What is Yi?

Self-discovery & reflection

Listen · Illuminate · Walk beside you

Career, family, relationships, education, or what comes next in life—Yi helps you see your situation clearly and make a decision that is truly your own.

With the I Ching as a mirror, Yi does not decide for you; it helps you think your decision through.

An illustrative scenario: from question to decision and review

Question → Observe · optional

What do I need to clarify before accepting this new role? The Lenormand House makes me ask: how might this change affect everyday life at home?

Cast a hexagram → Read and reflect

Bring the question into the app and follow a casting method. The cards do not select the hexagram. Read the source text and commentary. What is a fact, and what am I assuming? Check those reflections against real circumstances.

Decide → Review

Before Friday, ask the manager about the schedule and support, then discuss it with my family. Return to the record a week later. What did I learn, and what changed after that step?

What does one Yi session preserve?

The new experience keeps your question, adopted observations, hexagram, reflection and decision, so you can return to add what changed after acting. Observations can also be saved separately and linked to a question later. You can complete the whole journey without observation.

Your question stays on your side

Processing stays on your device by default. Cloud AI is not yet available. When it opens, selected content is sent only after you choose cloud, preview that content, and consent. Synced records remain end-to-end encrypted and unreadable to the sync service.

Questions about Yi

About Yi

The exploration and portrait described below preview the new iPhone experience shown on this website. Check the App Store version notes for currently available features.

What is Yi?

Yi is a self-discovery and decision-reflection journal you can revisit over time. Its promise is: “Self-discovery & reflection.” Career, family, relationships, education, or what comes next in life—Yi helps you see your situation clearly and make a decision that is truly your own. Self-reflection questions, classics and stories are tools for thinking; no need to know the I Ching first.

How does Ask guide me from the home screen?

The new home journey connects question → optional observation → casting → reading → decision → review. You can write or skip your question, use Lenormand or Tarot for a starting point, or skip observation. Then confirm a casting method, read the source text and commentary, choose one action, and reopen from Journal to review what changed. A saved observation can provide background; it neither starts casting automatically nor selects a hexagram. The website shows the new experience as a preview. Available features depend on the downloadable version.

Will Yi decide for me?

Yi uses the I Ching as a mirror, placing facts, options, and constraints together for reflection while the final decision remains yours. For important health, legal, or financial matters, also rely on sound facts and qualified professional advice.

Where can I begin if I do not have a question yet?

Try the 36 Lenormand cards or the 22 upright Tarot Major Arcana. You can also begin with a specific topic, self-reflection or a direction in your surroundings. Look at an image, read its reflection prompts, and turn what feels relevant into your own question. Observation is not a personality test and does not decide for you.

How are the eight trigrams different from the radar chart?

Understand yourself uses 24 questions to help you reflect on how you see yourself today. The eight trigrams are portrait categories. The radar chart has six dimensions: energy, decision, pressure, pace, change, and relationships. It is not eight ability scores, and farther out does not mean better. The portrait is neither a fixed label nor a validated psychological assessment.

How can I revisit, retake, or share my portrait?

In the new iPhone experience, open Understand yourself on Home or the portrait entry at the top of My. You can revisit previous portraits, answer again, or bring that insight to Ask. The result can be shared or saved as an image with a Yi download QR code. The image excludes individual answers, private questions, journal entries, and your self-reported MBTI type.

Does a Yi portrait automatically correspond to an MBTI type?

No. You may optionally enter an MBTI type you already know and view it beside your current portrait. Yi does not infer, validate, or convert MBTI from the trigrams or radar chart, and gives no matching percentage. Your entered type stays on this device and can be changed or cleared. The two are simply references for reflecting from different perspectives.

Is the eight-question website quiz the same as my portrait?

No. The website’s eight questions suggest a starting point for classical-text study. The App portrait uses a separate set of 24 questions. The web result does not create a portrait or transfer into the App. Web answers are used only on the current page and are not saved when you leave.

Observation and casting

What do Lenormand and Tarot add to Ask?

Lenormand and Tarot images can help you reflect on your situation and frame a question. After drawing, write a reflection and choose whether to bring it into Ask. Observation is optional and can be saved on its own; it is not a required step in casting.

Does observation affect the hexagram?

No. Images, questions and casting remain separate. Lenormand or Tarot offers a perspective; your chosen method forms the hexagram, and reading starts from that hexagram and classical sources. Question wording selects neither cards nor hexagrams. Private web import is not yet available. Once available, encrypted material is uploaded only when you choose to continue. Installing the app does not import anything automatically.

How does iPhone or iPad carry traditional casting methods?

Yi preserves the key formation rules of the coin and yarrow-stalk methods on iPhone and iPad; the quick journey uses touch or gentle movement to complete the cast. Plum Blossom can begin with the current time, two numbers, a longer Chinese sentence, or something in view and its direction. The device changes how you take part, while the six lines, changing lines, and hexagram structure still follow the chosen method. This consistency concerns formation rules and structure, not a guaranteed outcome or the feel of physical tools.

How does Yi keep the casting process independent?

Each hexagram follows the method you choose. The observation and the wording of your question do not select it, and the result is not changed to match an expectation. The completed hexagram stays with your record for classical study, reflection, and later review.

How should I choose among the coin, yarrow-stalk, and Plum Blossom methods?

