I Ching

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Eight trigrams, combined two at a time, give 64 hexagrams. Once you know the eight, every hexagram can be reasoned rather than memorised.

Hexagram of the day

64 · Before Completion

Almost there, and the last step matters most.

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The eight trigrams

☰ Heaven Qian · creative force
☱ Lake Dui · joy and openness
☲ Fire Li · clarity and attachment
☳ Thunder Zhen · arousal and shock
☴ Wind Xun · gentle penetration
☵ Water Kan · danger and depth
☶ Mountain Gen · stillness and limit
☷ Earth Kun · receptive yielding

All 64 hexagrams

#NameImageMeaning
1 The Creative ☰ ☰ Heaven above, Heaven below Pure initiative — the moment to act with full force
2 The Receptive ☷ ☷ Earth above, Earth below Pure yielding — strength through accepting rather than pushing
3 Difficulty at the Beginning ☵ ☳ Water above, Thunder below A hard start; growth held back by early chaos
4 Youthful Folly ☶ ☵ Mountain above, Water below Inexperience meeting a problem it does not yet understand
5 Waiting ☵ ☰ Water above, Heaven below The situation is not ready; patience is the action
6 Conflict ☰ ☵ Heaven above, Water below Opposition that cannot be resolved by force
7 The Army ☷ ☵ Earth above, Water below Organised effort under clear leadership
8 Holding Together ☵ ☷ Water above, Earth below Union around a shared centre
9 Small Taming ☴ ☰ Wind above, Heaven below Restraint by gentle means; small gains only
10 Treading ☰ ☱ Heaven above, Lake below Careful conduct in a dangerous position
11 Peace ☷ ☰ Earth above, Heaven below Heaven below, earth above — forces flowing toward each other
12 Standstill ☰ ☷ Heaven above, Earth below The inverse of Peace; forces moving apart
13 Fellowship ☰ ☲ Heaven above, Fire below Shared purpose in open company
14 Great Possession ☲ ☰ Fire above, Heaven below Abundance held with responsibility
15 Modesty ☷ ☶ Earth above, Mountain below The mountain beneath the earth; strength kept low
16 Enthusiasm ☳ ☷ Thunder above, Earth below Movement that carries others with it
17 Following ☱ ☳ Lake above, Thunder below Adapting to circumstances rather than forcing them
18 Work on the Decayed ☶ ☴ Mountain above, Wind below Repairing what was neglected
19 Approach ☷ ☱ Earth above, Lake below Something favourable drawing nearer
20 Contemplation ☴ ☷ Wind above, Earth below Standing back to see the whole
21 Biting Through ☲ ☳ Fire above, Thunder below Decisive action against an obstruction
22 Grace ☶ ☲ Mountain above, Fire below Form and beauty, but on a small scale
23 Splitting Apart ☶ ☷ Mountain above, Earth below Decay from below; do not resist, wait
24 Return ☷ ☳ Earth above, Thunder below The turning point; light comes back
25 Innocence ☰ ☳ Heaven above, Thunder below Acting without calculation
26 Great Taming ☶ ☰ Mountain above, Heaven below Power held in reserve and built up
27 Nourishment ☶ ☳ Mountain above, Thunder below What you take in, and what you say
28 Great Exceeding ☱ ☴ Lake above, Wind below A load too heavy for the structure
29 The Abysmal ☵ ☵ Water above, Water below Repeated danger; keep your footing
30 The Clinging ☲ ☲ Fire above, Fire below Fire doubled — brightness that depends on fuel
31 Influence ☱ ☶ Lake above, Mountain below Mutual attraction, courtship
32 Duration ☳ ☴ Thunder above, Wind below Endurance through consistency
33 Retreat ☰ ☶ Heaven above, Mountain below Withdrawing in good order before it is forced
34 Great Power ☳ ☰ Thunder above, Heaven below Strength that must not be misused
35 Progress ☲ ☷ Fire above, Earth below Steady advance in daylight
36 Darkening of the Light ☷ ☲ Earth above, Fire below Keeping your light hidden in hostile conditions
37 The Family ☴ ☲ Wind above, Fire below Order that begins at home
38 Opposition ☲ ☱ Fire above, Lake below Two forces facing different ways
39 Obstruction ☵ ☶ Water above, Mountain below An obstacle that calls for a different route
40 Deliverance ☳ ☵ Thunder above, Water below The tension breaks; relief arrives
41 Decrease ☶ ☱ Mountain above, Lake below Giving something up for a larger gain
42 Increase ☴ ☳ Wind above, Thunder below A favourable time; act while it lasts
43 Breakthrough ☱ ☰ Lake above, Heaven below A resolute push past resistance
44 Coming to Meet ☰ ☴ Heaven above, Wind below An encounter that should be handled carefully
45 Gathering Together ☱ ☷ Lake above, Earth below People drawn to a common point
46 Pushing Upward ☷ ☴ Earth above, Wind below Gradual ascent through effort
47 Oppression ☱ ☵ Lake above, Water below Exhaustion and confinement
48 The Well ☵ ☴ Water above, Wind below The source that does not move but nourishes all
49 Revolution ☱ ☲ Lake above, Fire below The old order must change
50 The Cauldron ☲ ☴ Fire above, Wind below Transformation and cultivation
51 The Arousing ☳ ☳ Thunder above, Thunder below Shock repeated; sudden change
52 Keeping Still ☶ ☶ Mountain above, Mountain below The mountain doubled — stopping completely
53 Development ☴ ☶ Wind above, Mountain below Slow, orderly progress
54 The Marrying Maiden ☳ ☱ Thunder above, Lake below Entering a situation from a weak position
55 Abundance ☳ ☲ Thunder above, Fire below Fullness at its peak, which cannot last
56 The Wanderer ☲ ☶ Fire above, Mountain below Being a stranger; travel light
57 The Gentle ☴ ☴ Wind above, Wind below Penetrating influence, repeated
58 The Joyous ☱ ☱ Lake above, Lake below Open, shared pleasure
59 Dispersion ☴ ☵ Wind above, Water below Breaking up what has hardened
60 Limitation ☵ ☱ Water above, Lake below Useful boundaries
61 Inner Truth ☴ ☱ Wind above, Lake below Sincerity that convinces without argument
62 Small Exceeding ☳ ☶ Thunder above, Mountain below Attend to small things, not large ones
63 After Completion ☵ ☲ Water above, Fire below The task is done; now hold it together
64 Before Completion ☲ ☵ Fire above, Water below Almost there, and the last step matters most

