# Six Lines: I-Ching & Almanac — Hexagram Study & Date Finder

> Classical Chinese almanac, I-Ching reference, and date finder. (iPhone/iPad app by Digital Rain Technologies, Limited.)

- Source: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/six-lines-i-ching-and-almanac/id6753800060 (this page in markdown: same URL + `.md`)
- Developer: [Digital Rain Technologies, Limited](https://appshunter.io/developer/1778267389)
- Category: Reference, Lifestyle
- Price: Free with in-app purchases
- Rating: 5.00/5 from 2 App Store ratings · 1 written reviews indexed
- Age rating: 4+
- Requires: iOS 17.0 · 66 MB
- Languages: English, Chinese, Chinese
- Released: 2026-03-10
- Data updated: 2026-09-10
- Monetization: free with in-app purchases
- User reviews in markdown: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/six-lines-i-ching-and-almanac/id6753800060/reviews.md

## What is Six Lines?

Conclusions are cheap now. Everything arrives pre-ranked and pre-argued: a score, a verdict, a confident paragraph. Six Lines is an I-Ching for people who would rather sharpen their judgment than borrow another answer.

The I-Ching is an ancient instrument for this work. It gives you a situation in compressed form: positions, tensions, changes, warnings, openings. It rarely resolves into a single clean answer. You work out what matters, what conflicts, and what the situation asks of you. Learning to read it is slow. That slowness is part of the training.

Six Lines is built for it. Everything needed to work a reading is here and cross-referenced. The machine reasons across the structure and stops short of drawing your conclusion.

A READING YOU CAN AUDIT

State a question and cast, with three coins or 49 yarrow stalks. What comes back is not a verdict. First the structure, then the interpretation: what state you're in, which factors weigh most and why, what constrains action, and what would make you revise the reading.

Constraints and predictions say in advance what would prove them wrong. Major claims trace back to the lines and signals they rest on. You can open the reasoning chain and check it.

That is the discipline: don't ask only why you should believe something. Ask what would make you stop.

THE QUESTION BEFORE THE VERDICT

The structure is Liu Yao (六爻), formalised by Jing Fang. Six Lines computes it deterministically: branches, Six Relatives, element strengths, voids and clashes.

The chart carries no verdict. Which Useful Spirit matters depends on what you asked, so Six Lines reads the question first, then applies classical rules. A strong Wealth line helps if you asked about money and hurts if you asked about your father.

THE CLASSIC ITSELF

All 64 hexagrams in three layers: the original Chinese, a character-by-character gloss from the Bradford Hatcher matrix translations, and our own commentary on the judgment, the image and every line. It looks for what the text withholds: a favourable reading can carry a warning, and a hard one can hold the way through.

Each is also paired with a public-domain masterpiece, which gets an essay of its own.

The complete Yilin (Forest of Changes): a verse and an ink painting for all 4,096 transformations.

JOURNAL

Save the question and the reading. Come back weeks later and record what you decided, what you expected, and what happened. Over enough entries you are no longer only studying the I-Ching. You are calibrating your own judgment.

ALMANAC AND CALENDAR

Most almanac apps rate your day out of five stars, and two will disagree. The 1739 imperial Xieji Bianfang Shu objects: a blanket score collapses influences the real system weighs one activity at a time.

So you get what's auspicious and what to avoid per activity, with the conflicts to watch. Lucky directions, the Jianchu cycle, Bazi pillars, the lunar calendar and 24 solar terms, and a date finder. Never an overall score.

THE RECORDS (optional)

Sixty-four historical cases in judgment, timing and consequence, spanning Zhou to Jin, centred on the Warring States. Each carries the idiom it left behind and the hexagram transition it turns on.

Three are free, plus a rotating Record of the Day. The rest is one purchase, opened in twelve sealed batches at your pace. Nothing expires.

TWO WAYS TO READ

Goudy Old Style on warm ivory for reading at length, or a phosphor-green terminal skin for working a question. English, Simplified and Traditional Chinese. No ads, no tracking, no notifications about how your day will go.

Everything above is free except The Records. No account, no subscription. AI readings draw from a shared monthly pool. When it runs dry they rest until the month turns.

You'll know Six Lines worked when you close it, notice the story you were about to tell yourself, and don't cast at all.

## Key features

- Activity-specific auspiciousness ratings
- Comprehensive I-Ching hexagram analysis
- Traditional coin and yarrow casting methods
- Date finder for specific activities
- Four Pillars and Lunar Calendar
- Journal for saving readings and reflections

## Pricing and in-app purchases

Base price: Free.

