I was very interested in this deck and book set from the moment I laid my eyes on it.  Nothing else has ever been done like it before, and it looked terribly interesting.  It is a form of I Ching, using the 64 hexagrams as the base for the work, so there are 64 cards in the deck.  Additionally, there are 12 bamboo divining sticks, which are similar to the yarrow stalks which have been used in traditional I Ching divination.  However, this deck is quite a bit more abstract in its own way.  I guess I would call this the "I Ching Alternative."
 
It is actually really simple to use; each card has either the solid line of Yang, the male energy, or the broken line of Yin, the female energy.  You simply shuffle and then select six different cards from the pack, after meditating on your question or situation, and these six cards, with either Yin or Yang lines, build a hexagram, from which I Ching divination is reached.
 
What is interesting, and slightly different from the usual, is that instead of shuffling the cards face-down, or casino style, in other words, instead of shuffling them in such a way as you do not see the cards you have chosen until you have already selected them..... here you lay all the cards down with the bamboo images *face up* so that you can see each abstract image.  You then "wash" the cards around on the table, and draw the first six cards that *speak* to you in some way during this process.  It may be their color that leaps out and grabs you, or it may be something about the bamboo arrangement on the front, or it may just be an intuitive attraction for which there is no logical explanation.  In this way, you select the cards that are meant to come to you.
 
Once you have selected your six cards, you turn them over and take a paper and pencil and draw the hexagram according to the Yin and Yang lines that appear on the backs of these cards.  Unlike Western writing, in the Eastern style, you begin at the bottom and work your way up, so that the first Yin or Yang line is actually the bottom of the hexagram.  Once you have built your hexagram from these six cards, it is a simple matter to look the hexagram up in the book and read the Confucian wisdom that accompanies it.
 
If you still feel the need for some additional wisdom, you then consult the bamboo sticks.  There are 12 of them altogether and they each have a number on one end.  You hold the twelve sticks in your hand in such a way as to not be able to see the numbers, the numbered end being in your hand.  You draw a stick and depending on which number you draw, you consult the book to see what the order should be for drawing a new set of cards for a new hexagram.  There is a chart there which tells you how to draw in this event.  For example, if you draw the number 5 stick, the book instructs you to shuffle the cards and pick two, then shuffle again and pick four more, and these six create your hexagram.  This second hexagram works to answer the question "How Should I Perceive This Issue?"
 
Then there is a third step to take which answers the question "How Should I Act On This Situation?"  You take the *keycard* (which is always the last card selected in the first set of cards drawn for the second hexagram as drawn above) and read the number which is printed on the back of the keycard, and that gives you your third hexagram to look up in the book.  I know this sounds a little confusing, but I'm probably just not communicating it as well as I could be.  After all, Mercury *is* retrograde as I write this!
 
The cards themselves are slightly squarer than standard tarot cards, but a good overall size for an oracle deck.  They are printed on a good quality cardstock, nice and flexible with rounded edges and corners.  They shuffle and handle easily in the casino style, even though you are recommended to use the "washing" technique of shuffling.  The back has no design on it at all and is plain white with a simple Yin or Yang line and a black typeset number.  There is no little white booklet since there is a substantial trade paperback book that comes in the set.

I can recommend this set as a great way for a beginner to learn to work with I Ching.  I myself have always struggled with I Ching, and this set helped to clarify things for me a *lot* in that regard.  It is not a tarot deck, so no previous tarot experience is necessary.  It can be used by both beginners and advanced users, so it makes a great gift or purchase for anyone!

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Review Copyright 2002 by Gina M. Pace

The Bamboo Oracle by Chao-Hsiu Chen, 1998
published by Journey Editions, Boston and Tokyo
ISBN 1-885203-67-5