Upper trigram
☰
Heaven (Qian) above
Creative force.
FamilyFather
ElementMetal
Hexagram 12 of 64
I Ching hexagram 12 ☰☷ Standstill
I Ching hexagram 12, Standstill, is heaven above, earth below. In brief: the inverse of Peace; forces moving apart. Counting from the bottom, its solid lines sit in places 4, 5 and 6 and its broken lines in 1, 2 and 3.
- Lines, bottom up
- ⚋⚋⚋⚊⚊⚊ 000111 · 1 = solid
- Trigrams
- Heaven over Earth Qian ☰ / Kun ☷
- Every line changed
- № 11 Peace
- In Legge, 1882
- p. 83 Sacred Books of the East, vol. 16
Legge, The Yî King, 1882.
Lower trigram
☷
Earth (Kun) below
Receptive yielding.
FamilyMother
ElementEarth
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What the text says, in plain terms
The Judgement and the Image of hexagram 12
The Judgement
Standstill: heaven and earth are out of touch. Communication breaks down, unworthy influences prevail, and good intentions struggle to make headway.
The Image
Heaven above earth, moving apart. The lesson is to withdraw into your own integrity and not be tempted by rewards from a corrupt situation.
A summary of meaning written for this site, not a translation — James Legge’s 1882 translation of the full text follows below. How the Judgement and the Image are read, and which translations to use →
Primary source
Hexagram 12 in James Legge’s translation
“In Phî there is the want of good understanding between the (different classes of) men, and its indication is unfavourable to the firm and correct course of the superior man. We see in it the great gone and the little come.”
“(The trigrams of) heaven and earth, not in intercommunication, form Phî. The superior man, in accordance with this, restrains (the manifestation) of) his virtue, and avoids the calamities (that threaten him). There is no opportunity of conferring on him the glory of emolument.”
The lines
- Line 1 · bottom The first line, divided, suggests the idea of grass pulled up, and bringing with it other stalks with whose roots it is connected. With firm correctness (on the part of its subject), there will be good fortune and progress.
- Line 2 The second line, divided, shows its subject patient and obedient. To the small man (comporting himself so) there will be good fortune. If the great man (comport himself) as the distress and obstruction require, he will have success.
- Line 3 The third line, divided, shows its subject ashamed of the purpose folded (in his breast).
- Line 4 The fourth line, undivided, shows its subject acting in accordance with the ordination (of Heaven), and committing no error. His companions will come and share in his happiness.
- Line 5 In the fifth line, undivided, we see him who brings the distress and obstruction to a close,—the great man and fortunate. (But let him say), ‘We may perish! We may perish!’ (so shall the state of things become firm, as if) bound to a clump of bushy mulberry trees.
- Line 6 · top The sixth line, undivided, shows the overthrow (and removal of) the condition of distress and obstruction. Before this there was that condition. Hereafter there will be joy.
James Legge, trans., The Yî King, The Sacred Books of the East, vol. 16 (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1882), p. 83 — read the original text.
Words in parentheses are Legge’s own: in his preface he explains that they supply what the original writer left unsaid. “Undivided” and “divided” are his terms for yang and yin lines, counted from the bottom. The Image comes from the second appendix of the book, the Treatise on the Symbolism.
Standstill for a decision
Do not push ahead or compromise your principles to get results. Hold back, protect what matters and wait for the blockage to shift.
I Ching 12 in love and relationships
Distance and misunderstanding. Forcing conversations rarely works now; quiet steadiness keeps the door open for later.
Hexagram 12 at work
Stalled projects, poor leadership or bad timing. Avoid new commitments in a compromised environment and keep your own standards intact.
The six lines of hexagram 12
Read from the bottom up. This figure runs yin yin yin yang yang yang — what each position means.
3 yang and 3 yin lines. Two of the six stand in their proper place, and all three pairs answer each other.
What the two trigrams do to each other
Inner and outer
Earth below — receptive yielding — is the private, inner side of hexagram 12.
Heaven above — creative force — is the world that side meets.
The five-element relation
Earth below generates Metal above in the five-element cycle: the lower trigram feeds the upper. Energy moves upward and outward, which is the more productive of the two directions.
Read as a family
The father sits above and the mother below. Both parents, with the father on top: the two pure trigrams in their natural places, which keeps them apart.
Calculated from the lines
Hexagrams connected to hexagram 12
Nuclear hexagram
53 · Development
What is happening beneath the surface.
Lines 2–4 give Gen (Mountain) as the lower trigram, lines 3–5 give Xun (Wind) as the upper.
Opposite hexagram
11 · Peace
The situation turned inside out.
Change all six lines and Heaven over Earth becomes Earth over Heaven.
Inverse hexagram
11 · Peace
The situation seen from the other side.
Turn the figure upside down and Heaven over Earth becomes Earth over Heaven.
None of these are assigned by an author — each follows from the arrangement of lines.
The image
Heaven above, Earth below.
Heaven over Earth: creative force meeting receptive yielding.
Sources
Statements of fact on this page were checked against these sources in October 2026. How we choose and check sources: editorial policy.
Cite this page
AstroHot. “I Ching Hexagram 12: Standstill.” Accessed October 27, 2026. https://astrohot.com/i-ching/hexagram/12/
For Wikipedia
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