**One-time purchases**

| Purchase | Price | Type |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Sustain the Well | $4.99 | one-time |
| Overflow the Well | $19.99 | one-time |
| Nourish the Well | $9.99 | one-time |


## Recent user reviews (1 of 1)

All indexed reviews: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/six-lines-i-ching-and-almanac/id6753800060/reviews.md

### 5/5 — Daily almanac

*2026-05-27*

I like the clean lines and design of this app. A practical guide to the i-Ching

## Frequently asked questions about Six Lines

### What is the primary function of Six Lines?

Six Lines offers a detailed Chinese almanac with activity-specific auspiciousness ratings and a comprehensive I-Ching reference. It also includes traditional casting methods and a date finder for planning events.

### How does Six Lines differ from other almanac apps?

Unlike apps that provide generic day ratings, Six Lines follows classical source texts to evaluate each activity separately. This provides more nuanced and reliable guidance for specific events.

### What kind of I-Ching content does Six Lines provide?

Six Lines includes all 64 hexagrams with original Chinese text, detailed glosses, interpretive essays, and paired public-domain art. It also features the complete Yilin with poetic verses and original artwork for every hexagram transformation.

### What casting methods are available in Six Lines?

You can choose between the traditional three-coin method or the authentic 49-stalk yarrow process for casting hexagrams. Unique artwork emerges during each reading.

### Can Six Lines help with event planning?

Yes, the Date Finder feature helps you find auspicious dates for specific activities like weddings or business openings, providing the reasoning behind the recommendations.

### Does Six Lines have ads?

No, Six Lines is ad-free and does not include tracking, providing an uninterrupted user experience.

### What is the update frequency for Six Lines?

The app was last updated on June 14, 2026, indicating active development and support.

### What languages does Six Lines support?

Six Lines is available in English, Simplified Chinese, and Traditional Chinese, making it accessible to a wider audience.

## Version history (last 5 releases)

### 1.8.0 — 2026-09-08

The Records, Volume I: The Warring States — sixty-four illustrated entries drawn from the histories, yours in full at purchase and opened in twelve sealed batches at your own pace.

• Sixty-four records: historical episodes, the idioms they left behind, and selected verse
• Today's File: when the day's hexagram is where a record you own begins or resolves, that record returns on the Almanac
• Three complete records plus a rotating Record of the Day, free to read
• Corrections throughout the classical text, audited against the Harvard-Yenching and Hatcher transcriptions
• Hexagrams 10, 12, 13 and 52 now show their judgments in full
• Today's step count, if you allow it, now sits beside the day's hexagram on the Today screen — read from this device's pedometer, never scored, never shared
• Onboarding now ends in the 號之禮: receive a 號 (literary name), its seal, and a short poem — free for anyone signed in

### 1.7.0 — 2026-07-30

Gua questions are available again for readers whose device verification became stuck after an interrupted request.

- Automatically repairs the affected device verification state
- Try Again now recovers within the same request
- Reinstalling the app is no longer necessary
- Additional reliability improvements for Gua questions

### 1.6.7 — 2026-07-11

Gua readings now recover gracefully when interrupted. Master Workshop and the classical day-order hexagram continue to be available to everyone.

- Master Workshop in Settings: Birth Chart (八字), art previews, and experimental labs
- Hexagram of the Day follows the authentic Han dynasty 卦氣 day-order
- Interrupted Gua readings can now be recovered on retry — your original question is preserved
- Clearer error messages that explain what went wrong and what to do next
- Longer timeout (90s) for complex readings that need more processing time
- Reliability improvements throughout the Gua interpretation pipeline

### 1.6.6 — 2026-07-10

The workshop opens — and the daily hexagram now follows the classical day-order.

- Hexagram of the Day now follows the authentic 卦氣 day-order (直日序) from Han dynasty calendrics
- Master Workshop in Settings is open to everyone: Birth Chart (八字), art previews, and experimental labs
- Matrix skin now available to everyone in Appearance
- New in Settings: optional Daily Steps, read from Apple Health — display-only, never shared
- Shared images now render in your active art style
- More reliable donation recording
- Stability improvements

### 1.6.5 — 2026-06-14

More accurate Bazi, and a much lighter app.

- Almanac sharing: shared image now updates when you change language, seal, or hexagram
- Bazi accuracy: year and month pillars now derive from the true solar terms (節氣), matching classical almanac convention
- Daily card: commentary now follows your chosen language, with the classical line text (爻辭) shown above it
- Larger, clearer interlinear character gloss
- Significantly smaller download and faster install
- Stability improvements

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*Data collected daily from the US App Store and indexed by [AppsHunter](https://appshunter.io/). User reviews are verbatim App Store reviews. Ratings, prices and chart positions refresh continuously; this snapshot is from 2026-09-10.*
