Handed down as the work of Gia Cát Lượng 諸葛亮, the 384 verse oracles answer exactly to the 384 lines of the I Ching. When the mind stirs, write three characters and count the strokes to cast by the classical method, or use a number that catches your eye, or draw an oracle in earnest.
One matter, one oracle, and the first oracle is the true one. Hold the matter single-mindedly in view, then choose one of the three methods.
The classical method: count the strokes of each character and take the units digit, counting a round 10 or 20 strokes as 0; join the three digits as hundreds, tens and units; subtract 384 if the number exceeds it. The Unihan stroke table of over 20,000 characters is looked up instantly.
The number is brought within 1 to 384 by subtracting 384 as often as needed, exactly as the book prescribes. The number must come to you naturally, in the moment the mind stirs.
Close your eyes, say the matter to yourself three times, then press to draw. The first oracle is the true one.
Zhuge Liang Divine Calculation, also called Gia Cát Thần Số 諸葛神數, is handed down as the work of Gia Cát Khổng Minh 諸葛孔明 of the Three Kingdoms, made to settle a question of strategy in an instant. The set holds exactly 384 verses in Chinese, a number matching the 384 lines of the 64 I Ching hexagrams. Each oracle is short and dense, and answers the matter asked with uncanny aptness. The ancients hid these 384 verses scattered through more than twelve thousand characters of a numeral table, so that a whole verse could be found only after adding and subtracting many times, which shows how finely the arrangement was made. This page sets out all 384 oracles ready to read, with the original Chinese, the Sino-Vietnamese reading and a verse translation.
This is the orthodox method: when something weighs on the mind, write the first three Chinese characters that come to you. Count the strokes of each and take the units digit of the count, treating a round ten or twenty strokes as zero. The three digits in order make hundreds, tens and units. If the number exceeds 384, subtract 384 and repeat until it falls between one and 384, and that is the oracle. The book's own example: three characters of 7, 9 and 2 strokes make 792; subtract 384 to leave 408; subtract again to leave 24, giving oracle 24, whose verse runs "Ý tư tư, tâm thích thích, yếu bình an, phòng xuất nhập". Anyone who does not use Chinese characters may take a number that catches the eye, or draw an oracle in earnest, so long as the rule of one matter, one oracle is kept.
Because 384 oracles answer to 384 lines, each Divine Calculation oracle can be set against a line of the I Ching: oracle N answers to hexagram N divided by 6 rounded up, at the line given by the remainder. The page shows this link so that you can read the line text and the reading of the 64 hexagrams as well, a further layer that few editions of Zhuge Liang Divine Calculation make use of.
The worth of these verses lies in what is meant beyond the words: few words, deep sense, and you must hold your real situation against each line and each word before the aptness shows. The ancients said: a sincere heart brings the response; one matter, one oracle; the first oracle is the true one; do not cast again in search of a fairer answer, and do not ask idle questions. The tendency towards good or ill that the page suggests is only a first reading of the verse. The result is for reflection and guidance; for anything weighty, consult someone qualified to read it.