What each line position means

Lines are counted from the bottom up, and each position carries a meaning of its own regardless of which hexagram it sits in. A changing line at position 5 reads very differently from one at position 3.

  • First (bottom) — the beginning, still hidden and barely formed
  • Second — the inner sphere: home, private life, what you are among your own
  • Third — the transition point, and the most dangerous position in the figure
  • Fourth — entering the outer sphere: proximity to authority, exposure
  • Fifth — the ruling position, usually the most favourable
  • Sixth (top) — past the peak: completion, or overreach

How hexagrams connect to each other

Three relationships are calculated from the lines rather than assigned by an author. The nuclear hexagram is built from lines 2-3-4 and 3-4-5 — the figure hidden inside, read as what is happening beneath the surface. The opposite flips every line. The inverse turns the figure upside down, traditionally read as the same situation from the other party's side.

Because they follow from the structure, the connections hold together on their own: hexagram 63, After Completion, has 64, Before Completion, as its nuclear, opposite and inverse all at once. Nobody arranged that — it falls out of the arithmetic.

Eight of the sixty-four are symmetrical and read the same upside down, so they have no distinct inverse.

How a hexagram is built

Each hexagram is six lines, read from the bottom up. The lower three form one trigram and the upper three form another — so every hexagram is a relationship between two of the eight.

Hexagram 11, Peace, is Earth above and Heaven below. That looks upside down until you notice the logic: heaven rises and earth sinks, so in this arrangement they move toward each other. Hexagram 12 reverses it, and the two drift apart — which is why it means Standstill.

Consulting it

The traditional method divides fifty yarrow stalks in a procedure taking several minutes per line. The three-coin method is faster: toss three coins six times, building the hexagram from the bottom line up.

Lines can be "changing", which turns one hexagram into a second and gives a reading of movement from one situation to another. That mechanism is what makes the I Ching a book about change rather than a set of static fortunes.