The coin and yarrow-stalk methods both use the quick guided journey while following their own formation rules. Plum Blossom can begin with the current time, two numbers, a longer Chinese sentence, or something in view and its direction. You choose inside the Ask journey; Yi preselects your last method, and you can change it at any time. Choose the method you are willing to complete attentively and record honestly.

Can I make another record for the same question?

Yes, but there is usually no need to restart immediately for a different result. First write down what you understood and your next step. After you act, open the same record from Journal and add what changed. If the situation itself changes, a new record can be more useful.

Reading Across Traditions

Let classical texts illuminate one another

Why does Yi also include the Bible and Buddhist texts?

People from different faith backgrounds all face responsibility, relationships, suffering, waiting, and choice. Yi offers Christians who read the Bible, Buddhists who read Buddhist texts, and readers curious about other classics a space for study and personal reflection that respects each source and preserves its differences. Begin with the text you know, then choose whether to open another perspective.

What does “reading across traditions” mean here?

Yi currently presents Bible–I Ching and Buddhist texts–I Ching as separate reading paths. Begin with the original text and context, then consider points of illumination, differences that should remain, and questions for reflection before recording your own response. Comparative reading is optional, and you may stay with the text most familiar to you.

How can a Christian use Yi?

You can read the complete Bible in Chinese and English, search it, follow a reading plan, add highlights and notes, and view comparative readings with the I Ching. The Bible keeps its own faith context, while the I Ching perspective serves as a mirror for reflecting on a situation. Prayer, church life, and pastoral counsel retain their own essential place.

How can a Buddhist use Yi?

You can read selected complete Buddhist texts with clear sources, search them, follow a reading plan, add highlights and notes, and view I Ching comparisons where material is available. Buddhist texts keep their own teaching and practice context, while the I Ching perspective supports observation and reflection. Daily practice and trusted teachers retain their own essential place.

How does Yi respect different faith traditions?

Yi preserves each text’s original wording, context, and faith tradition, and presents comparative prompts separately from personal notes. For questions of doctrine and faith, return to the relevant scriptures and a trusted religious community.

Classical Texts and Readings

Where do Yi’s classical texts come from?

The Chinese text of the Zhouyi is transcribed character by character from Zhonghua Book Company’s Zhouyi parallel classical-and-modern edition. Commentary identifies authors, schools, and sources wherever possible. The Bible and Buddhist texts also include edition and source information so you can check the originals.

How does AI support a reading?

Classical texts and historical commentary retain their source wording. Yi’s supporting readings are grounded in source editions and attributed material, completed on your device, and designed so you can return to the original text at any time.

Why do scholars offer different readings?

Different eras, schools, and commentators focus on different questions, leaving a range of interpretations. Yi preserves those differences and their sources as material for comparative study, helping you form your own understanding.

Records, Sync, and Privacy

Where are my questions, records, and notes stored?

Your content is stored on your device first, and you can use Yi without signing in. Your questions, reflections, and notes belong to you and are kept as your private material.

Does my question go to a cloud AI service?

Processing stays on your device by default. Cloud AI is not yet available. When it opens, selected content is sent only after you choose cloud, preview that content, and consent. Synced records remain end-to-end encrypted and unreadable to the sync service.

How are records protected when I sync?

After you sign in and choose to sync, records are encrypted on your device before moving between your devices; the service stores only encrypted content. You can also export your data or delete records from your device and sync through Settings.

Subscriptions and Use

Can I use Yi without a subscription?

Yes. Basic classical-text study, casting, records, source text, and attributed commentary are free. On supported devices, a Simplified Chinese on-device reading is also available without a subscription. Each account can sync up to 20 encrypted records for free. Members have unlimited sync plus Traditional Chinese, English, and Japanese on-device readings, intermediate and advanced courses, some long-form content, long-term reviews, and collection features. See the in-app subscription page for current details.

What is the difference between Yi Plus and Yi Master?

Yi Plus supports long-term study with unlimited encrypted sync, intermediate and advanced courses, complete long-form stories, multilingual deep reading, and long-term review tools. Yi Master adds monthly and annual collection reports, priority service, and supporter benefits. Current benefits and prices are shown on the in-app subscription page.

How do I restore, manage, or cancel a subscription?

Choose Restore Purchases on Yi’s subscription page. To change a plan, renew, or cancel, open the subscription settings for your Apple Account. After cancellation, paid benefits remain available until the current subscription period ends.

The upcoming experience and availability

What is new in personal portraits?

Alongside Yi’s six dimensions, the new experience adds Big Five traits, values, and your current situation. Results, self-reports, and cultural perspectives remain separate. You can correct, disable, delete, and choose whether AI uses a result. Basic features are free; natal charts are not yet available.

Does the AI study assistant decide for me?

No. The assistant identifies itself as AI and helps you clarify the situation, check textual sources, compare choices, choose an action, and review it. It uses only confirmed portraits and selected records. Without supported on-device AI, you can still read, follow reflection prompts, and keep manual notes; nothing switches to cloud automatically.

Are cloud AI and AI points available?

Not yet. Once available, signed-in users in supported regions can opt into cloud AI and buy points without a subscription. Mainland China will not offer cloud AI or top-ups. AI points are separate from Yi credits; purchased AI points do not expire. Master allowances depend on the actual plan, with no fixed conversation count promised.