Hi, love to all...

I've noticed that there are some common issues which seem important, especially for people who are still exploring, learning and forming the relationship with I Ching. There are answers on this Forum but they are scattered and I think that it would be useful to put them all in one place...

So:

1. YES/NO Questions
How do you formulate the question that has clearly only YES or NO answer?
(example: Does my girlfriend have an affair, is she cheating on me?)


2. TIME
How do you approach Yi when you need to determine exact TIME of the event?
(example: When will be the most suitable TIME for me to move to another apartment?)


3. OTHER PEOPLE's affairs
How do you formulate the question if someone asks you to consult I Ching for him/her?
(example: a friend asks you what will be the most probable result of his actions in certain situation.)
-----------This is a bit confusing because all the answers you get put YOU in the center of focus.
-----------Does "YOU" in the answer refer to you or the other person? Is it OK to interpret "YOU" -----------as a person for whom you're consulting?

I hope I'm clear enough, please correct me if I asked something unclearly.

Than You all for your explanations.

1: I Ching will give You a hint, not directly (Yes/NO) but somehow quite directly in a way. But in your example, why not ask: "What about my girlfriend ?" and then dive into the Judgement and Image given ?
2: About this I have been working on it but will not proclaime to have found the final solution; here and here. (The first link is based on partly the annual sequences referred to by John Blofeld and a thread in this forum referred to there. The second link isn't far from reaching a solution but there You will find some schemes in the end of the paper which in their sequences is close to John Blofeld's)
And here's another entre to it: https://www.onlineclarity.co.uk/fri...-quot-Times-quot-The-work-of-Ricardo-Andre%E9
3: The answer to that has been discussed in depth in this forum. Maybe someone remember where...

Thank you, Svenrus.

One more thing: In one case the dating of an event following the method (Link) I mentioned worked perfectly out. I'll link the thread and just point toward #42. Depending on Your interest and time available You'll find it astonishing how close the prediction felt out according to the date - but out of the Secondary hexagram which I lately discovered. (Here and there in this thread I'd creditet the timely schemes to Shao Yung which isn't correct: John Blofeld is the source *)
Anyway, only one case of accuracy isn't far, far from enough to justify the usefulness of this method......
-------------------------
*) John Blofeld, The book of Change, London 1968. Appendix 12 page 225

Something else to watch for with time questions (since I'm completely ignorant of the date-calculation methods - thank you, Svenrus, for pointing us towards another one): Yi describing a time by describing a condition or event in our lives that the timing depends on.

For your example, "When should I move to a new apartment?," say (hypothetically) Yi gave you 14.2-

'A great chariot to carry loads.
With a direction to go, no mistake.'

Hilary (the owner of this website) recommends asking yourself lots of questions about Yi's answers. In this made-up example, you could ask, "What is a chariot for? Why is it important? What could be the chariot in my life? What does the load represent? What in my life needs 'carrying'? Why do I need a 'great chariot' to carry it, and what could that be?" etc.

Your answers to those questions might be very literal:
"When should I move?"
"As soon as I can arrange a moving van."
"When I have the pick-up truck I've been thinking about buying."
"When I can borrow a truck from my cousin."

Or not as literal:
"When I have my credit cards paid off so my credit rating improves (so the landlord will approve my application)."
"When I have enough money for the deposit."
"Whenever my friends and I can coordinate schedules, so they can help me."
"I've been looking for a different job - so, when that's settled and I know where I'll be commuting to."

In all those cases, Yi has said, "You have something in your life that needs carrying (the 'load'), and you need help carrying it ('the chariot')." Yi's answered your question about "when" without pinning down a date.

Alternative - you could put a time frame in your question. "Prospects for moving in the next [month, six months...]?"

(An aside: If you don't already have it, I'd heartily recommend downloading Hilary's Language of Change for explaining important phrases like "direction to go." It's abundantly worth the few dollars Hilary charges for it.)

If you ask a question like, "when will this happen?" you are operating under an assumption that it will happen.

Prepare yourself to get answers that surprise you. (by not directly answering your question, but instead, telling you what you need to know)

Example, should I wear my hiking boots or hiking sandals today? Answer 24 unchanging. A violent storm hits that day, and it is best for you to wear neither footwear, but to stay home.

Thank you all for your contributions to this thread, I gained really useful insights. I'll try to share everything that I can personally verify through using all your advice.