 Yet, in their own ways, these three approaches offer answers to the human fear of uncertainty that was characteristic of divination in early China. Whether performed with yarrow stalks, coins or by cracking the bones of oxen, divination in early China was an attempt to calm the nerve and soothe the mind, giving inquirers the courage to make decisions at the crossroads of their lives (Allan 1991; Gotshalk 1999; Marshall 2001; Raphals 2013, Redmond 2017; Shaughnessy 1992 [1997]; K. Smith 1989). On the other hand, the three approaches give hope to readers by transforming the hexagrams into symbols to discuss the human role in the unfolding of the universe (Cheng 2003; Cheng &amp; Ng 2009; Redmond &amp; Hon 2014: 140–57; R. Smith 2008: 31–48). Together, they make three arguments: