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The I Ching is an ancient Chinese system of philosophical divination, possibly dating back to the eighth century BC, which is still in use today.

The I Ching, or Book of Changes, was the only book that escaped destruction when all the Chinese philosophical works were burned in the third century BC. Either dried yarrow stalks or special coins, usually with square holes in the center, plus knowledge and a fair sprinkling of intuition, are the tools of the I Ching.

The basis of the system is just two simple lines, one continuous, one broken. The most profound symbols are usually the simplest, and these two lines encompass the universal source of all things, also known as the Tao (as in Taoism).

The unbroken line represents all aspects of the positive; male, Sun, fire, heat, action, odd numbers, yang. The broken line represents the opposites.

These lines combine to make 64 possible combinations.

The lines also form a set of eight trigrams that represent the elements of air, water, fire, and earth, with the four sub-elements of breath, sea, thunderbolt, and mountain.

The interpretations of the I Ching are beautifully oblique; the philosophy behind this system is about finding balance. Both the flags of Vietman and of South Korea feature trigrams from the I Ching.