MING AI: When Artificial Intelligence Meets the Ancient Oracle

In 1999, a web project was born thanks to a grant from the Alliance Numerique du Quebec. The idea was simple and ambitious: to make the I Ching accessible online, visual and instant. More than a quarter century later, that project has become Virtual I-Ching — and its artificial intelligence, MING, now interprets hexagrams in 13 languages for users around the globe.

"The adventure began in 1999. I had in mind King Wen's I Ching, visual and instant."
— JCDWeb, founder of VirtualIChing

What began as a static consultation site has become a complete platform where the most advanced technology — artificial intelligence, quantum randomness, global statistics — serves the most ancient wisdom. MING embodies this meeting.

Why the name MING?

The name is no accident. The Ming dynasty (1368-1644) was the one that democratized the I Ching by replacing the complex ritual of the 50 yarrow stalks with the three-coin method. From an oracle reserved for court diviners and Confucian scholars, the I Ching became accessible to all.

MING AI pursues exactly this mission. Where the coins simplified the casting, artificial intelligence simplifies the interpretation. The classical texts of the I Ching — written in archaic Chinese, translated into often hermetic language — are immensely rich but difficult to access. MING deciphers them, cross-references them, and reformulates them in the precise context of your question.

How a consultation with MING works

The process unfolds in three clearly defined steps:

1. The question. You formulate your question — open, sincere, as precise as possible. MING does not read your thoughts. The quality of the interpretation depends directly on the quality of the question. "How should I approach this decision?" will yield a much richer answer than "Is it going to work?"

2. The casting. You toss your "coins" — in Zen Mode (pseudo-random, free) or Quantum Mode (certified QRNG, consultations). Six tosses build your hexagram from bottom to top. If moving lines appear (values 6 or 9), a second hexagram is generated — the perspective hexagram, which shows where your situation is evolving toward.

3. The MING interpretation. This is where AI enters the picture. MING has access to four scholarly translations of the I Ching — Legge (1882), Philastre (1885), Wilhelm (1923), and Doublet (2007). For each hexagram and each moving line, MING cross-references these four sources, identifies convergences and nuances, then formulates a personalized interpretation based on your specific question.

MING does not recite a generic text. It does not copy-paste a translation. It synthesizes four different perspectives on the same hexagram and applies them to your situation. It is like having simultaneous access to four sinologists, a Jungian psychologist, and a personal advisor — all in a matter of seconds.

The fundamental tension: ancient and modern

Entrusting the interpretation of a 5,000-year-old sacred text to an artificial intelligence raises a legitimate question: is it respectful? Does AI not distort the original wisdom?

"Whatever the hexagram, the commentary seems adapted to our situation. It is because everything is in everything and ultimately we are never lost. You find yourself instantly connected to something greater, deeper, unfathomable."
— JCDWeb, founder of VirtualIChing

MING does not claim to replace the I Ching. It does not substitute for the classical texts — it makes them accessible. The four translations remain fully consultable within the app. MING's interpretation is an additional layer — a bridge between the archaic language of the hexagrams and the concrete reality of your situation.

This is a posture of augmentation, not replacement. The I Ching remains the source. MING is the bridge-builder. The wisdom comes from the millennial texts; AI makes it readable, personal, and actionable.

"The I Ching is a mirror, and if it has a soul, it is ours."
— JCDWeb, founder of VirtualIChing

If the I Ching is a mirror, MING is the light that allows you to see the reflection better. It illuminates what is already there — in the texts and in your question.

13 languages, a universal oracle

The I Ching was born in China, but it belongs to humanity. MING interprets hexagrams in 13 languages: French, English, Spanish, Portuguese, German, Italian, Russian, Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Arabic, Hindi, and Thai. Each interpretation is generated in the chosen language — not automatically translated from an English version, but thought in the target language.

This multilingual capability is essential. The I Ching has no cultural borders. A consultant in Tokyo, another in Sao Paulo, a third in Seoul pose different questions in different contexts — but the 64 hexagrams speak to them with the same relevance. MING adapts the linguistic and cultural register while preserving fidelity to the source texts.

The Hexamondial: mapping consultations worldwide

Virtual I-Ching does not merely offer individual consultations. The platform aggregates casting data — anonymized — to produce the Hexamondial: a world map showing which hexagrams dominate in each country, in real time.

Privacy: zero Big Tech, zero tracking

When you consult an oracle about your most intimate questions, confidentiality is not a luxury — it is an imperative. Virtual I-Ching has made radical choices in this regard:

• No login via Google, Facebook, Apple, or any social network. Registration uses only an email and an OTP code (One-Time Password). No stored password, no link to a social profile.
• No third-party tracking cookies. No Google Analytics, no Facebook pixel, no retargeting ads.
• No sale of data. Your consultations are never shared, sold, or used to train external AI models.
• Independent hosting. The servers are not at Amazon, Google, or Microsoft. The infrastructure is sovereign.

This approach has a cost. Without the advertising revenue and user profiling that fund most web platforms, Virtual I-Ching relies entirely on consultations and the perceived value of the service. It is a deliberate choice: the questions you ask the oracle are nobody's business but your own.

25 years of evolution: from 1999 to today

The journey since 1999 has been considerable. The initial project — a static website funded by a grant from the Alliance Numerique du Quebec — offered the hexagrams in a single translation, with no interactivity. That was already an innovation: putting the I Ching online at a time when the web was in its infancy.

Over the years, Virtual I-Ching has integrated technological advances one after another:

• Four translations — Legge, Philastre, Wilhelm, Doublet — offering a depth of interpretation unique in the world
• Quantum randomness — via Quantum Blockchains, for a casting derived from quantum vacuum fluctuations
• MING AI — artificial intelligence that personalizes interpretation in 13 languages
• The Hexamondial — worldwide mapping of consultations in real time
• Zero Big Tech policy — email + OTP, no tracking, no social networks

Every technological addition has been guided by the same principle: serve the oracle, do not overshadow it. Technology is a vehicle, not a destination. The I Ching existed 3,000 years before the invention of the computer. It will probably exist 3,000 years after. Virtual I-Ching and MING are but one chapter in this story — but a chapter that makes this wisdom more accessible than it has ever been.

The oracle has not changed. Access has.

The I Ching of the twenty-first century is the same one that King Wen consulted in his prison, more than 3,000 years ago. The 64 hexagrams, the 384 lines, the relationships between the trigrams — nothing has moved. What has changed is the gateway.

Once, one had to master classical Chinese, possess 50 yarrow stalks, and know a complex ritual. Then the Ming dynasty simplified the casting with three coins. Then Western translators made the texts readable in other languages. Then the internet put the I Ching a click away. And now, MING AI makes interpretation personal and immediate.

Each step has brought the oracle closer to the people. Each step was criticized by the purists of its era. And each step proved that the I Ching is deep enough to survive all simplifications — because its depth lies not in the complexity of the ritual, but in the truth of the hexagrams themselves.