Lingqijing

"Lingqijing" (靈棋經 lit. "Classic of the Divine Chess") is a Chinese book of divination. It is not known when and by whom it was written. Legend has it that the strategist Zhang Liang got it from Huangshigong (黃石公), a semi-mythological figure in Chinese history. The first commented edition of the work appeared in the Jin Dynasty.

As the name of the work suggests, the work tells of how to divine with Chinese chess or "Xiangqi" (象棋), instead of with the traditional turtle shells or yarrow stalks used in "I Ching". 12 pieces of chess are used and each piece is characterized on one side. 4 are characterized as up (上), 4 down (下), 4 middle (中) in representation of the Three Realms of Heaven ("Tian" 天), Earth ("Di" 地), and Humanity ("Ren" 人), respectively. The pieces are cast and the resultant combination is deciphered to provide a divinitory reading. Each combination is commented in the book.