How najia works: turning a hexagram into a readable chart
In the study of Liuyao, preparing the chart is the dividing line that the whole method turns on. If the hexagram itself is the hardware, najia is the operating system written onto it.
← Back to the Liuyao overviewThis article treats classical Chinese charting logic as folklore and theory. Najia is a symbolic model from the pre-modern world and carries no scientifically established causation. Nothing here is investment advice or decision guidance.
Through najia, abstract yin and yang strokes acquire stems, branches, elements, the six relatives and the self and other positions. What follows covers the definition, the assignment rules, and the standard setup procedure.
Digitizing a classical model of time and space
The term originates in the system of Jing Fang, a Han dynasty scholar. The definition is direct: the ten heavenly stems and twelve earthly branches are assigned, by strict rule, into each line of the eight trigrams and the sixty-four hexagrams. Jia heads the stems, so the whole procedure took its name from it.
Three things follow from that assignment.
Assigning the stems
Nothing here was invented arbitrarily. The scheme follows a strict, symmetrical logic. The ten stems are distributed according to Qian and Kun, the parent trigrams.
Qian, pure yang, standing for heaven and for beginning, takes jia in the inner trigram and ren in the outer. Kun, pure yin, standing for earth and for completion, takes yi inside and gui outside. The other six use one stem throughout: Gen bing, Dui ding, Kan wu, Li ji, Zhen geng, Xun xin.
A note on practice: in modern reading the stems are mostly used to look up auspicious markers and to lay out the six spirits. Their weight in the core elemental reasoning is much smaller than the branches.
Assigning the branches
Branch assignment is the variable a reading actually turns on, and its logic follows the classical principle that yang runs forward and yin runs backward.
The four yang trigrams (Qian, Zhen, Kan, Gen) run upward in forward order. In Qian, the inner trigram starts at zi (water), skips a place to yin (wood), then chen (earth); the outer starts at wu (fire), then shen (metal), then xu (earth). Zhen follows Qian exactly. Kan starts its inner trigram at yin, Gen at chen.
The four yin trigrams (Kun, Xun, Li, Dui) run upward in reverse order. In Kun, the inner trigram starts at wei (earth), counts back a place to si (fire), then mao (wood); the outer starts at chou (earth), then hai (water), then you (metal). Xun starts its inner trigram at chou, Li at mao, Dui at si.
Branches by trigram
| Trigram | Direction | Inner (1·2·3) | Outer (4·5·6) | Stem |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Qian ☰ | yang, forward | zi yin chen | wu shen xu | jia inner / ren outer |
| Zhen ☳ | yang, forward | zi yin chen | wu shen xu | geng |
| Kan ☵ | yang, forward | yin chen wu | shen xu zi | wu |
| Gen ☶ | yang, forward | chen wu shen | xu zi yin | bing |
| Kun ☷ | yin, backward | wei si mao | chou hai you | yi inner / gui outer |
| Xun ☴ | yin, backward | chou hai you | wei si mao | xin |
| Li ☲ | yin, backward | mao chou hai | you wei si | ji |
| Dui ☱ | yin, backward | si mao chou | hai you wei | ding |
Forward in yang trigrams, backward in yin, skipping one place every two lines. Qian and Kun, as the pure yang and pure yin heads, take separate stems for inner and outer; the other six use one throughout.
Five steps, done by hand
Most work today uses charting software, but going through the five manual steps once is how the classical frame gets built in your head.
Palace element as the self
| Relation | Relative | Modern analogue |
|---|---|---|
| what generates me | Parent | contracts, shelter, elders, policy |
| what I generate | Offspring | safety, relief, buy-side liquidity, downside cover |
| what controls me | Officer | compliance, constraint, pressure, volatility risk |
| what I control | Wealth | assets, profit, returns, commercial value |
| what matches me | Sibling | peers, competition, selling pressure, cost of attrition |
The right column is an analogy used in cultural study, not a real-world correspondence. A line's identity is not fixed: it has to be reassigned according to what is being asked.
Reasoning from principle
Anyone applying this to behavioural review or as a commercial sandbox has to keep its theoretical limits clearly in view.
A note: a hexagram is a mirror that helps you see where you stand — not a verdict, and never a buy or sell signal. Everything here is framed as "how to read it" and "what to watch for"; none of it is investment advice. Markets carry their own risk, and the decision, with its consequences, stays yours.