ci I 《周易·系辞上》
In change there is the Great Ultimate; it gives rise to the Two Modes, the Two Modes to the Four Images, and the Four Images to the Eight Trigrams.
參天兩地而倚數，觀變於陰陽而立卦。
— Zhou Yi, Shuo Gua (Discussion of the Trigrams) 《周易·说卦传》
Taking Heaven as three and Earth as two, they founded number; observing change in Yin and Yang, they established the trigrams.
方以類聚，物以群分，吉凶生矣。
— Zhou Yi, Xi Ci I 《周易·系辞上》
Things gather by kind and divide by group, and so good fortune and misfortune arise.
Why One Breath
Unlike a generic AI chatbot, One Breath uses retrieval-augmented generation: before each reading it searches 20,020 passages from 38 classical texts for the material most relevant to your question, and the AI then combines that classical knowledge with your own details. Every classical text cited in your reading is shown by name, so the analysis can be traced back to its sources.
All One Breath features are currently free, with daily usage limits; detailed paid reports will be added later. The site works in English and Chinese, on desktop and mobile, with nothing to install.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who created Plum Blossom Numerology?
It is attributed to Shao Yong (Shao Kangjie), a philosopher and numerologist of the Northern Song dynasty.
What numbers should I use?
Any numbers that come to you naturally in connection with the question — numbers you think of, the current date and hour, or numbers you notice. The point is that they arise spontaneously at the moment of asking.
What does Body and Use mean?
The Body (Ti) trigram represents you and the Use (Yong) trigram represents the matter. Their Five Elements relationship is the core of the judgment.
Is Meihua Yi Shu free on One Breath?
Yes. All features are currently free with daily usage limits; detailed paid reports will come later.
Is Meihua more accurate than coin divination?
They are different tools. Meihua is fast and suited to questions prompted by the moment; Liu Yao offers more line-by-line detail. Many practitioners use both.